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john lewis
'Good Trouble Lives On' at Anti-Trump Protests in 1,600 Cities Across US
"They want to rule by fear," said one advocacy group. "We will respond with power, people, and purpose. "
Jul 17, 2025
As the Trump administration attacks immigrant communities, working families, and the rule of law and brings the United States "to a crossroads," as one organizer said this week, rights advocates across the country are set to attend the fifth annual National Day of Action in honor of the late congressman and activist John Lewis on Thursday—with plans to get into "Good Trouble" in defense of democracy.
This year's event, held on the fifth anniversary of the Georgia Democrat's death, is titled the Good Trouble Lives On National Day of Action, after a demand from Lewis—who worked alongside civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s—for Americans to get into "good trouble" by taking part in nonviolent protests to challenge in justice.
"Find a way to get in the way," Lewis said in 2020 said in 2020, just a few months before his death, at an event marking the 55th anniversary of the historic voting rights march in Selma, Alabama, where he was arrested in 1965. "Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America."
Lewis made his celebrated remarks in the final year of President Donald Trump's first term in office, and organizers this year are rallying around the growing nationwide opposition to Trump's anti-immigration, pro-billionaire agenda to encourage Americans to attend rallies and other events in every state in the country.
A flagship event will be held in Chicago Thursday evening, with a livestream of the rally set to begin at 7:00 pm local time. Other anchor events will take place in Atlanta; St. Louis; Annapolis, Maryland; and Oakland, California—but those are just a few of the 1,600 cities and towns where advocates plan to hold rallies and other nonviolent actions.
Good Trouble Lives On actions are being held in the wake of Senate Republicans' latest attack on programs that serve ordinary Americans and people around the world: the passage of a bill to rescind $9 billion in already-approved congressional funding for public media and foreign aid programs.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, the administration has also sparked alarm over voting rights and a potential plan to interfere with elections in 2026 by embarking on an "unprecedented effort to collect data on voters."
Trump's attacks on immigrants across the country are also continuing in full force, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents make arrests at courthouses and carry out raids at farms, schools, medical facilities, and residential communities. Despite earlier claims that the administration would target violent criminals in its mass deportation and detention operation, arrests of immigrants with no criminal record have surged—with the administration refusing to adhere to constitutional law guaranteeing due process for everyone in the United States.
"They want to rule by fear," said One Fair Wage, an advocacy group for service workers, ahead of the protests on Thursday. "We will respond with power, people, and purpose. We are not spectators to history. We are the makers of it."
Organizers said the "streets, courthouses, and community spaces" where the Trump administration has waged its attacks will be the sites of the protests.
The day of action also follows the passage earlier this month of Trump's massive domestic policy package, which includes permanent tax cuts for wealthy Americans and corporations—at the expense of low- and middle-income households. The package includes cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a $45 billion expansion of immigration detention facilities, and a termination of green energy programs, among other provisions.
"The attacks on our communities, the assault on the rule of law and democracy, and the greedy acts of corporations and billionaires have led us to a crossroads," said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. "And as a result, we are asking people around the country this Thursday to make good trouble."
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'It Can't Be Business as Usual': Cory Booker Praised for Historic Stand Against Trump-Musk
"More of this energy from every Democrat please," said one progressive commentator as the New Jersey lawmaker continued to hold the floor of the U.S. Senate with a record-breaking speech that lasted over 25 hours.
Apr 01, 2025
Answering the voting public's growing call for the Democratic Party to actually stand up to Republicans' sweeping assault on the federal government, led by U.S. President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, Sen. Cory Booker took to the Senate floor at 7:00 pm Eastern Time on Monday and spoke for 25 hours and 5 minutes, shattering a record for the chamber's longest speech.
Early in his remarks, Booker (D-N.J.) cited the example of late Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights icon who famously declared in 2020, "Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America."
Booker, who ran for president in 2020, explained Monday that he asked himself, "If he's my hero, how am I living up to his words?"
"What's happened in the past 71 days in a patent demonstration of a time where John Lewis' call to everyone has, I think, become more urgent and more pressing," Booker said. "So, tonight, I rise tonight with the intention of getting in some good trouble. I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able."
"I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis—and I believe that not in a partisan sense, because so many of the people that have been reaching out to my office in pain, in fear, having their lives upended, so many of them identify themselves as Republicans," the senator continued.
Booker stressed that "bedrock commitments are being broken, unnecessary hardships are being borne by Americans of all backgrounds, and institutions which are special in America, which are precious, which are unique in our country, are being recklessly and I would say even unconstitutionally affected, attacked, and even shattered."
"In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans' safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy, and even our aspirations as a people for, from our highest offices, a sense of common decency. These are not normal times in America, and they should not be treated as such," he argued. "I can't allow this body to continue without doing something different, speaking out. The threats to American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more—we all must do more against them."
Booker accused the president of "betraying" America and causing "chaos, instability, and harm" by working to gut a wide range of programs—an effort spearheaded by Trump's Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency—while seeking tax cuts for wealthy people and corporations, which Republicans are trying to push through Congress.
