Rev. Dr. William Barber: "They Suppress Your Vote Out of Fear — Fear of Your Power"

Rev. Dr. William Barber was surrounded by a group of young people interested in Civil Rights, and took questions from them as well as TYT's Eric Byler following his remarks at the Democracy Awakening rally at the US Capitol on April 17, 2016.

Protecting Voting Rights is the flip side of the coin for the Democracy actions that saw 1,400 arrests in 8 days at the US Capitol. Money in Politics received slightly more attention, in part because the issue of voting rights is inextricably woven into the delicate fabric of racial conflict in this country, which frightens off people who are conflict averse, and stunts trans-partisan coalition building.

The two anti-democratic decrees from the corporatists on the US Supreme Court were four years apart, each following a wave election in which our more diverse electorate was on display. Citizens United v. FEC came 1 year after President Barack Obama was inaugurated for the first time. This decision cleared the path for unlimited, anonymous money from multi-national corporations and wealthy individuals to influence our elections.

Shelby County, AL v. Holder came six months after Barack Obama's second inauguration. In it, the same five justices declared that racism is no longer a problem in America, and, as such, Voting Rights protections as outlined in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were no longer necessary — at least not unless and until a Congress controlled by Republicans sees fit to restore those rights.

Rev. Barber's next public appearance

More of Rev. Barber's public appearances herehere

Don Owens of Public Citizen writes:

Statement of Democracy Awakening and Democracy Spring

The actions taken in Washington, D.C., on behalf of democracy over the past eight days were nothing less than historic. Democracy has not had such ardent defenders for decades. Thousands came from around the country – from as far as California, Iowa and Tennessee – to march, rally, attend teach-ins and engage in civil disobedience. It was the largest civil disobedience over democracy issues during this century.

The message from activists to policymakers was this: On voting rights, money in politics and the recent vacancy on U.S. Supreme Court, Congress is failing to do its job and ignoring the will of the people. The coordinated mobilizations organized by Democracy Awakening and Democracy Spring mark a moment in the movement: the beginning of a new phase in the nationwide push for democracy reforms.

We are proud of all the people who took time to come to D.C. and take a stand for democracy. Below are numbers that provide a snapshot of the mobilization.

Number of days of action in Washington, D.C.: 8

Number of people arrested for protesting on behalf of democracy, April 11-18: more than 1,300

Number of people who attended Sunday’s march and rally: 5,000

Number of people who lobbied Congress on Monday: 150

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