The Fight For Voting Rights

“Never forget where we came from and always

praise the bridges that carried you over.”
-Fannie Lou Hamer
Many years ago, I wrote about voting rights. Now in 2022, it is time again to mention information on voting
rights, because our voting rights are being suppressed in a level not seen before in America since the Jim
Crow days. That statement is not part of exaggeration, but it's very much real. Our ancestors fought hard to
promote our human rights. With a far-right movement, our rights are being depleted constantly in an
unparalleled fashion. These extremists are not only suppressing who can vote, but they want to control who
counts the votes in general. This plan is not new. For centuries, extremists (who worship state's rights, hate
the Golden Rule, and believe that only a small amount of people should have equal rights) have executed
policies that harm the general welfare of our society. For example, many states of the Union back then
prevented black people to vote in any election at every level of government. It took a massive movement for
the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act to be passed by the American government. Also,
many men and women (of many colors) lost their lives for those laws to be passed too. That is why it is
important for us to realize that our freedoms must be protected. Voting rights decide who governs our
schools, our Congressional seats, our judges, and other functions of our society. The lie is that voting doesn't
matter. If voting never mattered, why do far right Republicans constantly try to limit who can vote and count
the votes. Why do Trump supporters fear the growth of black political power and the changing demographics
of American society? The obvious answer is that voting does matter for real. The movement in Selma decades
ago is a clear example of courage and a reminder that we, in this generation, must do our parts to make sure
that voting rights must be strengthened completely. There is no naivete here. We're grown now. The time
for constructive action is now.
To understand the evolution of voting rights in the United States of America, you must look at history
chronologically like always. Long ago, the Americas was originally inhabited by Native Americans. They didn't
speak English, and they existed in diverse cultures including creeds. After the Last major Ice Age, they traveled
from Siberia into the Americas over 10,000 years ago. Later, European explorers came into the Americas.
Some traded, and others committed war crimes and other evils against Native American human beings like
Christopher Columbus and Cortes. Black African people were kidnapped and sent to the Americas too by the
1500’s. The 2 great crimes of American history are the genocide of the Native Americans and the enslavement
of African human beings. Back in the 1600's and 1700's, voting rights was very limited. Most people voting
were only a select group of human beings. By 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed by colonists
during the midst of the American Revolutionary War. Back in that year, only mostly white male landowners
(who owned land, mostly Protestant, and over 21 years old) could vote. Also, there was no federal voting
rights standards in American society. States decided who can or couldn't vote. Voting mostly were in the
hands of white male landowners. By the time George Washington was President in 1789, only 6% of the
population could vote. Things would continue to be this bad for long decades. In 1790, the Naturalization
Law was passed. It stated overtly that only "free white" immigrants can become naturalized citizens.

As time existed in the 19th century, the growth of the anti-slavery or abolitionist movement including the
women's rights movement existed. These revolutionary movements not only wanted the right to vote but
total equality without exceptions. Many people used the Underground Railroad to save lives, diverse people
were in both movements, and they later had numerous victories. In 1848, there was the women's rights
convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Frederick Douglass, who was a former slave and newspaper editor,
attended the event. He gave a speech supporting universal voting rights. His speech helped to convince the
convention to adopt a resolution calling for voting rights for women. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe ended
the Mexican American War. It gave U.S. citizenship to Mexican people living in territories conquered by the
U.S. Yet, English language requirements and violent intimidation limit Mexican access to voting rights. North
Carolina was the last state to remove property ownership as a requirement to vote in 1856 (allowing voting
to exist only for all white men). Just before President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, he wanted voting
rights for some black people. This stirred up John Wilkes Booth to murder the late President in April 1865.

By 1866, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (who were First Wave feminists) formed an
organization for white people and black people to fight for the goal of universal voting rights. This
organization later divided and regroup over disagreements to gain the vote for women and African
Americans. This is not unusual as many white feminists would be stone cold anti-black racists. In 1868, the
14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was passed. Citizenship is defined and granted to former slaves.
Voters were defined as male. So, voting rights were given to all black men by the period of Reconstruction.
The Amendment forbid states from denying any rights of citizenship. Yet, voting regulation is still left in the
hands of the states. So, many states use grandfather clauses and Jim Crow methods like literacy tests to
restrict black people the right to vote. In 1870, the 15th Amendment was passed. It states that the right to
vote can't be denied by the federal or state governments based on race. Yet, states started to use measures
like voting taxes and continued literacy tests to restrict African Americans the right to vote. Violence and
other intimidation tactics are used by racist institutions constantly. In 1872, Susan B. Anthony was arrested
and sent to trial in Rochester, New York. The reason was that she tried to vote in the Presidential election.
During this time, Sojourner Truth (who was a black former slave and fighter for equality and justice) appealed
at a polling booth in Grand Rapids, Michigan demanding a ballot. Yet, she was turned away. In 1876,
indigenous people can't vote via the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court falsely classified Native Americans
as not citizens defined by the 14th Amendment. The racist 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act banned people of
Chinese ancestry from naturalizing to be U.S. citizens. The 1887 Dawes Act was passed, and it give Native
Americans the right of citizenship with the catch to give up their tribal affiliations. In 1890, the state of
Wyoming admitted to statehood, and it's the first state to legislate voting for women in its constitution. The
Indian Naturalization Act of 1890 granted citizenship to Native Americans whose applications are approved
(similar to the process of immigration naturalization).