Over several hours, the senator addressed topics such as GOP attacks on healthcare, including efforts to cut Medicaid; attempts to dismantle the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Education; a mass deportation agenda that has swept up immigrants like Kilmar Abrego Garcia; and the administration's "national security policies that are leaving our allies abandoned, our adversaries emboldened, and Americans less safe."
Throughout Booker's many hours standing at the podium—he reportedly had the chair removed to avoid the temptation to sit down—he sporadically yielded for a question from a Democratic colleague while retaining the floor, which gave him opportunities to rest his voice and transition from topic to topic.
As The Associated Press reported: "Democratic aides watched from the chamber's gallery, and Sen. Chris Murphy accompanied Booker throughout his speech. Murphy was returning the comradeship that Booker had given to him in 2016 when the Connecticut Democrat held the floor for almost 15 hours to argue for gun control legislation."
Other Democrats who asked questions of Booker included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Chris Coons (Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Mark Warner (Va.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Peter Welch (Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), and Ron Wyden (Ore.). Independent Sen. Angus King (Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, also joined in.
Many of them praised Booker's stunt—as did Trump critics across social media, including Democrats in the lower chamber such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), who declared that "this is the kind of relentless resistance our democracy demands."
Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said: "Proud of Cory Booker! It would be poetic justice if he beats Strom Thurmond's record of speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes to block the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Yes, the longest filibuster in our nation's history was to block civil rights."
Just before breaking the record on Tuesday night, Booker, who is Black, referenced Thurmond, saying: "I'm here despite his speech... The people were more powerful."
Booker's move came amid calls for Schumer to step down as minority leader after caving to Republicans during the latest government shutdown crisis, and as polling shows that a large majority of registered Democrats and Independent voters who lean Democratic are frustrated with the party for not effectively fighting Trump and supporting working poeple.
Sharing the livestream on social media Tuesday, the American Federation of Teachers said: "Sen. Booker has been standing on the Senate floor since last night, speaking powerfully on behalf of families and our nation. Thank you for your unwavering leadership, Sen. Booker."
Matt Royer of Young Democrats of America asserted that what Booker "is doing is heroic and courageous and exactly what we're looking for from Washington during this time. If you are not following along with this and why he is doing it, you absolutely should."
Podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen similarly pleaded, "More of this energy from every Democrat please."
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Why Mutual Aid Is Vital to Criminal Justice Reform’s Next Chapter
Bail funds play a powerful and important role not only in reducing the structural harms caused by our nation’s reliance on failing cash bail policies, but also in strengthening and preserving our country’s democratic ideals.
Dec 24, 2024
As political analysts continue to piece together the results of this year’s general election, an illuminating takeaway has emerged on issues related to criminal justice: Voters who cast their ballot in red states also voted in local elections for reform-minded candidates and passed progressive criminal justice ballot measures; whereas in some blue states, voters preferred candidates who promise to implement tough-on-crime policies.
These results show that people’s political beliefs no longer easily fall along party lines. And criminal justice reform doesn’t offer any obviously easy solutions. For many, what matters most is feeling safe in our communities. It also suggests that most people believe accomplishing this requires us to no longer view matters like criminal justice as partisan issues.
When I think about this, the legacy and words of John Lewis—a civil rights leader turned congressman—spring to mind: “We cannot thrive as a democracy when justice is reserved for only those with means,” Lewis wrote in 2020. It was at the height of a national movement for racial justice, and his words and the social unrest were signs of a new movement for a more just and equitable America. Lewis was 80 years old then and severely ill with cancer, yet he remained optimistic about the future of America. Several years since his death, Lewis’ lifework and reflections still resonate deeply.
Supporting different networks of mutual aid organizations, like bail funds, is how communities can lean on their shared values and hold tight to their purpose.
As our nation works to bridge divides and find common ground, Lewis’ legacy continues to offer our nation guidance. From the Jim Crow era of the 1960s to the political and racial justice movement that swept the country in 2020, Lewis witnessed our country’s capacity to transform. His life experiences and reflections offer a roadmap for how people can protect and strengthen American democracy. He believed, for instance, that democracy cannot thrive “where power remains unchecked and justice is reserved for a select few. Ignoring these cries and failing to respond to this movement is simply not an option—for peace cannot exist where justice is not served.”
In today’s America, countless people are still living on the receiving end of that reality. Unarmed Black men continue to be brutally beaten by police. Women are being criminalized for pregnancy loss and for seeking reproductive healthcare. Meanwhile, families are being torn apart by a broken criminal justice system that puts a price on freedom for the legally innocent. But Lewis’ words offer us insight: “As a nation, if we care for the Beloved Community, we must move our feet, our hands, our hearts, our resources to build and not to tear down, to reconcile and not to divide, to love and not to hate, to heal and not to kill.”
