Thousands of people are expected to gather in Montgomery, Alabama, to mobilize support for voting rights amid concerns about redistricting efforts. Organizers say states are moving to dismantle congressional districts that expanded representation opportunities. The rally will begin in Selma and move to the Alabama Capitol. Participants and veterans of past struggles warn that recent legal decisions threaten decades of progress. Leaders and activists say the moment requires renewed commitment to protecting voting rights and preserving representation gains.
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Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee is ending his bid for reelection. He's just the latest lawmaker to have his career upended by the redistricting battles that are sweeping the country. Republicans in Tennessee this month enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up a Cohen’s majority-Black district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage. It's part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim Republican majority in the November midterm elections. Cohen has represented his Memphis-based district for nearly two decades. He lamented that Tennessee would likely shift to an entirely Republican delegation after the next election.
A new generation of civil rights leaders is rallying against efforts to dismantle the Voting Rights Act. NAACP President Derrick Johnson emphasizes the urgency of responding to these challenges. On Saturday, groups will gather in Alabama to honor the Civil Rights Movement and push for renewed activism. The Supreme Court's recent decision weakens the VRA, prompting activists to fight for diverse political representation. They face a conservative movement entrenched in power. Legal battles and campaigns are underway to protect Black representation. Johnson stresses that this is an American problem, not just a Black issue, and calls for unity in the fight.
A Tennessee man who goes by the moniker Chud the Builder and is known for posting racist videos is charged with attempted murder. Dalton Eatherly posted audio to social media on Wednesday admitting to shooting a man who he says hit him. He says the shooting was self-defense. Eatherly also notes that he shot himself in the arm. Eatherly, who is white, posts videos to social media where he tries to provoke Black passersby by using racial slurs and racist dog whistles. He has claimed it is free speech, but the fact that he also openly carries a pistol could make it a crime under Tennessee law.
Tulsa Race Massacre reparations is soul-redeeming work for the US, Oklahoma civil rights lawyer says
Civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons learned about the Tulsa Race Massacre during college. This revelation inspired him to lead a reparations campaign for survivors and descendants. His new book, “Redeem a Nation: The Century-Long Battle to Restore the Soul of America,” explores this fight for justice and aims to address historic racial injustices. The Tulsa massacre in 1921 destroyed the prosperous Black community of Greenwood, displacing thousands. Solomon-Simmons argues that America must address these past wrongs to move forward. Despite legal setbacks, he continues to push for reparations and acknowledgment. He believes justice involves both compensation and recognition of the harm done.
The leader of the Southern Poverty Law Center has pleaded not guilty on behalf of the organization to charges that the civil rights group has defrauded donors by failing to disclose that money would be paid to informants inside extremist groups. The group’s interim president and CEO, Bryan Fair, appeared Thursday in federal court in Montgomery. A grand jury indictment was filed April 21 by the U.S. Justice Department. The charges are an extraordinary strike against the organization, which works to combat discrimination and racism particularly in the Deep South. The SPLC has denied wrongdoing. No individuals are charged in the case.
A generation of Black Americans across the South fought in courtrooms and in the streets during the Civil Rights Movement to dismantle barriers to voting. Their goal was to achieve political representation in a region scarred by the legacy of slavery and its aftermath. One of the crown jewels of that struggle was the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and this week it was hollowed out by the Supreme Court. The majority opinion described racism as a problem of the past. Others saw the decision as another example of its resurgence. The ruling could make it harder for minorities to get elected.
The Voting Rights Act over its six decades became one of the most consequential laws in the nation’s history, preventing discrimination against minorities at the ballot box and helping to elect thousands of Black and Hispanic representatives at all levels of government. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court knocked out a major pillar of the law that had protected against racial discrimination in voting and representation. It was a decision that came more than a decade after the court undermined another key tenet of the law. Voting and civil rights advocates say the decisions hollow out the law and will lead to a severe erosion of minority representation.
AP Wire
The Supreme Court has weakened a landmark Civil Rights-era law that has increased minority representation in Congress and elsewhere. In a 6-3 ruling, the court's conservative majority on Wednesday struck down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana. The decision opens the door for more redistricting across the country that could aid Republican efforts to control the House. The effect of the ruling may be felt more strongly in 2028 because most filing deadlines for this year’s congressional races have passed. It's unclear now how much is left of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That law is the main way to challenge racially discriminatory election practices.
Former Associated Press photographer Jack Thornell 's Pulitzer Prize-winning picture of a shotgun-felled James Meredith looking back toward hi…