During the 20th century, the fight for voting rights intensified. In 1919, Native Americans, who served in the
U.S. military during World War I, are granted citizenship. The suffrage included people of every color. They
constantly fought for women voting rights all the time. With their efforts and other people's activism, women
were given the right to vote in both state and federal elections via the 19th Amendment (in 1920). In 1922,
the Supreme Court made the racist decision that people of Japanese heritage are ineligible to become
naturalized citizens. In the next year, the Supreme Court found that Asian Indians are also not eligible to
naturalize. In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act grant citizenship to Native Americans, but many states made
laws and policies to stop Native Americans from voting. In 1925, Congress banned Filipinos from U.S.
citizenship unless they serve 3 years in the Navy. This time saw massive anti-black riots harming and
murdering black Americans from Red Summer, etc. In 1926, a group of African American women were beaten
by election officials when they tried to register to vote in Birmingham, Alabama. By 1947, Miguel Trujillo (a
Native American and a former Marine) sued New Mexico. He wanted to vote. He won the case. This caused
New Mexico and Arizona to be required to give the vote to all Native Americans. The 1952 McCarran-Walter
Act grant all people of Asian ancestry the right to become citizens. In 1961, the 23rd Amendment is passed.
This gave citizens of Washington, D.C. the right to vote for U.S. President. To this day, Washington, D.C.
doesn't have voting representation in Congress (its district's residents are heavily black Americans).
 1964 was the turning point in American history. It was a year when Goldwater was defeated involving his
Presidential run, it was when the Civil Rights Movement grew in influence, it was the time when the
Counterculture was in its infancy, and it was a time when anti-Vietnam War sentiments were rising up. This
was the time when the Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress. It was one of the greatest forms of progressive
legislation in American history. For decades, the American Civil Rights Movement grew massively. Its leaders
from Ella Baker, Septima Clark, Dr. King, and Medgar Evers worked all the time to promote freedom for black
people including the rest of the human race. This movement was part of the overall black freedom struggle
too. After Red Summer, WWII, the death of Emmett Till, and other events, grassroots black people organized
into organizations, religious groups, political groups, and other institutions to attack plus defeat the system
of Jim Crow apartheid. Jim Crow is wrong because it is based on oppressing people, it restricts the right of
free association, it violates democratic rights on every level, and it establishes a racist system whose goal is
to make a white racist aristocracy minority to dominate the majority of the people (via division, bigotry,
hatred, and economic exploitation). Jim Crow apartheid is the opposite of legitimate black self-determination
and human independence. By the early 1960's, demonstrations occurred nationwide that advocated freedom
and justice. Diverse factions of the black freedom movement spread from the NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, CORE,
Malcolm X's OAAU, etc. Each had differences on many points, but they were unified in the same goal of
freedom and justice for black people.

Iconic Defenders of Civil and Voting Rights

Gloria Julian Bond Unita Charlie Cobb Juadine Henderson Bob Moses Ida Mae
Richardson Blackwell Holland
To understand the Civil Rights Act of 1964, you must learn about the time when it was passed. After WWII
and the New Deal, government increased its role in promoting commerce even more than after the U.S. Civil
War. The problem with the 1957 Civil Rights Act was that it didn't go strong enough to promote a just society.
By this time, Brown V. Board of Education ruled public segregation as unconstitutional in public schools.
Racist Southern Democrats used massive resistance to promote segregation. The 1957 Civil Rights act formed
the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
By 1960, black voting had increased by only 3%, and Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which
eliminated certain loopholes left by the 1957 Act. After the sit-ins, after the Birmingham protests in 1963,
and after the 1963 March on Washington, black people weren't free. This was the time during the Presidency
of John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy had to be pushed to support more progressive civil rights federal
legislation, but he was light years better than Eisenhower on the issue of Civil Rights. President John F.
Kennedy proposed a real, strong Civil Rights bill on his famous speech on June 11, 1963, to advocate for
equality and justice for African Americans. This came after the Birmingham campaign. Racial tensions were
high. A possibility of another civil war did exist in the 1960's. So, President Kennedy advocated a bill to
eliminate segregation in all aspects of society. Martin Luther King Jr. watched the address with Walter E.
Fauntroy in Atlanta. When it was over, he jumped up and declared, "Walter, can you believe that white man
not only stepped up to the plate, he hit it over the fence!" Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. then sent a telegram to
the White House with the following message: "I have just listened to your speech to the nation. It was one of
the most eloquent[,] profound, and unequivocal pleas for justice and freedom of all men ever made by any
President. You spoke passionately for moral issues involved in the integration struggle." Proposing legislation
and passing it are 2 different things. It took a long time for the Civil Rights Act to be made law in 1964. Did
JFK make that speech to curb tensions? Yes. Was JFK perfect? No. Do I feel that JFK was sincere in his
speech? Yes.

Now, the journey begins. On June 11, 1963, President Kennedy met with Republican leaders to discuss the
legislation before his television before his TV address to the nation that evening. Two days later, Senate
Minority Leader Everett Dirksen and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield both voiced support for the
president's bill, except for provisions guaranteeing equal access to places of public accommodations. This led
to several Republican Representatives drafting a compromise bill to be considered. On June 19, the president
sent his bill to Congress as it was originally written, saying legislative action was "imperative." First, the bill
had to go to the House of Representatives. The bill was strengthened. It added provisions to ban racial
discrimination in employment, providing greater protection to black voters, eliminating segregation in all
publicly owned facilities (not just schools), and strengthening the anti-segregation clauses regarding public
facilities such as lunch counters. They also added authorization for the Attorney General to file lawsuits to
protect individuals against the deprivation of any rights secured by the Constitution or U.S. law. In essence,
this was the controversial "Title III" that had been removed from the 1957 Act and 1960 Act. Civil rights
organizations pressed hard for this provision because it could be used to protect peaceful protesters and
black voters from police brutality and suppression of free speech rights.