To follow in Lewis’ footsteps means viewing this moment in our nation’s history as an opportunity to turn feelings of frustration and uncertainty into positive engagement with our community and fellow neighbors. One way to do that is through mutual aid—the practice of ordinary people helping others in their community by providing resources and services to help meet people’s needs. Groups organized for this purpose, like local community bail funds and The Bail Project, exist to support people when the government does not. Through wealth-based detention that results from the use of cash bail, our cities, states, and counties have shirked their responsibility to preserve the presumption of innocence, establishing a two-tiered system of justice: one for the rich, and another for everyone else.
Charitable bail organizations, like The Bail Project, are often local grassroot groups spearheaded by people from the communities they serve, staffed, for example, by faith leaders, legal experts, and advocates for criminal justice reform. Charitable bail organizations provide free bail assistance and even supportive services—such as court reminders and transportation assistance—to incarcerated people who have already been deemed eligible for release by a judge. In fact, many of the legally innocent people they help have been accused of low-level nonviolent misdemeanors, such as forgetting to attend a scheduled court date. Oftentimes, the only reason people remain incarcerated in jail before trial is because they cannot afford to pay the court a few hundred dollars in exchange for their release before trial—not because they pose a risk of flight or public safety concerns.
Bail funds play a powerful and important role not only in reducing the structural harms caused by our nation’s reliance on failing cash bail policies, but also in strengthening and preserving our country’s democratic ideals. In providing people who a judge has already determined is safe to release with free bail assistance and court support, we safeguard our country’s notions of liberty, freedom, and the presumption of innocence. These are fundamental principles that underpin American democracy—regardless of political affiliation. This work helps our society reimagine how our bail and pretrial systems can be improved.
As we look ahead, the road forward may not be easy, but we’re not alone on it. The work of mutual aid groups and charitable bail funds has helped usher in change. Over the last decade, more than 20 cities have safely minimized the use of cash bail. Supporting different networks of mutual aid organizations, like bail funds, is how communities can lean on their shared values and hold tight to their purpose. Now, more than ever, we must keep our eyes on what we’re here to accomplish, the change we’re fighting for, and the commitment that brought us together. Because, in the words of Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.”
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In Remembrance of James Lawson, a Force for Good and Champion of Peace
We at the Fellowship of Reconciliation, where he worked for many years, are blessed to have counted the civil rights leader among our core team of organizers. It is with reverence that we remember his life and time with us.
Jun 16, 2024
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called him “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” To Rep. John Lewis, he was “the architect of the nonviolence movement.” Jesse Jackson simply called him “the Teacher.” We at the Fellowship of Reconciliation are blessed to have counted him among our core team of organizers. It is with reverence that we remember his life and time with us.
Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr., who died Sunday at age 95, was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and moved with his family to Massillon, Ohio, shortly after. As part of a deeply Christian family, James began regularly reading the bible and developed a prophetic and liberatory interpretation of the gospels at an early age. In a 2014 interview published by Fellowship magazine, Lawson told Diane Lefer, “By the end of my high school years, I came to recognize that that whole business – walk the second mile, turn the other cheek, pray for the enemy, see the enemy as a fellow human being – was a resistance movement. It was not an acquiescent affair or a passive affair. I saw it as a place where my own life grew in strength inwardly, and where I had actually seen people changed because I responded with the other cheek. I went the second mile with them.”
While attending Baldwin-Wallace College, Lawson met A.J. Muste, the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s executive secretary, a renowned pacifist and nonviolent direct action strategist. Deeply inspired, Lawson immediately joined the FOR. Graduating college in 1950, as the Cold War grew, Lawson determined that he would refuse the military draft. Instead of Korea, he was sent to prison, where he served 13 months.
In 1953, Lawson accepted an offer from Hislop College in Nagpur, India, to teach and coach athletics, giving him the opportunity to, like FOR members Howard Thurman and Bayard Rustin had done before him, explore the connections between the Indian self-determination movement and the African-American freedom struggle. Lawson spent the next three years on the subcontinent studying Gandhi’s life and the Satyagraha movement. “I combined the methodological analysis of Gandhi with the teachings of Jesus, who concludes that there are no human beings that you can exclude from the grace of God,” Lawson described to Lefer.
Lawson was completing a graduate degree at the Oberlin School of Theology when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., while visiting the campus, recruited him. King insisted to Lawson that his expertise was needed, not eventually, but immediately! “I mentioned to [King] that while in college I had long wanted to work in the South – especially because of segregation – as a place of work, and that I wanted to do that still,” Lawson told Fellowship magazine editor Richard Deats in 1999. “His response was: ‘Come now! Don’t wait! Don’t put it off too long. We need you NOW!”
