#1965 Voting Rights Act

[indizombie]

Ever since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Black voters have been the Democratic Party’s most loyal constituency. And Black churches have frequently operated almost as an extra organizational arm for Democrats, with church leaders endorsing candidates, giving them platforms to connect with voters, and spearheading registration and turnout efforts. Civil rights icons like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rep. John Lewis began their careers in the church, preaching love and peace as a path to social and political progress. As “the first Black institution,” says Eric McDaniel, co-director of the University of Texas at Austin’s Politics of Race and Ethnicity Lab, the church is “where Black politics took shape.”

Story Hinckley, ‘Black voters’ decline in church attendance could hurt Biden, help Trump’, Christian Science Monitor

[filosofablogger]

Voter Apathy -- Part II (A Reprisal from 2018)

Yesterday morning I reprised Part I of a three-part post I wrote in 2018 about voter apathy.  Now, you might think that I should write a new one, rather than reprise one from six years ago, but as I read over it to refresh my memory, I find that these posts are every bit as relevant today as they were in 2018.  Today’s is less critical than Part I, more of an assessment of who is more likely to…

[deadpresidents]

You're suggesting that I read a book about LBJ???

Should I pick one from this bookcase, or the other FULL bookcase I have that entirely consists of books about Lyndon Baines Johnson and/or the Johnson Administration?

The idea that Lyndon Johnson had to be "dragged to sign the civil rights act by a republican congress" is as laughable as the claim that Donald Trump did more for Black people than any President since Lincoln. Republicans were absolutely essential to passing LBJ's multiple pieces of significant civil rights legislation but Lyndon Johnson was the driving force behind every civil rights bill that he signed into law. Any brief study of the Civil Rights Movement or time spent listening to the tapes of President Johnson's phone calls tirelessly working to win Republican votes clearly tells the actual story.

The passage of LBJ's most important civil rights legislation -- particularly the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- was the result of LBJ's incredible mastery of the legislative process and fierce determination to enact meaningful civil rights laws. And if you don't want to take my word for it, go back and read what Black leaders since Martin Luther King Jr. have been saying for nearly 60 years about LBJ's essential role as a leader and as a partner in getting real legislation pushed through Congress and formally signed into law. John F. Kennedy couldn't have accomplished what LBJ did on civil rights and there's not a Republican President who would have even tried.

There are plenty of subjects that I am not even close to being an expert about, but I can guarantee you that I've studied Lyndon Johnson extensively and his accomplishments in domestic policy -- specifically civil rights -- is one area where I know what I am talking about.

[sanyu-thewitch05]

DNI: NON BLACK PEOPLE!!

So…y’all seeing the Antiblackness jumping out of the nonblack people in the Free Palestine on tiktok and other social media platforms(mainly Twitter)?

Like it’s crazy how all this started because Maya Ayooni came at a Black woman, sicked her 2.1 million followers(some of which are still on Tori Griers page today), did a whole live framing her as an angry Black woman and just being condescending overall, then making a quick little apology video that had the comments locked so there’s only ten of them. Then a bunch of non black people and even other Arabs(unsurprising tbh) started jumping on Black people collectively. It’s absolutely disgusting that I’ve actually seen someone call Kamala Harris a white man in a colored woman’s body(she’s biracial but come on now) to referring to other Black people as melanated people.

And Maya’s butt had the nerve to repost this tiktok calling Black people colonizers which by the way is the same video calling Black people, melanated people.

@queen-shiba

Here’s some links with the TikToks that started this whole mess:

UPDATE!! MAYA IS TARGETING BLACK WOMEN ONCE AGAIN

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Kamala Harris: 61 years ago today, hundreds of thousands of people marched on Washington to demand jobs and freedom. That day was a call to action for our nation. It helped rally advocates and elected officials to secure landmark legislative victories in the fight for progress, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. Today, we celebrate that progress and know that our work continues. We recommit ourselves to the fight for equity, opportunity, and justice for every American.

[Robert Scott Horton]

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, a landmark statute designed to dramatically increase Black people’s participation in electoral politics after centuries of slavery, segregation, and second-class citizenship. Newbern, Alabama, a small town in which two-thirds of 133 residents are Black, has not held a municipal election for some 60 years. What a coincidence!