By October 1963, President Kennedy called the congressional leaders to the White House to get the votes to
make the House pass the bill. The bill was reported out of the Judiciary Committee in November 1963 and
referred to the Rules Committee. Segregationist from Virginia Howard W. Smith wanted to keep the bill
bottled up indefinitely. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson was
President. Johnson had huge legislative experience, and he was firm with Congressional leaders to get
legislation passed. He supported the bill, and he used the bully pulpit to get things moving. In his first address
to a joint session of Congress on November 27, 1963, Johnson told the legislators, "No memorial oration or
eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory than the earliest possible passage of the
civil rights bill for which he fought so long." After the return of Congress from its winter recess, however, it
was apparent that public opinion in the North favored the bill and that the petition would acquire the
necessary signatures. To avert the humiliation of a successful discharge petition, Chairman Smith relented
and allowed the bill to pass through the Rules Committee. 50 signatures required the bill to go through. Labor
groups and civil rights groups were in a coalition (in the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights) fought for the
Civil Rights Act. The principal lobbyists for the Leadership Conference were civil rights lawyer Joseph L. Rauh
Jr. and Clarence Mitchell Jr. of the NAACP.
Now, the Senate must pass it. Normally, the bill would have been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee,
which was chaired by James O. Eastland, a Democrat from Mississippi, whose firm opposition made it seem
impossible that the bill would reach the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield took a novel
approach to prevent the bill from being kept in limbo by the Judiciary Committee: initially waiving a second
reading immediately after the first reading, which would have sent it to the Judiciary Committee, he took the
unprecedented step of giving the bill a second reading on February 26, 1964, thereby bypassing the Judiciary
Committee, and sending it to the Senate floor for debate immediately. When the bill came before the full
Senate for debate on March 30, 1964, the "Southern Bloc" of 18 southern Democratic Senators and lone
Republican John Tower of Texas, led by Richard Russell, launched a filibuster to prevent its passage. Russell
proclaimed, "We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would tend to bring about
social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our [Southern] states." Strong opposition
to the bill also came from Senator Strom Thurmond, who was still a Democrat at the time: "This so-called
Civil Rights Proposals [sic], which the President has sent to Capitol Hill for enactment into law, are
unconstitutional, unnecessary, unwise and extend beyond the realm of reason. This is the worst civil-rights
package ever presented to the Congress and is reminiscent of the Reconstruction proposals and actions of
the radical Republican Congress." Obviously, Thurmond failed to realize that Reconstruction laws helped to
increase the rights of black people.

After the filibuster had gone on for 54 days, Senators Mansfield, Hubert Humphrey, Mike Mansfield, Everett
Dirksen, and Thomas Kuchel introduced a substitute bill that they hoped would overcome it by combining a
sufficient number of Republicans as well as core liberal Democrats. The compromise bill was weaker than the
House version as to the government's power in regulating the conduct of private businesses, but not weak
enough to make the House reconsider it. Senator Robert Byrd ended his filibuster in opposition to the bill on
the morning of June 10, 1964, after 14 hours and 13 minutes. Up to then, the measure had occupied the
Senate for 60 working days, including six Saturdays. The day before, Democratic Whip Hubert Humphrey, the
bill's manager, concluded that he had the 67 votes required at that time to end the debate and the filibuster.
With six wavering senators providing a four-vote victory margin, the final tally stood at 71 to 29. Never before
in its entire history had the Senate been able to muster enough votes to defeat a filibuster on a civil rights
bill, and only once in the 37 years since 1927 had it agreed to cloture for any measure. The most dramatic
moment during the cloture vote was when Senator Clair Engle was wheeled into the chamber. He had
terminal brain cancer. He couldn't speak. He pointed to his left eye showing his affirmative "Aye" vote when
his name was called. He died 7 weeks later. On June 19, the compromise bill passed the Senate by a vote of
73–27, quickly passed through the conference committee, which adopted the Senate version of the bill, then
was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Johnson on July 2, 1964. The
Congress passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to fight sex discrimination. The prohibition on sex discrimination
was added to the Civil Rights Act by Howard W. Smith, a powerful Virginia Democrat who chaired the House
Rules Committee and who strongly opposed the legislation. Smith's amendment was passed by a teller vote
of 168 to 133. Historians debate Smith's motivation, whether it was a cynical attempt to defeat the bill by
someone opposed to civil rights both for black people and women, or an attempt to support their rights by
broadening the bill to include women. Historians speculate that Smith was trying to embarrass northern
Democrats who opposed civil rights for women because the clause was opposed by labor unions.
Representative Carl Elliott of Alabama later claimed "Smith didn't give a d___ about women's rights", as "he
was trying to knock off votes either then or down the line because there was always a hard core of men who
didn't favor women's rights." Smith asserted that he was not joking and he sincerely supported the
amendment.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson celebrated the 1964 Civil Rights Act as a huge achievement. Dr. King was
there along with others during the signing of the bill into law officially. President Kennedy and President
Johnson knew that this legitimate law would cause Democrats to lose the South for generations. They
supported the bill anyway. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was a monumental part of American history. It inspired
by ending of the poll tax in the 24th Amendment. Racists resisted the law even in 1968 in Orangeburg, South
Caroline that led to the Orangeburg Massacre. The law has 11 titles showing protections of human rights and
eliminating discrimination on the basis of color and sex since LBJ signed the law on July 2, 1964. In essence
the 1964 Civil Rights Act is a landmark of civil rights legislation that outlaws discrimination based on race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, and later sexual orientation and gender identity (as ruled by a later June
2020 Supreme Court decision). It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial
segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. Later, the 1965 Voting
Rights Act would exist via protests, sacrifice, and courage.
 “Fifty years later, those of us who are committed to the cause of justice need to pace
ourselves because the struggle does not last for one day, one week, or one year, but it is the
struggle of a lifetime, and each generation must do its part.”