When Lawson told A.J. Muste of his decision to move South, Muste quickly offered him a position as FOR’s Southern Field Secretary. Basing himself initially in Nashville, Lawson began working throughout the South, initially with FOR and then the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He focused especially on recruiting and training a generation of nonviolent direct-action activists. Those young people then launched the sit-ins and Freedom Rides and founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
In 1965, while representing SCLC on an International FOR delegation to Vietnam, Lawson met Thich Nhat Hanh. This encounter significantly affected Lawson, inspiring him to facilitate a meeting between the Buddhist monk and Dr. King, and ultimately led to King’s dramatic public stance against the U.S. war in Vietnam. Lawson’s profound assessment of U.S. militarism and what he called “plantation capitalism” shaped not only the interweaving of the 1960s civil rights and anti-war struggles but ultimately how our intersectional social movements are shaped today.
In 1974, in Los Angeles, Lawson continued his solidarity with impoverished low-wage workers. He founded Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice to enlist faith communities in this struggle and pushed direct action campaigns for which he was arrested “more [times] than [during] all his work in the South.”
Lawson spent his last decades both working within peace circles while offering critiques that their movements devoted too much of their focus outside U.S. borders. He believed that true change could only come from within. “Only by engaging in domestic issues and molding a domestic coalition for justice can we confront the militarization of our land,” he argued to Lefer in 2014. “We must confront that here – not over there.”
Whether prophetically interpreting the scriptures, challenging America’s original sin with the fierce power of nonviolent direct action, or strategically connecting with other monumental peace leaders, Lawson’s commitment to social justice was relentless and unwavering. We at the Fellowship of Reconciliation are blessed to have worked with and been mentored by him. As we continue to confront the injustices of our times, we know that Lawson’s spirit is walking beside us.
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Senate Dems Reintroduce Bill to 'Restore Critical Safeguards' of Voting Rights Act
One advocate said the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is "critically important for Congress to pass at a moment in our history when the freedom to vote is under attack in our nation."
Feb 29, 2024
Civil and voting rights advocates on Thursday cheered the reintroduction of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, legislation its sponsors say will "update and restore critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act."
Introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), S.B. 4—a companion to H.R. 14, introduced last September—is named in honor of John Lewis, a late civil rights icon and longtime Georgia congressman. Republicans filibustered the previous iteration of the bill.
"In our nation, there's no freedom more fundamental than the right to vote," said Durbin. "But over the past several years, there has been a sustained effort to chip away at the protections guaranteed to every American under the Voting Rights Act. That's why we've joined together today to reintroduce a bill that would not only restore the protections of the Voting Rights Act, but strengthen it."
We just re-introduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. I’m joined by @SenSchumer, @SenatorWarnock, and civil rights group leaders now.
Our message it’s clear: we must ensure that democracy works for all of us. https://t.co/SH7ujaLfjw
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) February 29, 2024
Warnock said: "I was Congressman Lewis' pastor, but he was my mentor and hero because he believed voting is a sacred undertaking that's about more than a person's voice, it's about their humanity. That's why this legislation is more important than ever, because the fight to protect voting rights and voting access for every eligible American remains unfinished and even worse, so much of the progress Congressman Lewis fought for is being rolled back."
NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Janai Nelson called the bill "a vital piece of legislation that will safeguard the fundamental right to vote by strengthening and restoring the Voting Rights Act, one of the most impactful civil rights laws in our nation's history."
"It is fitting that this critical legislation is put forward as we approach the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when Black Americans—including civil rights hero John Lewis—endured brutal state-sponsored violence while marching for basic rights, which led to the enactment of the Voting Rights Act."
"The fight to protect voting rights and voting access for every eligible American remains unfinished and even worse, so much of the progress Congressman Lewis fought for is being rolled back."
The landmark VRA was meant to ensure that state and local governments could not "deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color."
However, the VRA has been eroded in recent decades by Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country, including with restrictions on voter registration, reduction in early voting options, and voter identification laws. These measures disproportionately disenfranchise minority voters, and some GOP officials have admitted that they are intended to give Republican candidates an electoral edge.
In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the VRA in Shelby County v. Holder, which eviscerated a key section of the law that required jurisdictions with a history of racist disenfranchisement to obtain federal approval prior to altering voting rules. In 2021, the nation's high court voted 5-4 in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee to uphold Arizona's voting restrictions—even as Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged that they disproportionately affect minorities.
"Since Shelby and more recently Brnovich v. DNC made it even harder to challenge discriminatory voting laws, states have continued to limit access to the ballot and use the redistricting process to dilute Black voters' voices," Nelson asserted. "States that were formerly protected—including Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas—are all places where LDF has been forced to bring recent litigation to challenge unlawful racial discrimination in voting."
Common Cause president Virginia Kase Solomón asserted that the protections proposed in the new bill "are critically important for Congress to pass at a moment in our history when the freedom to vote is under attack in our nation."
"A bedrock of our democracy, the freedom to vote has been under sustained assault since the 2020 election with dozens of anti-voter laws passed in states all across the country to make it harder for Americans—particularly in Black and brown communities—to have a say in choosing their elected leaders," she added.
Arturo Vargas, CEO of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, said in a statement that "in the Shelby decision, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged that there is still discrimination in our nation's electoral process—and this bill would provide strong and robust safeguards to combat it."
"We urge Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and help make our democracy more responsive to all of our nation's voices," he added.
