by Freeda Cathcart
Roanoke – On Friday night May 10th the President of the Roanoke Branch of the NAACP, Brenda Hale, condemned the overturning of the redistricting election at the Roanoke NAACP 26th Annual Citizen of the Year Awards Program and 74th Life Membership Freedom Fund Dinner.
The truth was revealed last week when the Virginia Supreme Court overturned an election and several southern states proceeded with Jim Crow 2.0 by carving up minority majority districts to find more seats for the Republicans in the midterms. Civil Rights leaders righteously condemned these developments.
Many people despaired wondering if their vote made a difference. Their votes revealed the truth that the Republicans haven’t been acting in good faith to protect and support our democracy. Members of the Virginia Black Caucus and the Democratic Party of Virginia warned about the significant flaw in the 2020 Virginia constitutional amendment that gave the power to the Republican controlled Supreme Court to draw the congressional lines if the bi-partisan commission failed to come to an agreement. Now everyone can see why.
AG Jay Jones filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) immediately. The US Constitution gives the power to create congressional districts to the state legislature not the courts. Jones can make the case that the Virginia Supreme Court doesn’t have constitutional authority to interfere with congressional districts. The current map wasn’t drawn by the legislator but defaulted to the Virginia Supreme Court when the commission was deadlocked.
So far the SCOTUS has allowed an insurrectionist and convicted felon to run for the presidency, overturned Roe and struck down the Voting Rights Act. People are justified to not have faith in this SCOTUS.
The Republicans went down and dirty during the redistricting election using Civil Rights icons and deceptive ads to try to con people to vote no. Dark billionaire money poured into Virginia. They whined about how unfair gerrymandering is while they were doing everything they could to disenfranchise and dilute people’s votes nationwide.
The NAACP, the Divine Nine and the Rural GroundGame sent out a clarion call to counter the Republican lies. The result was a hard fought victory that has forced the truth to be revealed. If the Virginia Supreme Court “technicality” was legitimate then why didn’t they rule last fall and spare Virginians the cost of an election? They may have hoped that the “No” side would win and they wouldn’t need to take a chance on blatantly overturning an election.
Virginians and the rest of the country are getting a preview of how desperate the regime is to cling to power. There is only one thing that can defeat the regime and that’s the overwhelming votes of The People to remove the members of Congress that have failed us.
Hale reminded us that President Obama was a community organizer. She encouraged everyone to take action now by organizing to reach voters before the midterm elections. She deputized everyone attending the banquet to start registering voters. She challenged people to become community organizers to assist the NAACP in building an informed electorate who will recognize deceptive ads or intimidation tactics to try to suppress the vote such as ICE being deployed to the polls.
Rep. Jennifer McClellan issued a statement that the Republicans were trying to rig the midterms through gerrymandering because they couldn’t “win based on their policies”. Gerrymandering isn’t the only way the regime is trying to undermine the midterms. From trying to shove through the SAVE Act which would have disenfranchised millions of women voters to throwing shade at early voting, it’s obvious that they will do everything they can to steal the midterm elections.
These are dark times. Many people fear for our democracy. Rev. Martin Luther King’s words echo through time:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Mother’s Day wasn’t created as a holiday to give mothers flowers. It started in 1870 when Julia Ward issued a Proclamation out of despair for almost a million lives who were killed in the Civil War and the Franco-Prussion War. She called on mothers’ love to protect their children and country from the ravages of war.
Many people voted for the current occupant in the White House because he promised peace and prosperity. Instead he’s delivered war and poverty.
McClellan reminded people not to allow their voices to be silenced. She wrote: “Just like our parents, grandparents and great grandparents did before us, we must organize, mobilize and vote to protect our progress.”
Some people viewed the Virginia Supreme Court ruling as an important revelation of the truth that needed to be revealed. Paul wrote in Corinthians 13:6 “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”
A Black woman who voted “Yes” in the redistricting election wore a t-shirt that said “Not today Satan.” The disturbing news is that the Republican Party is complicit in the undermining of our democracy. The good news is the truth is being revealed and there is still time to get the truth out to the people before the midterms.
The room at Friday’s night banquet was full of truth seekers and freedom fighters. They turned determinedly to their neighbor and declared in unison “We have work to do!”
