“When it comes to our democracy, and who we determine to have the right to vote--our most sacred of rights--patience is no virtue. We must never be patient when someone else's rights are in the balance. We cannot wait on laws, or elected officials, or anyone else. The only virtue when it comes to the right to vote is impatience.” DemocracyVotingProtestAfrican AmericansBlacksImpatienceVoting RightsVoter Suppression Book:Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 Source: Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019
“Many thought of the election of Barack Obama, not as the end of racism, but certainly as a turning point. And it was. But for many, President Obama's election was a turning point in a different direction. It spurred a backlash among white supremacists invested in maintaining the status quo. It can be no coincidence that the carnage of the Voting Rights Act so central to the Shelby decision occurred during the presidency of our first-ever Black president. It is no coincidence that in the decade since Obama's election, voter suppression has gained more momentum, velocity, and animosity than it had in the previous three elections combined. Since Shelby County v. Holder, voter suppression has taken on more pervasive and pernicious forms than ever before.” VotingAfrican AmericansBlacksElectionsPresidentsBarack ObamaVoter Suppression Book:Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 Source: Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019