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US Democracy Defenders Applaud Fresh Push for 'Urgently Needed' Voting Rights Bill
"It will take passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to curb this new generation of assaults on the freedom to vote," said one campaigner.
Sep 19, 2023
Although it is nearly certain to go nowhere in a Republican-dominated U.S. House of Representatives, pro-democracy groups nationwide celebrated on Tuesday as Congresswoman Terri Sewell reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
"Generations of Americans—many in my hometown of Selma, Alabama—marched, fought, and even died for the equal right of all Americans to vote," Sewell (D-Ala.) said in a statement. "But today, their legacy and our very democracy are under attack as MAGA extremists target voters with new laws to restrict voting access."
"The fight for voting rights has never been more urgent," she argued, explaining that the legislation—named for the late Democratic Georgia congressman and civil rights leader—aims to restore and modernize the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), which was gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court a decade ago in Shelby County v. Holder.
The bill is backed by every House Democrat but faces tough odds in both chambers. Early last year, Democratic right-wing Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), who switched from Democrat to Independent in December, worked with Republicans to block a megabill that included the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis legislation.
Still, U.S. advocacy groups on Tuesday applauded the lawmakers' renewed push for federal voting rights reforms—as they did in July, when Democratic leaders reintroduced the Freedom to Vote Act.
"The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is key in preserving democracy, full stop," declared Public Citizen executive vice president Lisa Gilbert. "A decade after the Supreme Court gutted 'preclearance' protection in the Voting Rights Act, more than half of U.S. states have passed over 90 laws that make it harder to vote for communities of color, in particular."
"Without this legislation, we risk further entrenching anti-democratic, partisan forces that want to choose their own voters," Gilbert warned.
According to the Declaration for American Democracy coalition:
In the last decade since the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court decision gutted key enforcement mechanisms in the Voting Rights Act, at least 29 states have passed 94 laws making it harder to vote, with at least 11 states enacting 13 restrictive voting laws in 2023 alone.
Attacks on our freedom to vote disproportionately impact Black, Latino, Asian, Native, and other voters of color. Since Shelby v. Holder, the racial turnout gap has grown significantly in 5 of the 6 states previously covered by the preclearance sections of the Voting Rights Act.
Sylvia Albert, Common Cause's director of voting and elections, stressed that "this ongoing effort to suppress the vote harkens back to the shameful Jim Crow era. At that time, it took the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and rigorous enforcement by the U.S. Department of Justice to curb the wholesale abuses and attacks on the freedom to vote."
"Today it will take passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to curb this new generation of assaults on the freedom to vote and to strengthen the ability of the Department of Justice to protect that sacred freedom with the tools it used for decades," she asserted, specifically calling out Republican-controlled state legislatures that have tried "to silence Black and Brown voters after they showed up to vote in record numbers during the 2020 election."
Noting that the VRA "has a long history of bipartisan support," Leslie Proll of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said: "We applaud our elected officials who have responded to the call of the majority of people in this country who support new legislation to protect the vote. We need federal action now."
Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, also highlighted previous bipartisan support for the VRA, pointing out that "the last time the Voting Rights Act was reauthorized, in 2006, it gained 98 votes in the Senate." He called on Congress to swiftly pass the "urgently needed" John Lewis bill and the Freedom to Vote Act.
Organizations focused on key issues like abortion rights and the climate emergency also demanded action on the proposal.
"This legislation is long overdue," said a 15-member coalition that included Clean Water Action, Climate Hawks Vote, the Climate Reality Project, Earthjustice, EDF Action, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Greenpeace USA, Interfaith Power & Light, League of Conservation Voters, the National Wildlife Federation, NextGen America, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and Zero Hour.
"We cannot effectively tackle the critical issues our nation faces—like combating the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice, and protecting our air, lands, waters, biodiversity, wildlife, and oceans—without fixing the broken system that caters to corporate polluters and disenfranchises too many voters," the coalition argued.
Meanwhile, NARAL Pro-Choice America said on social media that "voting rights and reproductive freedom are deeply intertwined."
"Anti-abortion extremists attack voting rights knowing that it is critical to electing repro champions," the organization added. "Congress MUST pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act."
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20 Groups Demand Passage of Bowman Amendment to Disclose Cost of US Military Footprint
"This amendment is crucial as taxpayers and other citizens remain concerned—and inadequately informed—about the cost to U.S. taxpayers of the wide range of U.S. military activities abroad."
Aug 28, 2023
U.S. lawmakers remain on August recess but 20 advocacy groups on Monday wrote to top Democrats and Republicans on key congressional panels to demand passage of "commonsense, noncontroversial" legislation to provide the public with greater transparency on U.S. military spending.
When members of Congress return to Capitol Hill next month, they will continue reconciling the differences between the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024—a process that involves intense disagreements over right-wing policies that Republicans want to stuff into the $886 billion package.