In place of a democratically elected government, the town, which is located about an hour south of Tuscaloosa, has been ruled by a small group of white people who handpick their mayoral and town council in a form of hand-me-down governance. In recent years, some of Newbern’s residents have sought to change that. In a recent filing in federal court, the residents argue that the town’s failure to hold elections violates residents’ rights under the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution, and ask the court to order the town to hold an election by November 2024.

The case is striking for multiple reasons, including, most obviously, the absurdity of the purported government’s departure from fundamental democratic principles. It is also a stark reminder of the real-world impact of federal courts in a political and legal system dominated by reactionary conservatives. Liberals are asking judges for small victories, launching last-ditch efforts to access basic rights under the Constitution. Conservatives, in contrast, are aiming much higher: For them, courts are a testing ground for novel ways to curtail rights nationwide. In federal trial courts, conservatives are having their cake and eating it too, while liberals are begging for crumbs.

The plaintiff in this case is Patrick Braxton, a Black Newbern resident who, in 2020, filed the actual, long-ignored paperwork to run for mayor. As the only legally qualified candidate, he won by default, and tried to appoint a town council accordingly. The existing town council responded by convening a secret meeting during which it decided to conduct the town’s first-ever special election. Telling no one about the new “election,” the previous mayor, Haywood “Woody” Stokes III, and his council effectively reappointed themselves to their jobs. Stokes and his cronies have since repeatedly changed the locks at town hall as part of a refusal to transfer power to the legitimate officials. They have also denied Braxton access to the town’s bank account, forcing him to run food distribution drives and otherwise carry out his mayoral duties using his own funds.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are asking the court to install Braxton as the town’s rightful mayor. “Allowing the Defendants to continue their hand-me-down governance violates the basic tenets of democracy and state law,” they write. In the meantime, they say, Stokes is ignoring basic requests from his Black constituents: Although their homes occasionally flood with raw sewage, he’s refused to support the installation of a proper sewage system.

The simple request in this case—can we have a local election, please?—is a far cry from the triumphant asks being made by conservative legal movement lawyers in federal courtrooms across the country. Over the past several years, a single Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas has signed off on requests to reverse the Food and Drug Administration’s decades-old approval of drugs used in medication abortion; to force President Joe Biden to reinstate Trump-era immigration policies; and to gut a federal program that provides free contraceptive access to anyone who wants it.

Many of these exercises in judicial policymaking have come in the form of nationwide injunctions, which spiked during the Biden administration as Trump judges began wielding their power to implement the former president’s agenda by judicial fiat. During a Supreme Court oral argument last month, Justice Neil Gorsuch observed that judges issued “exactly zero universal injunctions” during President Franklin Roosevelt’s 12 years in office. “Over the last four years or so, the number is something like 60,” he said. Given that conservative judges in Texas recently declined to adopt rules that would have limited conservative activists’ ability to hand-pick judges, it seems unlikely that this trend reverses anytime soon.

The Newbern case lays bare the impact of the Republican Party’s generations-long effort to capture the judiciary. When the federal bench is this stacked with friendly faces, the conservative legal movement is free to run up the score. Everyone else is just hoping to get on the playing field.

[moleshow]

according to posts i saw on my computer, voting doesn't matter, so now i'm trying to figure out why those klansmen murdered james cheney, michael schwerner, and andrew goodman. gotta say i'm stumped but i'll let you know if i figure it out

[whitesinhistory]

