On MLK Day, The King Family and Activists Marched For Voting Rights
As the nation grapples with continued attacks on civil and voting rights, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday offered a time to reflect, while moving many to demand leaders push for voting rights protections.
In demonstrations Monday, members of the King family, activists and communities declared that there could be “no celebration without legislation” – signaling to Congress to take action in passing The Freedom To Vote Act and The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that would ensure we can safely and freely cast our ballots.
- In recent years, Republican state legislators across the country have introduced more than 400 voter suppression bills to block voter’s access to the ballot.
- In North Carolina, Republicans introduced numerous anti-voter bills last year, and crafted heavily gerrymandered 2022 voting maps that would “undermine free and fair elections in North Carolina”.
- The passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act would counter these anti-voter efforts by ensuring election transparency, ending gerrymandering, protecting local election officials and poll workers from right-wing attacks and defending our voter protections and rights.
Almost nine decades after his birth and 58 years after his historic, “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s advocacy and teachings remain as relevant today as they were when he and countless other non-violent civil rights leaders fought for our rights.
As we face these same forces intent on silencing Black and Brown communities, we look upon Dr. King’s vision to ensure everyone has equal freedom to vote and equal say in decisions that impact our lives.
To honor Dr. King and extend his legacy, our leaders must take action and pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