The advocacy organizations—including Amnesty International USA, Demand Progress Action, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Just Foreign Policy, Peace Action, RootsAction.com, Veterans for Peace, and Win Without War—came together to support an amendment to the NDAA proposed by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.).
Writing to Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the groups explained how Bowman's proposal has its roots in the 2015 Cost of War Act led by former Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.).
Last year, the late congressman's successor, Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), "carried forward this legacy by introducing new Cost of War legislation expanding the scope of John Lewis' work to include the cost to U.S. taxpayers for any overseas contingency operations," the letter notes, arguing that its inclusion in a previous NDAA "demonstrates the broad-based support for accountability and transparency around U.S. defense spending."
For the FY23 NDAA, Bowman introduced "the latest update to John Lewis' Cost of War legislation," an amendment that "requires reporting on a wider range of costs to fully encompass the U.S. military footprint abroad that is not covered by the former two pieces of legislation," the letter details. "This includes the price of training and assisting partner forces, maintaining overseas bases, paying contractors who provide goods and services in support of operations, and all overseas military operations."
Bowman's measure passed the House but was ultimately left out of the final NDAA. The groups behind the letter to panel leaders now hope it will remain included in the next one, writing that "this amendment is crucial as taxpayers and other citizens remain concerned—and inadequately informed—about the cost to U.S. taxpayers of the wide range of U.S. military activities abroad, including those that fall short of active military missions such as wars or contingency operations."
"Many Americans want great public scrutiny and debate about the balance our nation strikes between spending on our military presence abroad and spending on other domestic priorities," the groups stressed. "This includes spending on healthcare, education, and infrastructure, as well as concerns about the rate of taxation or national debt required to sustain the U.S. overseas presence."
"These debates will only become more relevant as our military budget approaches the $1 trillion mark," the organizations added, "and it is important that the American people have the necessary transparency and data about these costs to engage in our nation's democratic decision-making process around such questions."
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The March on Washington: More Than a Speech
The entire event remains a historic turning point in the ongoing struggle for civil rights, leaving an indelible mark on the history of the United States, while also inspiring future generations to continue the fight for equality.
Aug 28, 2023
The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, celebrating its 60th anniversary this month, is widely remembered for the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. However, this historic event, envisaged for the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, was about much more than a single speech. It brought together a diverse coalition of activists and leaders who passionately advocated for civil rights and equality in a way that transcended the eloquent but limited confines of a singular dream.
The seeds of the March on Washington were planted in 1941 by African American labor leader A. Philip Randolph, who proposed a mass demonstration in the nation’s capital to demand economic opportunities and an end to racial discrimination. After President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an Executive Order banning racial discrimination in defense industries, Randolph relented. However, the idea of a march on Washington persisted, and in 1963, Randolph and other civil rights leaders revived it, this time expanding its scope to address broader issues of racial equality.
While the “I Have a Dream” speech has become synonymous with the march, it is important to acknowledge the voices of other influential speakers who shared their visions and perspectives on that day. One such speaker was the late distinguished Congressman John Lewis. Representing the youthful and fearless Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Lewis delivered a searing critique of the U.S. government, emphasizing the urgency of achieving equality and justice for African Americans.
Women played a noteworthy, if often overlooked, part in the March on Washington.
“We want our freedom, and we want it now!” he defiantly boomed from a podium overlooking the National Mall.
Walter Reuther, the president of the United Automobile Workers, was also an impactful speaker. The influential labor leader’s speech acknowledged the labor movement’s long-standing commitment to social justice and workers’ rights. While emphasizing the importance of fair wages, decent working conditions, and job opportunities, Reuther claimed that the struggle for Black civil rights encompassed not only the termination of racial discrimination but also the improvement and empowerment of the working class.
Women played a noteworthy, if often overlooked, part in the March on Washington. Anna Arnold Hedgeman, an African American civil rights activist and educator, was the only woman on the organizing committee. Battling the deeply ingrained sexism that failed to appreciate the momentous role that women had played in the movement, she leveraged her estimable skills not only to ensure the demonstration’s success, but also to compel its leaders to include a tribute to Black women.
Another influential woman associated with the march was African American civil rights activist and legal scholar Pauli Murray. In a letter to Randolph, Murray delivered a scorching rebuke of march leaders for excluding women beyond token recognition—poignantly underscoring the intersections of race and gender discrimination. “It is indefensible to call a national march on Washington and send out a call which contains the name of not a single woman leader,” she wrote. “‘Tokenism,’” she continued, “is as offensive when applied to women as when applied to Negroes, and... I have not devoted the greater part of my adult life to the implementation of human rights to now condone any policy which is not inclusive.”
The 1963 March on Washington remains a historic turning point in the ongoing struggle for civil rights, leaving an indelible mark on the history of the United States, while also inspiring future generations to continue the fight for equality. As such, the legacy of the march continues to reverberate through the country, connecting with contemporary issues of civil rights and social justice in 2023. The spirit of the march lives on in the ongoing struggles for justice and equity.