– John Lewis

The 1965 Voting Rights Act

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 remains one of the greatest forms of legislation in American history (and human
history) in my view. It is that important. It is the cornerstone of the sacrifice of so many of our black Brothers
and black Sisters (including human beings who are of every color) who worked hard to make this bill into law.
Its history is monumental and not without bloodshed. It was created to enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Amendment of the Constitution to ensure voting rights for Americans without racial discrimination or
oppression. The Voting Rights Act is a landmark piece of federal legislation. It was passed during the end one
era of the Civil Rights Movement. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be
the most effective piece of federal civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country. It existed after
Reconstruction. After Reconstruction, Jim Crow policies grew in violation of the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments to the Constitution. Jim Crow wasn't just about segregation. It was about literacy tests, poll
taxes, and property ownership requirements to just vote. There were grandfather clauses, moral character
tests, and other evils that prevented many African Americans to vote in the South and parts of the Midwest
(like Missouri). Unjust rulings like Giles v. Harris (1903) permitted states to continue to deprive black people
the right to vote. Only a small percentage of black people voted in the South from 1957 to 1964. That is why
civil rights leaders wanted a powerful voting rights legislation after the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson knew of these things. President Johnson, after the 1964 election, privately
instructed Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach to draft, "the god____est, toughest voting rights act that
you can." Johnson didn't publicly push for legislation at that time, because his advisers warned him of the
political costs for vigorously pursuing a voting rights bill so soon after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of
1964.

Johnson didn't want his Great Society reforms to be gone by angering Southern Democrats in Congress. After
the 1964 election, civil rights leaders in SCLC, SNCC, and other groups pushed for federal action to protect
the voting rights of racial minorities. Their efforts were heavily focused in Selma, Alabama. County Sheriff Jim
Clark and his police force used violence against peaceful protesting African Americans who wanted voter
registration. Clark was a very vicious, racist person. James Forman of SNCC said: "Our strategy, as usual, was
to force the U.S. government to intervene in case there were arrests—and if they did not intervene, that
inaction would once again prove the government was not on our side and thus intensify the development of
a mass consciousness among black human beings. Our slogan for this drive was “One Man, One Vote." Amelia
Boynton, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Kwame Ture, and other civil rights leaders organized many peaceful
demonstrations in Selma. Violence happened against many black protesters by the police and racist white
counter protesters. In January and February 1965, the protests were given national media coverage and
attention to the issue of voting rights. Dr. King and other demonstrators were arrested during a march on
February 1 for violating an anti-parade ordinance; this inspired similar marches in the following days, causing
hundreds more to be arrested. By February 4, 1965, black revolutionary Malcolm X gave a heroic speech in
Selma where he said that he believed in self-defense. He told Coretta Scott King in private that he wanted his
words to inspire change, so people could support Dr. King's cause of voting rights. The next day, King was
released and a letter he wrote addressing voting rights, "Letter From A Selma Jail", appeared in The New York
Times.

President Johnson soon would go on national TV to advocate for federal voting rights legislation by February
6, 1965. Johnson didn't reveal the proposal's content or disclose when it would come before Congress. By
February 18, 1965, another tragedy happened. This was in Marion, Alabama where state troopers violently
broke up a nighttime voting rights march. Officer James Bonard Fowler shot and killed the young black
American Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was unarmed and protecting his mother. This event caused Bevel and
others to march from Selma to Montgomery on March 7, 1965. They wanted to go into Montgomery, or
Alabama's capital to promote voting rights and present then Governor George Wallace their grievances. On
the first march, demonstrators were stopped by state and county police on horseback at the Edmund Pettus
Bridge near Selma. The police shot tear gas into the crowd and trampled protesters. Televised footage of the
scene, which became known as "Bloody Sunday", generated outrage across the country. A second march was
held on March 9, which became known as "Turnaround Tuesday". That evening, three white Unitarian
ministers who participated in the march were attacked on the street and beaten with clubs by four Ku Klux
Klan members. The worst injured was Reverend James Reeb from Boston, who died on Thursday, March 11,
1965.
In the wake of the events in Selma, President Johnson, addressing a televised joint session of Congress on
March 15, called on legislators to enact expansive voting rights legislation. He concluded his speech with the
words "we shall overcome", a major anthem of the civil rights movement. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was
introduced in Congress two days later while civil rights leaders, now under the protection of federal troops,
led a march of 25,000 people from Selma to Montgomery. Back then, the United States Department of Justice
fought to end discriminatory election practices on a case by case basis, but this wasn't enough. There were
tons of federal anti-discrimination laws on the books, but state officials refused to enforce the 15th
Amendment to eliminate voting discrimination. That is why a federal bill being comprehensively made was
necessary to advance human rights. The United States Supreme Court explained this in South Carolina v.
Katzenbach (1966). In South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966) the Supreme Court also held that Congress had
the power the pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 under its Enforcement Powers stemming from the Fifteenth
Amendment. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was introduced in Congress by March 17, 1965, as S. 1564. It was
jointly sponsored by Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield (D-MT) and Senate minority leader Everett
Dirksen (R-IL), both of whom had worked with Attorney General Katzenbach to draft the bill's language.
Although Democrats held two-thirds of the seats in both chambers of Congress after the 1964 Senate
elections, Johnson worried that Southern Democrats would filibuster the legislation because they had
opposed other civil rights efforts. He enlisted Dirksen to help gain Republican support. Dirksen did not
originally intend to support voting rights legislation so soon after supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but
he expressed willingness to accept the "revolutionary" legislation after learning about the police violence
against marchers in Selma on Bloody Sunday.
Dirksen helped Katzenbach to draft the legislation. After Mansfield and Dirksen introduced the bill, 64
additional senators agreed to cosponsor it. There was a total of 46 Democratic and 20 Republican cosponsors.
The bill had parts that targeted state and local governments with a coverage formula that determined which
jurisdictions were subject to the Act. There was the "preclearance" requirement that prohibited covered
jurisdictions from implementing changes to their voting procedures without first receiving approval from the
U.S. attorney general or the U.S. District Court for D.C. that the changes were not discriminatory; and the
suspension of "tests or devices", such as literacy tests, in covered jurisdictions. The bill also authorized the
assignment of federal examiners to register voters, and of federal observers to monitor elections, to covered
jurisdictions that were found to have engaged in egregious discrimination. The bill set these special provisions
to expire after five years. Many people didn't like the formula, especially in the Deep South. Yet, the bill had
a general prohibition on racial discrimination in voting that applied nationwide. The bill also included
provisions allowing a covered jurisdiction to "bail out" of coverage by proving in federal court that it had not
used a "test or device" for a discriminatory purpose or with a discriminatory effect during the 5 years
preceding its bailout request. Mansfield used a motion to require the Judiciary Committee to report the bill
out of committee by April 9. He did this from preventing the bill from dying in committee. The Senate passed
the bill with a vote of 67 to 13. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts wanted the bill to ban poll taxes, but
it was later banned via the Twenty-fourth Amendment banning them in federal elections. Many parts of the
bill passed. The Senate passed it officially by a vote of 77-19 on May 26, 1965.

