Voter Suppression Will Not Have the Last Word
Our guest author is Reverend Dr. Cassandra Gould the national political director of the Faith in Action National Network.
Democracy aka governance by the people depends on full and equal civic participation. Free and fair elections are its foundation, ensuring that citizens choose their representatives, not the other way around. At its core, democracy rests on a simple but powerful principle: every vote carries equal weight, regardless of a person’s race, income, education, or social standing.
Yet, for Black Americans, that principle has always been contested.
From Reconstruction to Jim Crow to the present day, Black political participation has been met with coordinated resistance through law, policy, and violence. Yet, it has also been Black political action organizing, strategizing, marching, litigating, and voting that has repeatedly forced this nation closer to its democratic ideals.