Leaders Rally for Voting Rights for Today

Americans urged to push Congress to pass voting rights act.

Do Something - "The right to vote in our nation is in grave danger. It has been a year since the Supreme Court handed down its Shelby County v. Holder decision, [which weakened a key provision in the Voting Rights Act]," Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership on Civil and Human Rights, warned at a rally last week. This week, while lawmakers are in their home districts, he and other leaders are calling on African-Americans and other people of color to start contacting their elected officials and push them to take a stand on the Voting Rights Amendment Act.  Click here to access your lawmakers' contact information. —  Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick) (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Do Something - "The right to vote in our nation is in grave danger. It has been a year since the Supreme Court handed down its Shelby County v. Holder decision, [which weakened a key provision in the Voting Rights Act]," Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership on Civil and Human Rights, warned at a rally last week. This week, while lawmakers are in their home districts, he and other leaders are calling on African-Americans and other people of color to start contacting their elected officials and push them to take a stand on the Voting Rights Amendment Act.  Click here to access your lawmakers' contact information. —  Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick) (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

Why It's Important - A recent report from the Brennan Center for Justice shows that 14 states that previously did not have discriminatory laws that have the effect of making it harder for people to register to vote and cast ballots now have such laws. In addition, 83 restrictive bills have been introduced in 29 states. Voting rights advocates fear that if Congress doesn't pass the Voting Rights Amendment Act, more states will take advantage of opportunities to make it harder to vote, which will have a disproportionately adverse affect on people of color. (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Why It's Important - A recent report from the Brennan Center for Justice shows that 14 states that previously did not have discriminatory laws that have the effect of making it harder for people to register to vote and cast ballots now have such laws. In addition, 83 restrictive bills have been introduced in 29 states. Voting rights advocates fear that if Congress doesn't pass the Voting Rights Amendment Act, more states will take advantage of opportunities to make it harder to vote, which will have a disproportionately adverse affect on people of color. (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer - "We need to be militants today, nonviolent militants. Peaceful militants, but impatient militants," in the fight to ensure that every American has the right to vote, said Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland). “In that building, five men [on the Supreme Court] said we’re going to weaken that guarantee in America, the greatest democracy on Earth. You’re here so we can pass...a bill that will say to [the Supreme Court] we still believe that every American must have the right — unfettered and appreciated — to vote. With your help we’ll get it done.” (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer - "We need to be militants today, nonviolent militants. Peaceful militants, but impatient militants," in the fight to ensure that every American has the right to vote, said Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland). “In that building, five men [on the Supreme Court] said we’re going to weaken that guarantee in America, the greatest democracy on Earth. You’re here so we can pass...a bill that will say to [the Supreme Court] we still believe that every American must have the right — unfettered and appreciated — to vote. With your help we’ll get it done.” (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi - "[The Civil Rights Act] was quite a remarkable thing. It changed America. It made us more American. It was long overdue. What better way to observe that greatness than to pass the Voting Rights Act?" said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California). "This court made a destructive and bad decision one year ago. We have a bipartisan bill. It's not the bill [Democrats] would have written but it corrects the decision of the court. We're calling upon the speaker of the house to give us our vote on this bill." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi - "[The Civil Rights Act] was quite a remarkable thing. It changed America. It made us more American. It was long overdue. What better way to observe that greatness than to pass the Voting Rights Act?" said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California). "This court made a destructive and bad decision one year ago. We have a bipartisan bill. It's not the bill [Democrats] would have written but it corrects the decision of the court. We're calling upon the speaker of the house to give us our vote on this bill." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

Sherrilyn Ifill - "You have the power," extolled Sherrilyn Ifill, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund president. "You have to make this happen." Ifill noted that a voting rights bill has passed four times before with bipartisan support and been signed by four Republican presidents. "You can do this. But you have to keep your mind focused on it. You can't let Duck Dynasty and Donald Sterling and everybody else distract you from what we are trying to accomplish because the right to vote is preservative of all rights. All the rest of it is affected by the right to vote."(Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Sherrilyn Ifill - "You have the power," extolled Sherrilyn Ifill, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund president. "You have to make this happen." Ifill noted that a voting rights bill has passed four times before with bipartisan support and been signed by four Republican presidents. "You can do this. But you have to keep your mind focused on it. You can't let Duck Dynasty and Donald Sterling and everybody else distract you from what we are trying to accomplish because the right to vote is preservative of all rights. All the rest of it is affected by the right to vote."(Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Lorraine Miller - "You've got to let [lawmakers] know [where you stand]. They respond to you; you're the voters. You are the people who make the difference. They are here because of your votes. You've got to let them know," said Lorraine Miller, interim president of the NAACP. "You've got to call them, you've got to email them, tweet them, whatever. But you've got to let them know, because if you don't the House will do nothing. They'll let the clock play out and the midterm elections will be upon us without any protections." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Lorraine Miller - "You've got to let [lawmakers] know [where you stand]. They respond to you; you're the voters. You are the people who make the difference. They are here because of your votes. You've got to let them know," said Lorraine Miller, interim president of the NAACP. "You've got to call them, you've got to email them, tweet them, whatever. But you've got to let them know, because if you don't the House will do nothing. They'll let the clock play out and the midterm elections will be upon us without any protections." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