On June 25, 2013, in a 5-4 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and effectively gutted one of the nation’s most important and successful civil rights laws. Despite adoption in 1870 of the Fifteenth Amendment barring racial discrimination in voting, Southern states and others used poll taxes, literacy tests, and violence to deny Black Americans the right to vote for another century. Unchecked and systematic voter suppression targeted African American communities in the South for generations. After decades of organized civil rights activism, the Voting Rights Act (VRA) finally became law on August 6, 1965. It outlawed discriminatory barriers to voting like poll taxes and literacy tests and also imposed strict oversight upon states and districts with histories of voter discrimination. The new law quickly proved extremely effective; Black registration rates soon rose throughout the South, and Black officials were elected at the highest rates since Reconstruction. In this way, the Act directly confronted and addressed a century of racist voting policies. Section 4 of the Act required jurisdictions with the worst records of discrimination to obtain “preclearance” from the federal government before changing voting laws. However, in Shelby County v. Holder, Alabama officials argued that preclearance was no longer constitutional or necessary, and the Supreme Court agreed. Chief Justice Roberts reasoned for the majority that “things have changed dramatically” since 1965—voting tests are illegal, racial disparities in voter turnout and registration have diminished, and people of color hold elected office “in record numbers.” Yet voting discrimination—and the need for the Voting Rights Act—continues in the present day, the dissenters pointed out. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted in dissent that covered jurisdictions continue to propose voting law changes that are rejected under the VRA, “auguring that barriers to minority voting would quickly resurface were the preclearance remedy eliminated.” The decision drastically reduced the VRA’s power to combat “second-generation barriers” to voting, like racial gerrymandering, which minimize the impact of minority votes. “The sad irony of today’s decision lies in its utter failure to grasp why the VRA has proven effective,” wrote Justice Ginsburg. “The Court appears to believe that the VRA's success in eliminating the specific devices extant in 1965 means that preclearance is no longer needed. With that belief, and the argument derived from it, history repeats itself.” The decision unleashed a surge in voter suppression measures—including strict voter ID laws, cutting voting times, restricting registration, and purging voter rolls—that are undermining voter participation by people of color today.

[lawforeverything]

The voting rights act of 1965

On this page you will read detailed information about The Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 stands as a landmark piece of legislation in the United States, aimed at dismantling discriminatory barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. Enacted on August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act marked a significant turning point in the fight against racial injustice and inequality. This comprehensive act aimed to ensure that every citizen, regardless of their race or ethnicity, could freely participate in the political process and elect their representatives. In this article, we will delve into the historical context, key provisions, and impact of the Voting Rights Act, highlighting its ongoing relevance in today’s society.

Historical Context: The Fight for Voting Rights Act of 1965

Reconstruction and the Fifteenth Amendment

The struggle for voting rights began soon after the American Civil War, with the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. This amendment guaranteed that the right to vote could not be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. However, Southern states quickly implemented discriminatory practices, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, to disenfranchise African Americans and maintain white supremacy.

Jim Crow Era: Disenfranchisement and Discrimination

Throughout the Jim Crow era, African Americans faced numerous obstacles to voting, including intimidation, violence, and complex bureaucratic restrictions. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and whites-only primaries were used to systematically exclude Black voters, particularly in the Deep South. By the early 20th century, the majority of African Americans were effectively disfranchised, leading to a severe imbalance of political power and limited representation for marginalized communities.

The Need for Change: Selma and the Voting Rights Act

Selma and the Voting Rights Movement

In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, with activists like Martin Luther King Jr. leading courageous efforts to combat voting discrimination. The Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama became a pivotal moment, as peaceful demonstrators were met with violent opposition from state law enforcement. The tragic events of Bloody Sunday, where marchers were brutally attacked, shocked the nation and galvanized support for voting rights reform.

President Johnson’s Call for Legislation

The outrage over the brutality in Selma prompted President Lyndon B. Johnson to push for comprehensive federal legislation that would protect voting rights. In a speech following the march, Johnson declared his intention to sign a Voting Rights Act into law, stating that denying any American the right to vote was “wrong, deadly wrong.” His commitment to equality and justice set the stage for the passage of this historic legislation.

The Voting Rights Act: Key Provisions and Impact

Overview of the Voting Rights Act

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a multifaceted legislation that aimed to dismantle discriminatory voting practices and ensure equal access to the ballot box. Its key provisions addressed both the immediate challenges faced by African American voters and the long-term goal of eliminating systemic barriers to political participation.

Section 5: Preclearance and Federal Oversight

One of the most significant aspects of the Voting Rights Act was Section 5, which required jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to seek federal approval, or “preclearance,” before implementing any changes to their voting laws or procedures. This provision gave federal authorities the power to scrutinize and prevent any measures that would disproportionately impact minority voters.

For complete information please visit :

[whenweallvote]

This year marks the 60th anniversary of “Freedom Summer,” the 1964 voter registration movement in Mississippi. More than 700 volunteers mobilized to fight against voter intimidation and discrimination at the polls. 

