“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of a Mask; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of a Mask.”
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of a Mask; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of a Mask.”
The Spirit of John Lewis: The passion and commitment of a voting rights icon call us to action
This Sunday will be the 56th anniversary of the day in 1965 when voting rights marchers led by Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee leader John Lewis and Southern Christian Leadership Conference activist Hosea Williams were beaten by white lawmen wielding clubs and tear gas on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, as they attempted to march to the state capitol in Montgomery.
We all know what happened after “Bloody Sunday.” Thousands of activists poured into Selma, ultimately reaching the capitol steps on March 25 and hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his “How Long? Not Long?” speech in defiance of the Confederate flag that flew overhead from the capitol dome. In the months that followed, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, changing the course of history and effectively ending the period of legalized racial discrimination known as Jim Crow.
And, of course, even though Lewis almost lost his life that day on the bridge – his skull fractured by a blow to the head – he would never waver in his commitment to making our country live up to its promise of equality. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia for the last 33 years of his life, he became known as the “conscience of the Congress.”
Now, in his honor, members of Congress are expected to reintroduce the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to reform an election system scarred by renewed efforts to suppress the vote.
We lost Lewis last July at the age of 80. But we have not lost his spirit. His passion for justice continues to inspire us.
Right now, we need Lewis’ spirit as much as we have since March 7, 1965, when he and other heroes put their lives on the line as they marched toward a phalanx of hostile state troopers and sheriff’s deputies on the Selma bridge.
Our lasting success will be in achieving as high a turnout as possible in all elections, especially the elections of those who have the most direct influence over our lives. The next step of that success is the realization of a more just and equitable society for all of us – as was envisioned by John Lewis and all the other heroes of the civil rights movement, including the many whose names we will never know.
President Biden signs executive order expanding voting access
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Sunday expanding voting access in what the White House calls "an initial step" in its efforts to "protect the right to vote and ensure all eligible citizens can freely participate in the electoral process."
The move comes as Republicans in statehouses around the country work to advance voter suppression legislation, including a bill in Georgia that voting rights groups say targets Black voters.
Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, have pushed measures in recent days to increase voting rights, including HR1 -- a sweeping ethics and election package that contains provisions expanding early and mail-in voting, restoring voting rights to former felons, and easing voter registration for eligible Americans.
Sunday's order directs the heads of all federal agencies to submit proposals for their respective agencies to promote voter registration and participation within 200 days, while assisting states in voter registration under the National Voter Registration Act. In addition, the order instructs the General Services Administration to modernize the federal government's Vote.gov portal.
Ahead of the signing, Biden spoke about the order during virtual remarks at the Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast, an annual event commemorating "Bloody Sunday," where African American demonstrators demanding the right to vote were brutally beaten by police while crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
"Every eligible voter should be able to vote and have that vote counted. If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote," he said at the event.
The President also called on Congress to restore parts of the Voting Rights Act struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013 and advocated for voting rights and access.
Biden called HR1 "a landmark piece of legislation that is urgently needed to protect the right to vote, the integrity of our elections, and to repair and strengthen our democracy."
The executive order also expands voter access and registration efforts for communities often overlooked in outreach, including the disabled, military serving overseas and the incarcerated.
Still, much of the administration's hope for voter protections lies in legislation like HR1. As of February, state legislators in 43 states had introduced more than 250 bills with restrictive voting provisions, according to a tally from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
The official acknowledged Saturday that, in many cases, the President lacks the authority to overturn such provisions at the state level, acknowledging laws like the one recently passed by Georgia's GOP-controlled state House limiting early voting would require an act of Congress.
"The President doesn't have executive authority to prevent a state from taking that kind of action," they said. "That would require congressional action -- so this executive order uses all of the authority that the President has to be able to take steps necessary to make voter registration and voter access easy and straightforward for people, and it also uses the President's bully pulpit to send a message to all the states and to all voters about the importance of democracy."
A divided Senate approved $1.9 trillion in aid for an ailing nation.
The package would inject vast amounts of federal resources into the economy, including the largest antipoverty effort in a generation. Republican opposition was unanimous.
“Help is on the way,” President Biden said in remarks at the White House. “It wasn’t always pretty, but it was so desperately needed, urgently needed.”
The resulting package dropped or curtailed major progressive priorities to accommodate moderate Democrats. The version passed by the chamber still needs to pass in the House a second time, which is scheduled for final approval on Tuesday. The bill would then go to Mr. Biden for his signature.
A few of the crucial provisions include:
Another round of one-time direct payments of up to $1,400 for millions of Americans; an extension of the $300 weekly unemployment benefits through Labor Day; and a benefit of $300 per child for those age 5 and younger — and $250 per child ages 6 to 17.
$45 billion in rental, utility and mortgage assistance; $30 billion for transit agencies; and billions more for small businesses and live venues.
$350 billion for state, local and tribal governments; $130 billion to primary and secondary schools; $14 billion for the distribution of vaccines; and $12 billion to nutrition assistance.
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