55th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act

I just listened to a great Zoom discussion about voting rights with Stacey Abrams and Eric Holder via the League of Conservation Voters.

I looked forward to this year (and month) because of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment--which on paper theoretically gave all women the right to vote... although other policies prevented many people of color from voting.

But the most important National voting law is the Voting Rights Act of 1965--because it truly meant universal suffrage. This fully struck me (finally) while I listened to Stacey Abrams.

I don’t mean to dismiss what suffragists went through in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but it’s important to remember that suffrage history goes up to 1965. Fortunately, some of my suffrage history books reflect that.

Suffrage history extends to the present--thanks to voter suppression that’s been happening the past 20 years. In 2013, John Roberts butchered the Voting Rights Act. We need to bring it back to at least its original state if not make it better.

I just wrote 100 letters for getting out the vote (via Sierra Club, but Daily Kos, Indivisible, and probably other organizations are doing the same thing). 100 times I wrote, "If voting were not powerful, nobody would be trying to suppress the vote."