When Governor Abbott called a special session of the Texas Legislature to push through election law changes, Texas Democrats left the state to prevent the quorum required to hold a vote on the bill. Many have accused them of denying the inevitable, but that is not necessarily true. What Republicans are trying to do in Texas—and have already done in 18 states, according to the Brennan Center for Justice would be illegal if the U.S. Senate passed the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voter Advancement Act.
In an act of solidarity, over 40 organizations led by Powered by People and the Texas Poor People’s Campaign completed a 27-mile Moral March for Democracy from Georgetown to Austin. Hundreds of people of all ages, races, religions and sexual orientations joined the march, wearing masks and social distancing. Other people registered, but the crowd was restricted so the marchers could follow COVID-19 protocols. The Texas march was sponsored by former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s voter outreach organization, Powered by People and the Rev. Dr. William Barber with the Poor People’s Campaign.
“I’m out here marching because I support the right to vote for everyone, for every eligible voter in this state and in this country. And I recognize that if we don’t fight for it, if we don’t stand up to be counted, then we might very well lose it, and we might lose it forever. We’ll get there, but it’s going to take all of us to do it,” said O’Rourke.
O’Rourke, a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, arrived at the Texas Capitol in Austin at approximately 10 a.m. local time Saturday morning, where a Willie Nelson concert with thousands of spectators singing, “Vote them out” greeted him. “We’re in front of the Capitol right here. We’ve still got people coming in behind us. They’re welcome to join us and get with all these good people and hear their stories. On top of this great music, live music, that we’re hearing right now, [I’m] grateful to everyone who’s out here,” O’Rourke said in a video marking the end of the march. O’Rourke’s four-day march was aimed at supporting the Texas Democrats who fled the state in an attempt to stonewall voting legislation that would suppress voting rights.
The Poor People’s Campaign, a faith-based group that protests economic inequity, has led several other protests across the country to push for voting rights reforms, including some that ended in arrests in the nation’s capital. “We are having this march from Georgetown to Austin for a moral resurrection,” said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach.
The campaign held the march to demand that Congress: end the filibuster; pass all provisions of the For the People Act; fully restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965; raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and offer permanent protections, dignity, and respect for all 11 million undocumented immigrants. It is demanding that these laws be passed before Aug. 6, the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. “We need federal legislation. The Senate must act now. Extremists attempt to suppress the vote, healthcare and immigration reform. This is an attempt to have a policy/political resurrection after a failed violent physical insurrection of Jan. 6,” Rev. Barber said.
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign and director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice, said people are marching “because we the people must stand up for democracy and economic justice. Marching from Georgetown, we remember Jessie Daniel Ames, a suffragist and civil rights leader from Texas who helped build an anti-lynching movement in the American South. And two days after his passing, we carry on the work and legacy of Bob Moses who gave his life for freedom and dignity for all.”
Participants like Tavis Grant say every step is worth it to advocate for voting rights. Grant works for the Rainbow Push Coalition, a civil rights organization that honors the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I’m marching because my people have been hurt, somebody has been hurting my people and I’m not going to stay silent anymore. We’re out here for this moral resurrection. We’re letting, not just Texas know, but the entire United States government know, that we have demands,” said Rev. Stephanie Wilkins, tri-chair of the Texas Poor People’s Campaign.
“It’s been an incredible morning to have walked so far for so much and the diversity and the opportunity to make change. We want to encourage everyone that is concerned about making this a more perfect union – do your part now but from wherever they are; they can call senators; they can call congress people. Passing $15, passing the For the People Act, and ending the filibuster makes this a better democracy, and we can do it now. We can’t wait, no more compromise, let’s do it now,” added Bishop Travis Grant, national field director of Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
It is important for Texans to know that the Republican-proposed discriminatory voter suppression underway now is just their latest cheat-to-win gambit. It’s the newest play in a now two-decade long strategy by Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans to hold power and impose harmful state policies by undermining the voting strength and healthcare of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and minority voters, along with new and young voters of all ethnicities. The only way to end these draconian tactics is by voting out Abbott and his Republican legislators in the upcoming 2022 elections. We can do this!
