When Donald Trump responding to MLB for taking the all-star game out of Georgia and Corporations speaking out against restrictive voting legislation, says, “They’re woke and woke is not good for our country. Woke is not good,” what he really is saying is: They’re talking about equality both economically and socially. They want “their” voices to be heard at the voting booth. This is not good for “us”; it”s not going to make “our” America great again. And it is “our” America, not “theirs” make no mistake about that, and they’re trying to take it from us.
This weekend marks 56 years since civil rights marchers were attacked by Alabama state troopers on “Bloody Sunday.” Think about that. It has only been 56 years since African Americans literally had to put their lives on the line to vote. Now 56 years later, States around the country are introducing legislation that are transparent attempts at voter suppression. One can only imagine what the great John Lewis, who for the first time will not be among us on this day, would say to such blatant attempts to deny people their democratic right to vote and have their voices heard. Indeed it is a sad commentary on America.
Brother and sisters, Donald Trump, is scared, scared of your voice, scared of your voice at the voting booth, scared of the power that voice carries. So scared he is doing any and everything to silence your voice. Remember, brother and sisters, the right to vote wasn’t always available to us, and when it was, some tried as the GOP and Trump try to do today to silence it. They passed laws such as Louisiana in 1896 when it passed the “grandfather clauses” to keep former slaves and their descendants from voting. As a result, registered black voters drops from 44.8% in 1896 to 4.0% four years later. Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia follow Louisiana’s lead by enacting their grandfather clauses. They tried to intimidate us, and the blood of our ancestors was shed at their hands, such as in 1965 when John Lewis and more than 500 non-violent civil rights marchers were attacked by law enforcement officers while attempting to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to demand the need for African American voting rights. Make no mistake; brother and sisters, this election is not only for our country’s soul but also for protecting all we have fought for. Rights that should have been ours without a fight but required one nevertheless. Rights that GOP, through federal judicial appointments, are looking to dismantle brick by brick. We can not afford to sit on our vote, to mute our voice. It is what they want; it is what they are actively trying to accomplish. They are scared, brothers, and sisters of our voice. So let them hear our voice as it scream this November – no more, your time is done!
Carl's Place 