Then, the bill came into the House of Representatives as H.R. 6400. The House Judiciary Committee was the
first committee to consider the bill. The committee's ranking Republican, William McCulloch (R-OH),
generally supported expanding voting rights, but he opposed both the poll tax ban and the coverage formula,
and he led opposition to the bill in committee. The committee eventually approved the bill on May 12, but it
did not file its committee report until June 1. The bill included two amendments from subcommittee: a
penalty for private persons who interfered with the right to vote and a prohibition of all poll taxes. The poll
tax prohibition gained Speaker of the House John McCormack's support. The bill was next considered by the
Rules Committee, whose chair, Howard W. Smith (D-VA), opposed the bill and delayed its consideration until
June 24, when Celler initiated proceedings to have the bill discharged from committee. The House debated
the bill on July 6. McCulloch wanted to defeat the bill by promoting an alternative bill. The House passed the
Voting Rights Act by a 333-85 vote (Democrats had 221-61 and Republicans had 112-24). The conference
committee existed to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

A major contention concerned the poll tax provisions; the Senate version allowed the attorney general to sue
states that used poll taxes to discriminate, while the House version outright banned all poll taxes. Initially,
the committee members were stalemated. To help broker a compromise, Attorney General Katzenbach
drafted legislative language explicitly asserting that poll taxes were unconstitutional and instructed the
Department of Justice to sue the states that maintained poll taxes. To assuage concerns of liberal committee
members that this provision was not strong enough, Katzenbach enlisted the help of Martin Luther King Jr.,
who gave his support to the compromise. King's endorsement ended the stalemate, and on July 29, the
conference committee reported its version out of committee. The House approved this conference report
version of the bill on August 3 by a 328–74 vote (Democrats 217–54, Republicans 111–20), and the Senate
passed it on August 4 by a 79–18 vote (Democrats 49–17, Republicans 30–1). On August 6, 1965, President
Lyndon Johnson signed the Act into law with Dr. King, Rosa Parks, John Lewis, and other civil rights leaders in
attendance at the signing ceremony. Later, Congress enacted major amendments to the law in 1970, 1975,
1982, 1992, and in 2006. Each amendment coincided with an impending expiration of some or all of the Act's
special provisions. Originally set to expire by 1970, Congress repeatedly reauthorized the special provisions
in recognition of continuing voting discrimination. In the future, the Supreme Court ended the coverage
formula of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act via the infamous, evil Shelby County v. Holder decision (2013).
The original 1965 Voting Rights Act banned discriminatory voting laws, especially in Section 2.

The impact of the 1965 Voting Rights Act was huge. It immediately decreased racial discrimination in voting.
The banning of literacy tests and using federal examiners and observers allowed many racial minorities to
register to vote. Nearly 250,000 African Americans registered in 1965, one-third of whom were registered by
federal examiners. In covered jurisdictions, less than one-third (29.3 percent) of the African American
population was registered in 1965; by 1967, this number increased to more than half (52.1 percent),  and a
majority of African American residents became registered to vote in 9 of the 13 Southern states. Similar
increases were seen in the number of African Americans elected to office: between 1965 and 1985, African
Americans elected as state legislators in the 11 former Confederate states increased from 3 to
176. Nationwide, the number of African American elected officials increased from 1,469 in 1970 to 4,912 in
1980. By 2011, the number was approximately 10,500. Similarly, registration rates for language minority
groups increased after Congress enacted the bilingual election requirements in 1975 and amended them in
1992. In 1973, the percent of Hispanics registered to vote was 34.9 percent; by 2006, that amount nearly
doubled. The number of Asian Americans registered to vote in 1996 increased by 58 percent by 2006.
Preclearance helped to fight against discriminatory annexations, redistricting plans, and other methods to
hamper votes. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 caused a massive political realignment in American society
among the Democratic plus Republican parties.
Between 1890 and 1965, minority disenfranchisement allowed conservative Southern Democrats to
dominate Southern politics. After Johnson signed the Act into law, newly enfranchised racial minorities began
to vote for liberal Democratic candidates throughout the South, and Southern white conservatives began to
switch their party registration from Democrat to Republican en masse. These dual trends caused the two
parties to ideologically polarize, with the Democratic Party becoming more liberal and the Republican Party
becoming more conservative.  The trends also created competition between the two parties, which
Republicans capitalized on by implementing the Southern strategy. Over the subsequent decades, the
creation of majority-minority districts to remedy racial vote dilution claims also contributed to these
developments. By packing liberal-leaning racial minorities into small numbers of majority-minority districts,
large numbers of surrounding districts became more solidly white, conservative, and Republican. While this
increased the elected representation of racial minorities as intended, it also decreased white Democratic
representation and increased the representation of Republicans overall. By the mid-1990s, these trends
culminated in a political realignment: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party became more
ideologically polarized and defined as liberal and conservative parties, respectively; and both parties came
to compete for electoral success in the South, with the Republican Party controlling most of Southern politics.
A 2016 study in the American Journal of Political Science found "that members of Congress who represented
jurisdictions subject to the preclearance requirement were substantially more supportive of civil rights-
related legislation than legislators who did not represent covered jurisdictions." Today, the 1965 Voting
Rights is threatened to be gone completely by the far-right movement. Yet, we will continue to defend this
law 100 percent.
 Events of the Civil Rights Movement that Changed the World

