Photos: YouTube
Thursday, a new phase, in the emerging fight to secure voting rights for Black Americans and other non-white people, started when several voting rights activists, and Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, were arrested during a peaceful demonstration in the Hart Senate Office Building, to raise awareness on the ongoing attacks in Republican state legislatures across the country on Americans’ right to vote.
Before her arrest, Beatty spoke at the “Speak Out: Call to Action Day on Capitol Hill.” The event was in response to numerous voter restriction laws being passed in states across the country, as well as Senate Republicans’ refusal to engage meaningfully in drafting federal legislation to ensure that every American has equal access and opportunity to vote.
During her speech, Rep. Beatty said:
“Fifty-six years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Americans’ right to vote is still under attack as state legislatures work overtime to dilute our power. So, as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus—but more importantly as a Black woman—I join with the chorus of individuals demanding justice, change, and the guarantee that my vote counts just like everybody else’s vote counts.”
Congresswoman Beatty also said: “I stand in solidarity with Black women and allies across the country in defense of our constitutional right to vote. We have come too far and fought too hard to see everything systematically dismantled and restricted by those who wish to silence us. Be assured that this is just the beginning. This is Our Power, Our Message.”