Earl Cunningham - Former Shelby County commissioner Earl Cunningham said voting rights opponents are not fighting by the usual rules. Any time public-policy changes were proposed, he said, "we had a public hearing. If Earl Cunningham had too many beer coolers in his yard, a public hearing. If we're going to move a stop sign, a public hearing. If Earl Cunningham played his boom box too high, a noise and public nuisance disorder, a public hearing. But with this, the most important civil rights act in 50 years, [they go straight to a court challenge]. The fight goes on, the  struggle continues. It might not be as brutal as it once was, but it still continues." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Earl Cunningham - Former Shelby County commissioner Earl Cunningham said voting rights opponents are not fighting by the usual rules. Any time public-policy changes were proposed, he said, "we had a public hearing. If Earl Cunningham had too many beer coolers in his yard, a public hearing. If we're going to move a stop sign, a public hearing. If Earl Cunningham played his boom box too high, a noise and public nuisance disorder, a public hearing. But with this, the most important civil rights act in 50 years, [they go straight to a court challenge]. The fight goes on, the  struggle continues. It might not be as brutal as it once was, but it still continues." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

Rep. Steve Cohen - It's simple math — and ambition, explained Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee). "For the Republicans to win, they can't have all of Americans vote, because they'd never win," he said. "The only way they can win is to stop us from getting to the ballot." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Rep. Steve Cohen - It's simple math — and ambition, explained Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee). "For the Republicans to win, they can't have all of Americans vote, because they'd never win," he said. "The only way they can win is to stop us from getting to the ballot." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

Francys Johnson - "This generation grew up and came of age in an America that had a robust Voting Rights Act and it is incumbent for people today to defend those rights. This is the cause of this generation," said Francys Johnson, president of the Georgia state NAACP. "We will do what other generations that have come before us have done. We will take America as we find it, still very much a work in progress, and we will work with a sense of what is right and what is just.... If we put our shoulders together, particularly on this bill, but across the civil and human rights sphere, we can make a difference and finish the work in this generation." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Francys Johnson - "This generation grew up and came of age in an America that had a robust Voting Rights Act and it is incumbent for people today to defend those rights. This is the cause of this generation," said Francys Johnson, president of the Georgia state NAACP. "We will do what other generations that have come before us have done. We will take America as we find it, still very much a work in progress, and we will work with a sense of what is right and what is just.... If we put our shoulders together, particularly on this bill, but across the civil and human rights sphere, we can make a difference and finish the work in this generation." (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn - "We ask you to join with us in making sure that as we pause to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act next year, we will do so with a piece of legislation that helps to further the causes of that act rather than celebrate [while] laboring under the Supreme Court decision that virtually guts the impact of the law. We want to say we didn't give in, we didn't give out and we didn't give up," said Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (South Carolina).(Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn - "We ask you to join with us in making sure that as we pause to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act next year, we will do so with a piece of legislation that helps to further the causes of that act rather than celebrate [while] laboring under the Supreme Court decision that virtually guts the impact of the law. We want to say we didn't give in, we didn't give out and we didn't give up," said Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (South Carolina).(Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Rep. Bobby Scott - "People say [the original Voting Rights Act's requirement to get federal approval to change voting laws] is unfair to those jurisdictions that are covered. But the covered jurisdictions were covered the old-fashioned way: they earned it. They earned it with the poll taxes and the literacy tests and the chronically low voter participation. They earned that coverage with multiple violations of voting rights and that's why it's so vital to [pass the amendment]," said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia). (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Rep. Bobby Scott - "People say [the original Voting Rights Act's requirement to get federal approval to change voting laws] is unfair to those jurisdictions that are covered. But the covered jurisdictions were covered the old-fashioned way: they earned it. They earned it with the poll taxes and the literacy tests and the chronically low voter participation. They earned that coverage with multiple violations of voting rights and that's why it's so vital to [pass the amendment]," said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia). (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

Janaye Ingram - Noting charges of American hypocrisy from critics both here and abroad, Janaye Ingram, interim executive director of the National Action Network, said, "We can't claim to be promoting democracy and defenders of democracy throughout the world and here at home be destroying democracy in our own backyard. We have to [act] now and we have to do it to make sure that future generations have this sacred right [to vote]."(Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Janaye Ingram - Noting charges of American hypocrisy from critics both here and abroad, Janaye Ingram, interim executive director of the National Action Network, said, "We can't claim to be promoting democracy and defenders of democracy throughout the world and here at home be destroying democracy in our own backyard. We have to [act] now and we have to do it to make sure that future generations have this sacred right [to vote]."(Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

Nicole Austin-Hillery - "Numbers don't lie. Numbers are power. They arm you," said Nicole Austin-Hillery, director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Washington, D.C., office, citing the increasing number of states with new laws that will make it harder for people to vote in 2014. "I am from the hip hop generation. Some of the greatest poets I know are Public Enemy. Use these numbers to arm you. Do not believe the hype. When they tell you that there is no more discrimination, that we don't have a need for the Voting Rights or Section 5, you tell them, 'Don't believe the hype. Pass the VRAA now.'" (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

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Nicole Austin-Hillery - "Numbers don't lie. Numbers are power. They arm you," said Nicole Austin-Hillery, director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Washington, D.C., office, citing the increasing number of states with new laws that will make it harder for people to vote in 2014. "I am from the hip hop generation. Some of the greatest poets I know are Public Enemy. Use these numbers to arm you. Do not believe the hype. When they tell you that there is no more discrimination, that we don't have a need for the Voting Rights or Section 5, you tell them, 'Don't believe the hype. Pass the VRAA now.'" (Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)