In February 1960, there SNCC was founded During the Summer In April 1962, the Voter In July 1963, a deal was
were the Sit-ins in in April 1960. The of 1961, Freedom Education Project was reached during the Civil
Greensboro, North Mother of SNCC Riders campaigned launched. This Rights Movement at
Carolina. The sit-ins was the legendary against racial institution helped to Cambridge, Maryland.
inspired future activism of woman, Ella Baker. discrimination, expand voter Gloria Richardson was one
civil rights leaders. SNCC is about traveled the nation, registration and other of the many leaders of the
using grassroots and fought to end human rights movement in Cambridge.
efforts in Jim Crow apartheid. opportunities. She is pictured in the photo
establishing real above.
change.

The 1963 March on In 1965, the Selma On January 1966, On April 4, 1967, Dr. By 1968, in places like
Washington was about voting rights SNCC officially Martin Luther King Jr. Howard university and
the Dream for justice. campaign reaches issues a document gave his historic other locations, students
Also, the march called for into a new level of completely in Riverside Baptist fought for African
an end to police brutality, power. There was opposition to the Church speech in American and African
economic justice, civil Bloody Sunday Vietnam War. This opposition to the Diaspora courses to be
rights legislation, and when innocent men, comes after the Vietnam War on moral caught in schools
educational development women, and murder of Sammy and economic nationwide (which was
children were Younge by a racist. grounds. His called the Black Studies
beaten by crooked courageous speech movement). 1968 was one
cops. Also, made him hatred by of the most revolutionary
protesters carried the establishment, but years in human history.
onward in their he persisted to speak
legitimate cause of out.
voting rights and
justice.
In 1971, there was the 26th Amendment signed. This was signed by President Richard Nixon to allow
American citizens who are 18 years old or older the right to vote. During the 1960's, the movement to fight
for a younger voting age from 21 existed strongly. This movement was strengthened by the increase of
student activism and the anti-Vietnam war movement. Many people, who were 18, were drafted to war but
couldn't vote until 1971. By 1975, we see the Voting Rights Act to expand to protect non-English language
speaking minorities. Congress added new provisions to the Voting Rights Act to require jurisdictions with
significant numbers of voters (who have limited or no proficiency in English) to have voting materials in other
languages (and to provide multilingual assistance at the polls). By 1982, Congress passed a law extending the
Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. The extension required states to take steps to make voting more
accessible for the elderly and people with disabilities. In 1993, the Motor Voter became law. This is about the
law requiring states to allow citizens to register to vote when they applied for their drivers' licenses. This
required states to offer mail in registration and to allow people to register to vote at offices offering public
assistance. More than 30 million people finished their voter registration applications or updated their
registration via the law after the first year of the law's implementation.

After the 2000 Bush v. Gore controversial election, new changes happened. There was a recount in the state
of Florida. So, new policies existed to upgrade faulty equipment and bad ballot designs. The U.S. Supreme
Court ruled to stop the Florida recount and cause George W. Bush to be President of the United States of
America. By 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act. This law streamlined election procedures in
America. It placed new mandates on states and localities to replace outdated voting equipment, create
statewide voter registration lists, and have provisional ballots to make sure that eligible voters are not turned
away if their names are not on the rolls of registered voters. The law made it easier for people with disabilities
to cast private, independent ballots. By the 2010's and 2020's, new reforms existed along with massive voter
suppression policies on another level. Many programs and institutions have been invented to promote voting
rights and expand voting among historically underrepresented communities. In 2011, Florida changed its
felony voting rights to make felons wait 5 years after sentencing and apply for the right to vote again.

By June 2013, the Supreme Court made one of its worst decisions in history by ending the Section 5 part of
the Voting Rights Act. The case is Shelby County v. Holder. The Supreme Court gutted a major part of the law.
Now, states and localities, with a history of suppressing voting rights, can no longer require to submit changes
in their election laws to the U.S. Justice Department for review (or preclearance). The 5-4 decision ruled
unconstitutional a section of the landmark 1965 law that was key to protect voters in states and localities
with a history of race-based voter suppression. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was right to state in her dissent
of the case that, "Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop
discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting
wet." By August of 2013, more states increase their policies to put up more barriers to voting. By August 11,
2013, North Carolina's governor signed a voter ID law. Many critics of the law said that it was an attempt to
suppress the votes of people of color. After a lawsuit (sent by civil rights groups and the U.S. Department of
Justice), that North Carolina law was struck down by a federal judge who said that it targeted African
Americans with "almost surgical precision." Voter ID laws were passed in Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, and
Florida. The problem with these voter ID laws is that they sometimes restrict the time when people can vote,
limit how people can vote, and even go to use restrictions causing discrimination in many ways. By 2014,
more civil rights and social justice groups united to fight the far-right voter suppression agenda.