Black Lives Matter (BLM), one of the most prominent movements of recent years, has echoed the calls for justice that resonated during the 1963 march. BLM seeks to address systemic racism, particularly in relation to police brutality and the criminal justice system. The movement emphasizes the value of Black lives and demands an end to the violence and disproportionate treatment faced by Black individuals. Its significance lies in its ability to mobilize communities, raise awareness, and push for meaningful reforms to combat racial injustice.
The legacy of the march lives on through the Black Lives Matter movement, the fight against police brutality, and efforts to ensure voting rights.
Learning from the shortcomings of the March on Washington, BLM notably embraced the intersection of race and gender rights by actively taking on issues of sexism and discrimination, including against the LGBTQ+ community.
Efforts to end police brutality have become a focal point in the fight for civil rights and social justice. The tragic killings of numerous unarmed Black people, often at the hands of law enforcement, have sparked public outrage and animated protests and calls for police accountability and reform. These movements draw inspiration from the march, as they aim to continue the work of dismantling structures that perpetuate discrimination and ensuring equal protection under the law for all.
Another crucial issue tied to the march’s legacy is the fight to protect and expand voting rights, including newly proposed legislation named for Congressman Lewis. The march occurred during a time when African Americans faced significant barriers to voting, and its participants advocated for equal access to the ballot box. Today, voter suppression efforts continue to disproportionately impact communities of color, while activists and organizations work toward dismantling these barriers and promoting voter participation as a fundamental means of taking part in the democratic process. It is also a path toward achieving other significant civil rights goals and objectives—such as fair housing.
In 2023, the relationship between the 1963 march and contemporary civil rights and social justice issues is undeniable. The legacy of the march lives on through the Black Lives Matter movement, the fight against police brutality, and efforts to ensure voting rights. These movements, inspired by the spirit and determination of the march’s participants, continue to challenge systemic inequities, and strive for a more just and inclusive society. As we reflect on the progress made since 1963, the struggle for civil rights and social justice remains as critical today as it was then, reminding us that the fight for equality is an ongoing journey.
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Dem Leaders Urged to Mark Bloody Sunday by Acting on Voting Rights, Economic Justice
"This is no time for foolishness, photo-ops, and flaky commitments," declares a letter from faith leaders including Bishop William Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis of the Poor People's Campaign.
Feb 20, 2023
" Selma is sacred ground. It is, in a very real sense, the delivery room where the possibility of a true democracy was born. It is no place to play or to be for political pretense. Either you're serious or not. If you're coming, come on Sunday, the actual day of remembrance. If you're coming, come with a commitment to fight for what these people were willing to give their lives for."
That's the message that faith and rights leaders sent in a Monday letter to U.S. President Joe Biden and members of Congress ahead of the anniversary of Bloody Sunday—when white police officers violently assaulted civil rights advocates, including future Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.), as they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama on March 7, 1965.
The sign-on letter is led by the co-chairs of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival—Bishop William Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis—along with former Democratic Alabama state Sen. Hank Sanders, Faya Rose Touré, Rev. Mark Thompson, Rebecca Marion, and Rev. Carolyn Foster. It is open for signature on the Repairers of the Breach website.
"#SelmaIsSacredGround, not a place for political pretense."
"This is a critical year in the life of our country," the seven initial signatories wrote. "On the one hand, the president and progressive members of Congress have fought to pass policies that have lifted up Americans in many ways. From Covid relief measures to infrastructure investments to child tax credits that lifted millions of children out of poverty (for a brief moment) to the appointment of the first Black woman Supreme Court Justice, we can celebrate some real progress."
"But, on the other hand, with a Democratic president and control of the House and Senate for two years, Democratic leadership was unable to raise the federal minimum wage," they continued, also noting that a few obstructionist Democrats repeatedly helped Senate Republicans block efforts to restore the Voting Rights Act by supporting the filibuster.
That obstruction, they explained, enabled "regressive legislative bodies across the nation to pass more voter suppression bills than any time since Jim Crow and to go through another round of dangerous redistricting, which nullifies the potential power of progressive voting coalitions by stacking and packing votes in certain districts to predetermine outcomes before any vote is cast."
Highlighting research that shows tens of millions of Americans face some form of voter suppression, the letter leaders argue that if Biden and other politicians plan to visit Selma—which was recently devastated by a tornado—for the Bloody Sunday anniversary, they should "declare that the fight for voting rights and the restoration of what they marched across that bridge for is not over."
The letter also demands urgent action on living wages and investments in rural areas, stressing that millions of people—particularly in Southern states—live "in poverty and low-wealth conditions" and remain "uninsured or underinsured at a time when we have more people on healthcare than ever before," three years into the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Those of us who are planning to be in Selma to honor the struggle for voting rights and economic justice should be willing to protest and engage nonviolently if politicians attempt to do moral harm to the memory and the sacredness of what happened on Bloody Sunday," declares the letter. "This is no time for foolishness, photo-ops, and flaky commitments."