Freedom Summer volunteers were met with violent resistance from the Ku Klux Klan and members of state and local law enforcement. News coverage of volunteers being beaten, arrested, and even killed drew international attention to the civil rights movement. 

The Freedom Summer project ultimately registered nearly 1,200 Black Americans to vote in Mississippi, and pushed Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This year, let's continue their fight to uplift Black voices and Black votes. Join us in registering voters during our Juneteenth Weekend of Action at weall.vote/juneteenth.

[ftmtftm]

Feminism has always, always had a history with Racism and White Supremacy - particularly in a way that promotes fascist leaning "Protection for Me and Mine" type "activism".

There have always been several Upper Class, White, Women at the helm of Feminist movements and it is something Poor, Working Class, Women of Color have been vocally criticizing since the First Wave.

I mean, US Americans, did you not learn about Sojourner Truth? Have you not read "Ain't I A Woman?"? It is one of the most famous early accounts of the racialized nature of gender. It perfectly highlights the way the social aspects of gender have always been barred from People of Color in a way they aren't barred from White People in a firsthand historical account.

Women's Suffrage, and subsequently the First Wave of Feminism was an actively Racially Segregated movement. White Suffragettes intentionally campaigned for themselves and themselves only because they thought that campaigning for Black, Immigrant, and Indigenous Women would undermine their own movement. They did not seek liberation for women, they sought the Systemic, Institutional Power of their White Male Peers and they got it - by intentionally leaving Women of Color behind them.

This is most evident in the fact that White Women received the right to vote in 1920, but Black Women did not receive the right to vote until 1965 with the Voting Rights Act. Almost 50 years later. That is over half a lifetime. This was also only approximately 2-3 years before Radical Feminism and the Second Wave began around 1967~1968.

If you think racial segregation and racism in the Feminist Movement ended with Black Women's suffrage and completely dissipated within the two years it took for the Second Wave to pick up it's feet, you are naïve at best and actively racist yourself at worst. The Women's Liberation Movement / Radical Feminism have always been White Woman's movements riding the coattails of the Suffragette's racism.

Look at the website for the Women's Liberation Front. WoLF is one of the original Radical Feminist organizations. It was founded in the late 60's and is one of the largest Radfem organizations to date. Now. Look at their board. Look at the photos of women they choose to include across their site. Look at the women who are speaking at their events. Beyond one or two token Black Women, it is a sea of Whiteness.

You know who is a special advisor to WoLF and the founder of the group "Standing for Women"? Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, aka Posie Parker. Kellie-Jay is the woman who popularized "Woman means adult human female" as an anti-trans slogan. Kellie-Jay is also real good buddies with - you guessed it! Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists!

WoLF also takes money from the Alliance Defending Freedom, (ADF) a Right Wing Christian Organization, and it's members have worked directly with the Heritage Foundation, a Conservative organization founded during the Reagan Presidency.

Radical Feminism as a political movement cares about the lives and held power of White Women under the guise of "Women's Liberation" in the exact same way as their foremothers, the Suffragettes. It's a foundationally White Supremacist movement. Black Feminists, Indigenous Feminists, Immigrant Feminists, and Colonized Feminists have been talking about this for over a century but it falls on White ears so why would they listen.

[lookingforcactus]

Went to a big quilting convention today and am feeling inspired so here's todays edition of

What the fuck do you mean that's a quilt??

Most people have no idea about how much craft goes into quilting or how much quilting as a craft, art, and even a science has been evolving in recent years. So here's my personal appreciation post

And btw the flat images do NOT even do these quilts justice, especially in terms of the absolutely amazing and detailed texture embroidery that a lot of quilters are using these days. Up close the texture and the sheer detail of many of them is just stunning

These are all from the Road to California quilt show 2023

1st Place: Portrait

Title: Sharing the Moment Maker: Hollis Chatelain Quilter: Hollis Chatelain Design Basis: Maker's Original Design African-American women are a powerful force in motivating their families and communities to vote. I wanted to create a piece about this and highlight the fact that African-American women did not receive the right to vote in all 50 states until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was passed. I met Phyllis at a rally. I was drawn to her and asked if she would be my model. Without hesitation she said yes. She later brought her friend Loretta with her.