This fight has been done by the NAACP, National Action Network, the ACLU, the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and other groups. This battle involves racial gerrymandering, strict
voter ID laws, and other efforts to reduce the voting rights of black people, other people of color, the poor,
the elderly, and other underrepresented populations. By 2016, Trump won the election. Voter fraud never
existed in a massive scale regardless of Trump's claims. This lie of massive voter fraud would continue to be
advanced by some folks in 2020, 2021, and 2022. By October of 2018, Georgia promotes efforts to advance
more barriers to voting. This measure to cut voting hours in Atlanta and restricting early voting on the
weekends were defeated by 2018. Record voters in 2018 existed. The 2020 Census existed, and Trump failed
to try to add a question to the 2020 census to see if someone is a citizen of America. 2020 saw some voting
rights victories. For example, in that year, California restored voting rights to citizens serving parole,
Washington D.C. passed a law to allow incarcerated felons to vote, voting rights increased for those with
felony convictions, and in New Jersey felons can vote (after conviction and release from prison plus citizens
on parole or probation can vote). North Dakota reached an agreement with the Spirit Lake Nation and the
Standing Rock Sioux to recognize tribal address as valid for voting purposes. In 2020, Trump lost. Afterwards,
new voting restrictive laws existed in Texas and Georgia. In 2021, the Supreme Court's ruling on Brnovich v.
Democratic National Committee had broad removals of the remaining sections of the Voting Rights Act,
which was wrong. The fight for voting rights continues.
In our generation, we must make it be known that threats to our voting rights continue, even decades after
1965. By December 6, 2019, the Democratic led House passed HR 4. This would revise parts of the gutted
parts of the Voting Rights Act. HR 4 wasn't brought up for a vote in the Senate (which was controlled by the
Republicans back then). It hasn't been introduced in the current Congress. After Joe Biden won the 2020
election on November 7, 2020, the voter suppression actions by many far-right Republicans have accelerated,
not decreased in intensity. To be honest, black people in Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, and other places in America contributed heavily to make sure that Trump lost the election. So,
the big lie about the election is an attack on the integrity of black people and all freedom loving people too.

By March 3, 2021, the Democratic led House passed the For the People Act or HR 1. It still hasn't been passed
by the Senate to this day. In his first speech on the Senate floor, Rep. Warnock (on March 17, 2021) spoke
about the precarious state of voting rights. “We are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault
on voting rights unlike anything we’ve ever seen since the Jim Crow era,” he said. “It is a contradiction to say
we must protect minority rights in the Senate while refusing to protect minority rights in the society.” On
March 25, 2021, Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed an anti-voting rights bill into law. It is called
SB 202. It imposes new voter identification requirements for absentee ballots, allows state officials to take
over local election boards, curbs the use of ballot drop boxes and makes it a crime for people who aren’t poll
workers to approach voters in line to give them food and water. Democrat Stacey Abrams — who founded
Fair Fight after losing to Kemp in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race, which was choked with controversy
— has been vocal in her opposition to Georgia Republicans’ antidemocratic maneuvering. “At a time when
Georgia ranks as the worst state for Covid vaccination rates, Georgia Republicans instead are singularly
focused on reviving Georgia's dark past of racist voting laws,” Abrams said in a March 2021 statement.
On May 6, 2021, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed another restrictive anti-voting rights bill
into law. It's called SB 90. It has stricter voter identification requirements for voting by mail, limits who can
pick up and return a voter’s ballot and prohibits private funding for elections, among other things. Mere
minutes after DeSantis signed the bill, a coalition that includes the League of Women Voters of Florida and
the Black Voters Matter Fund filed a lawsuit to challenge several of the new law’s provisions. Democratic
state Rep. Michael Grieco saw clear parallels between Georgia’s SB 202 and Florida’s SB 90. “That bill that
was passed in the state just north of us sent us a message, and the response to that bill should let us know
we should not be doing this,” he said during House debate in 2021. Grieco also made an appeal, “Please do
not Georgia my Florida.” On September 7, 2021, Texas Republican Governor Gregg Abbott signed SB 1 into
law. It is terrible. “It specifically targets voting initiatives used by diverse, Democratic Harris County, the
state’s most populous, by banning overnight early voting hours and drive-thru voting — both of which proved
popular among voters of color last year,” The Texas Tribune reported at the time. Notably, SB 1 prompted
the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit against Texas. “Laws that impair eligible citizens’ access to the
ballot box have no place in our democracy. Texas Senate Bill 1’s restrictions on voter assistance at the polls
and on which absentee ballots cast by eligible voters can be accepted by election officials are unlawful and
indefensible,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

