Yesterday marked the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. For a very brief period after the Civil War, Black Americans eagerly participated in our democracy by voting and holding elected office. However, in many parts of the country, particularly the areas that had seceded from the Union, violent intimidation of Black people and the passage of laws making it more difficult for them to vote quickly stripped those rights away.
Because They Marched: The People's Campaign for Voting Rights that Changed America by Russell Freedman
For the fiftieth anniversary of the march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman has written a riveting account of African-American struggles for the right to vote. Illustrated with more than forty archival photographs, this is an essential chronicle of events every American should know.
You can learn more about the Civil Rights Act, including viewing original documents related to its passage at the National Archives.
In 2013, the US Supreme Court invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act which had been reauthorized by Congress in 2006. Read more about the implications of this ruling here.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
Civil Rights leader John Lewis died on July 17, 2020 at the age of 80. We remember Rep. Lewis not only for his life-long fight for justice, but also for his faith in Jesus that led him to do so. He lived a life of courage, willing to risk injury and death to secure rights for African Americans and justice for all.
Click here to view an illustration of John Lewis as a bridge to voting rights
A personal story from an attendee of BelPres since 2014
Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. - Arthur Ashe
During this time of collective reckoning with the racism so prevalent in our society, this quote (which I recently came across thanks to this wonderful wall-hanging by Rayo & Honey) made me reflect on two very important aspects of my work for justice:
- Start where I am. I have so much to learn and unlearn about the systems I am a part of, and my role in them. I've been on a multi-year path of self-reflection and re-orienting my own life. As a family on this road, we've made small changes, and changes as large as having a family live with us in our home.
- Start where I am. Having identified what systems I am a part of, and what needs to change to bring about more justice, I begin to create change where I live, work, play, and learn.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free! While over forty states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, many think it should be a national holiday. Read more about why we should consider this.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free! Take some time this weekend to learn more about this special holiday.
- Juneteenth – A Valuable Story of Freedom by Pastor Harvey Drake
- Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper: a YouTube read-aloud for kids
- Juneteenth Celebrates Freedom from Slavery in US: a short video on the history of Juneteenth
Our website has, among our resources, links to a report that looks at the violent history of lynching in America. One of the results of this era of racial terrorism was the Great Migration. Between 1910 and 1970, six million black Americans fled the South to escape lynching, unfair labor practices, and harsh segregationist laws. This summer, we invite you to join us in learning about this era by reading Isabel Wilkerson's award-winning history, The Warmth of Other Suns. Mark your calendar for a book discussion on the evening of Sunday, September 20.
In this post, we have a guest blogger, McAlister Merchant. McAlister was the first African-American student to graduate from an all-white Catholic boys high school in Chicago. He started there in 1957 on a scholarship, well before Martin Luther King Jr's efforts came to prominence. McAlister was at the pushing, shoving, bleeding edge of integration, but overcame his situation peaceably, successfully, and with grace.
The recent murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, brings to mind the ugly history of lynching in America. Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), defines lynching as "a racially motivated act of violence committed by two or more people where there is no accountability." Lynchings were brutal acts of torture, often in public, designed to terrorize black people. State and federal officials generally looked the other way. EJI has documented more than 4400 lynchings of black people in the United States between 1877 and 1950.
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