"Let us be clear: To honor the memory of Bloody Sunday is to work for the full restoration of the Voting Rights Act, the passage of the original For the People Act that John Lewis helped to write, not the bill that was watered down by Joe Manchin," the letter continues, calling out the pro-filibuster West Virginia Democrat infamous for thwarting his own party's agenda.
"To commemorate Bloody Sunday," the letter adds, "is to commit to raising of the minimum wage to a living wage, to ensuring that every American has adequate healthcare, and to enacting economic development that touches poor and low-wealth communities."
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Biden Demands End of Filibuster to Pass Voting Rights
"I'm tired of being quiet!" the president declared, urging the Senate to do whatever is necessary to end GOP voter suppression.
Jan 11, 2022
Progressive organizations across the United States on Tuesday welcomed President Joe Biden's unequivocal remarks from Georgia in support of changing the U.S. Senate rules to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
"President Biden was clear in his call for eliminating the filibuster to pass voting rights, and we're grateful... But he can't rest this call at the feet of the Senate and walk away."
Flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden recalled his decades as a U.S. senator and said that "sadly, the United States Senate, designed to be the world's greatest deliberative body, has been rendered a shell of its former self. It gives me no satisfaction in saying that, as an institutionalist, as a man who was honored to serve in the Senate."
"But as an institutionalist, I believe the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills," he continued. "Debate them, vote, let the majority prevail. And if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this."
Battle Born Collective deputy director Tre Easton said in a statement after the speech that "President Biden's powerful endorsement of reforming the filibuster for voting rights is a welcomed and necessary step in the fight to preserve and protect the right to vote in this country."
"When the president announced his support for a return to the talking filibuster last March, we said we were looking forward to his continued leadership on the issue," Easton added. "We are pleased to see Biden bring his critical voice to this conversation. We just hope that it is not too late."
Sean Eldridge, president and founder of the group Stand Up America, said that "it's clear now that the only thing standing in the way of protecting the freedom to vote is a dwindling number of senators clinging to a procedural rule used by Republicans to deprive Americans of their constitutional rights."
"If President Biden, a 36-year veteran of the Senate, can come around to reforming the filibuster, then every senator can," he said. "With a vote on rules changes expected in the coming days, this is a legacy moment for every member of the Senate. The time has come to put our democracy and the freedom to vote ahead of the Jim Crow filibuster."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently vowed that if GOP obstruction of voting rights bills continues, he will change the chamber's rules by January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. However, it's not clear he has the necessary support from Democrats.
The most vocal opponents of abolishing the filibuster have been Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who reportedly told journalists mere hours before Biden's speech that "we need some good rules changes to make the place work better. But getting rid of the filibuster doesn't make it work better."
However, both Manchin and Sinema recently joined the rest of the Senate Democratic Caucus in supporting a workaround to raise the debt ceiling--a move that Biden noted in his address and that renewed hope Democrats will advance the pair of voting rights bills blocked last year by Republicans.
"The filibuster has been reformed over 160 times," Public Citizen executive vice president Lisa Gilbert pointed out Tuesday, "and it must be reformed yet again to ensure that the great experiment of American democracy lasts."
"We must protect our freedom to vote, end dark money, stop partisan gerrymandering, and defeat those who seek to sabotage or overturn our elections," she continued, referencing some of what the "transformative" bills will do.
"The faction that attempted to sabotage the last election is already putting in place the pieces to do it again," she noted. "President Biden understands that, as does Sen. Schumer, and they are prioritizing action to thwart the attack."
"The question remains whether Senators Manchin and Sinema will do the same," Gilbert added. "If they can support a filibuster exception to raise the debt ceiling, they can support reforming the Senate to preserve our democracy."
Warning that "the legacy of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Congressman John Lewis is on the line," AFSCME president Lee Saunders asserted that "it's time for the Senate to answer President Biden's call, stop hiding behind arcane rules, and finally protect the right of every American to make their voice heard at the ballot box."
Both Saunders and Biden highlighted that last year alone, legislators in at least 19 states forced through over 30 voter suppression laws. The president argued that if Republican lawmakers can enact such measures with simple majority votes, then a chamber of Congress should not need a supermajority to protect democracy from such attacks.
"I've been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months. I'm tired of being quiet," Biden declared. "This is one of those defining moments in American history."
Civil rights leader and Drum Major Institute chairman Martin Luther King III said Tuesday that "today, in the hallowed birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, President Biden echoed our call for honoring my father's legacy--there should be no celebration of the King holiday without voting rights legislation."
"President Biden was clear in his call for eliminating the filibuster to pass voting rights, and we're grateful he has taken this bold step to support the change that we need," King said. "But he can't rest this call at the feet of the Senate and walk away--he must use the full power of his office to ensure this Jim Crow relic finally falls."
"The president cited his pedigree of dealmaking to pass voting rights legislation as a senator--we know he has the power and influence to do the same today," he added. "When we met with the president today, we reiterated that we expect strong action, not just words. We need to see a plan. We will be watching closely and mobilizing to ensure his speech is backed by the full power and influence of his office."
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