By December 6, 2021, the DOJ sued Texas over GOP approved redistricting maps. It was the 2nd voting rights
related lawsuit that the Biden administration have filed against Texas in 2021. The maps, adopted by Texas
Republicans, are accused of disadvantaging black voters and fail to recognize the growth of the state's Latino
population. At least 19 states passed 34 laws that make it difficult for people to vote according to the New
York University Law School's Brennan Center for Justice. On January 19, 2022, Congress failed to pass voting
rights legislation. Senator Joe Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema refuse to end the filibuster on
Dr. King's holiday. Dr. King was right to say that, “the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward
freedom is not the White Citizens’ Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the White moderate who is more
devoted to ‘order’ than to justice.” On February 7, 2022, the Supreme restored the GOP drawn Alabama
Congressional map. It was a 5-4 decision. This was another bad decision. Previously, a lower court rejected
the policy as it harmed black voters’ electoral power in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Justice Elena Kagan
of the Supreme Court dissented with the Supreme Court's decision. She was joined by Stephen Breyer, Sonia
Sotomayor. Kagan wrote that, "It does a disservice to the district court, which meticulously applied this
Court’s longstanding voting-rights precedent...And most of all, it does a disservice to Black Alabamians who
under that precedent have had their electoral power diminished — in violation of a law this Court once knew
to buttress all of American democracy.” New states have introduced bills to restrict voting so far in 2022
alone. So, we must stand up for our democratic rights.
 Some sad news is that the legendary
actress Mary Alice Smith recently
passed away on July 27, 2022. I
remembered her playing many roles
from A Different World to the film
The Matrix Revolutions. She was
definitely one of the greatest, unsung
actresses of all time. With passion,
realism, and strength, she made her
audience feel her talent flourish.
Also, she was remarkably great in the
theater. She earned a Tony Award
for Best Featured Actress in a Play
for her appearance in the 1987
production of August Wilson's
Fences. Fences was a historic play that details the life of black people in
the city of Pittsburgh. Her birthplace was in the Deep South at Indianola,
Mississippi. By the time when she was 2 years old, she moved to Chicago.
Chicago Teacher's College (now the Chicago State University where she
graduated from) gave her a great education. Mary Alice Smith taught in
an elementary school before returning to acting in the mid-1960's. Being
part of famous theater productions was part of her longevity. Also, she
was on shows and movies as diverse as the 1974 film The Education of
Sonny Carson, Police Woman, and Sanford and Son. She was in the film
Sparkle (which is based on the ups and downs of R&B women groups) in
1976. From being on All My Children, Malcolm X, Down in The Delta,
The Inkwell, and the show I'll Fly Away (which details life during the “I chose this profession because I feel
this is how I can fulfill my service as a
early Civil Rights Movement. I saw that show when I was in elementary human being communicating the
school at NBC before), she was part of some of the greatest films of our human condition…May desire is to
time. The gift of her was that Mary Alice Smith quintessentially used create interesting and complex
creativity, honesty, and a love of people to present her glorious work to characters on film and television.”

the people. Her grace and elegance were preeminent. She passed at 85. -Mary Alice Smith

Rest In Power Sister Mary Alice Smith

With all the voting rights suppression laws, we do recognize the activists fighting back for our freedom. One
of the most unsung heroes fighting for voting rights is LaTosha Brown. She is the co-founder of Black Voters
Matter Fund and the Black Voters Capacity Building Institute. She was one of the many human beings who
have worked in Georgia to grow a coalition to make sure that Georgia was blue in 2020. Expanding voting
access in Georgia is a large part of her great legacy as an activist. The 2022 midterm elections are coming up.
We desire to expand voting rights, fight voter ID restrictions, fight unfair gerrymandering, and harbor a love
of truth. We want racial justice as well. We know about Charles Neblett, Ruth Mae Harris, and other civil
rights singers advocating for freedom. Yolanda Renee King (or the granddaughter of the late Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.) has spoken out, protested, and use great activism in defending our human rights. Cliff Albright
of Black Voters Matter is continuing to fight for voting rights. Other civil rights leaders and scholars like Kim
Crenshaw, Helen Butler, and other people are making the point that voting restrictions are evil plus critical
race theory is not equivalent to racist extremism. Tons of people are standing up like Ruby Sales (who was
part of SNCC and other groups), etc. We express our solidarity with Crystal Mason who was in jail when she
didn't know that she was ineligible to vote. With the January 6 th Committee, more 2022 Supreme Court
decisions, and other political developments, we witness a new chapter of our lives. The late John Lewis spoke
out about how extremists who try to turn back the clock, and we won't let that happen in the future.

By Timothy
 Remembering Nichelle Nichols
(December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022)

A great human being passed away at the age

of 89 years old. The future Star Trek
movies and TV shows would not have
existed without her presence originally. She
was Nichelle Nichols. She was a gorgeous
black woman who represented the
ascendance of more black representation
on TV and film. There was a time when
there were no black people found on
Nichols played the character television on a massive scale. Nichelle
of Commander Nyota Uhura Nichols helped to change that. Also, she
from 1966 to 1991. She
worked in linguistics,
was an expert dancer and musician. She was
cryptography, and philology. the first black woman on Star Trek to
The name Uhura comes from show her talent on the science fiction
the Swahili words Uhuru legendary show. From the 1960's to the
meaning freedom. present, Star Trek inspired generations to
improve human creativity and have a love
of scientific exploration. Nichols was
praised by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and
Dr. King inspired her to continue to be on
the show (as Dr. King, Coretta Scott King,
and their children were fans of Star Trek).
Nichelle Nichols was a black woman
whose love of people was made manifest in
On February 29, 2012, the world. It was a contagious, positive
Nichelle Nichols met with love. Nicholas (who was a participating
President Barack Obama. Presbyterian) played diverse roles in other
Both used the Vulcan hand films too. For decades, she has shown
sign. Obama (who had a crush courage, great insights, and a love of acting.
on Nichols as child) is a She made the world better, and her legacy
Trekker too as he admitted.
shines through constantly. Always a
crusader for STEM fields, she was a
pioneer of activism. Mae Jemison (who is
Nichelle Nichols and Mae the first black woman to travel into space)
Jemison were friends, and Mae
saw Nichelle Nicholas' portrayal of
Jemison was on Star Trek
before too.
Lieutenant Uhura to solidify her interest in
space. She loved her son. Nichelle Nichols
Rest in Power Sister Nichelle Nichols had a joy in her spirit to exhibit
compassion.
Peace and Blessings Y’all