1st Place: Naturescape

Title: Augustinii Maker: Andrea Brokenshire Quilter: Andrea Brokenshire Design Basis: Maker's Original Design “Augustinii” is a blue/purple variety of rhododendron my momma planted within her forest garden. I was lucky to be home on when it was in bloom. When I see this quilt, I am reminded of my momma and how she loves to tend her garden and “grub in the dirt.”

1st Place: Pictorial

Title: Leap of Faith Maker: Kestrel Michaud Quilter: Kestrel Michaud Design Basis: Original design In this Steampunk fantasy world, men and women have taken to the skies on ships held aloft by hot air, ingenuity, and luck. Faith’s favorite past-time is bungee-jumping off the side of her airship, with Bubo, her pet clockwork owl. This quilt depicts the photo Faith took on her latest jump to test her brand-new camera and selfie stick.

2nd Place: Naturescape

Title: Homage to Birches Bare Maker: Jessica Noble Quilter: Jessica Noble Design Basis: Fabric recreation of Kesler Woodward's Birches Bare, acrylic on I fell in love with Kesler Woodward’s Birches Bare painting and knew I had to create it in fabric. I cut about 1,700 pattern pieces out of freezer paper and then fused fabric, through the fall of 2019 until the pandemic started. During this time, I homeschooled my two children and the quilt sat in quarantine. I quilted this freehand on my midarm in the winter of 2021. I managed to take the majority of the summer of 2022 on the binding.

2nd Place: Pictorial

Title: Toroweap Overlook Maker: Sandra Mollon Quilter: Sandra Mollon Design Basis: Derived from a photo Toroweap Overlook, in the Grand Canyon National Park, is an incredible view of the Colorado River. When John Slot sent me the photo to consider for an art quilt, I realized the complexity of the amount of the pieces it would require, but knew I had to do it. Raw edge fused, machine quilted, small amounts of media.

3rd Place: Pictorial

Title: Catch it Yuri! Maker: Hiroko Miyama and Masanobu Miyama Quilter: Hiroko Miyama Design Basis: Maker's Original Design Inspired by dogs’ action. Yuri, golden retriever big jumped to catch a ball and Ponta, mix hardly waited his turn. Dogs and girl were fused appliquéd.

Seriously can you believe these are all quilts!!! incredible amazing showstopping spectacular

[filosofablogger]

Black History Month -- The First Black Voter

I first did this post four years ago … The year 2020 marks the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment and the culmination of the women’s suffrage movement.  The year 2020 also marks the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the right of black men to the ballot after the Civil War.  The theme speaks, therefore, to the ongoing struggle on the part of both black men and black women…

[theangryfeministwriter]

As a woman, you should vote.

The 19th Amendment is the first amendment to mention women, passing their right to vote. The amendment passed in 1919 after decades of protest, even some deadly. This amendment only guaranteed white women the right to vote. Asian American women couldn't vote until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Black women couldn't vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It wasn't until 1975 that women whose first language was not English were able to vote. I think we owe it to them and all of our sisters who fought tirelessly, and sometimes to the death, for a say in our democracy. Our grandmothers and great grandmothers dreamed of times when women were able to vote, let alone be able to vote for a woman for president.

[sacramentohistorymuseum]

August 26 is Women’s Equality Day, a day observed on the anniversary of when the 19th Amendment was certified to the United States Constitution. The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote but those voting rights were still limited in many states and for People of Color. Voting rights were not fully extended to all groups until 1965 under the Voting Rights Act.

The fight for the 19th Amendment did not happen overnight as the suffrage movement that culminated in the certification of the 19th Amendment, on this day in 1920, began almost 100 years prior. Nevertheless, on this very historic day, we must reflect on the power that the right to vote has, especially with an election just over two months away.

For today, Alex letterpress printed one of the slogans used by suffragettes when advocating for the right to vote. This was typeset in 72 point Caslon font. The phrase states, “Votes For Women." This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press.

[cartermagazine]

Today In History

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Baptist minister and civil rights activist, was born in Atlanta, GA, on this date January 15, 1929.

Dr. King led the first mass civil rights movement in the United States. He was an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world.

Among his many efforts, King headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Through his nonviolent activism and inspirational speeches, he played a pivotal role in ending legal segregation of Black Americans, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors.

King continues to be remembered as one of the most influential and inspirational Black leaders in history.

CARTER™️ Magazine