Week of Action to Urge Congress to Pass the HEROES Act

Voting Rights News, Voting Rights Resources 06.22,20

Tina Knowles-Lawson, Kelly Rowland, and more to join events to highlight continued barriers to the ballot for people of color

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kiren Marshall, The Leadership Conference, [email protected]

WASHINGTON –  The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and All Voting is Local, with its joint And Still I Vote℠ campaign, will hold multiple events this week as part of the And Still I Vote℠ Week of Action, a call to mobilize voters and urge the Senate to pass the HEROES Act to ensure officials across the country have the vital resources to ensure fair, safe, and accessible elections in 2020, especially for voters of color. These activities are part of Turn Up Tuesdays, a weekly national call to action to ensure people are informed and activated to vote in November.

Turn Up Tuesdays is dedicated to ensuring that upcoming elections are not marred by the disarray that voters experienced in the Wisconsin and Georgia primary elections. The activities this week will highlight Shelby County v. Holder, a landmark case that gutted the Voting Rights Act and stripped protections for communities of color. The activities will urge Congress to allocate $3.6 billion to states to expand early voting and establish no-excuse mail voting and other vital protections.

Tuesday, June 23
5:30p.m. EST

Turn Up Tuesday Facebook Live Event – The Leadership Conference and All Voting is Local will speak with guests about the barriers to the ballot box that voters have faced as a result of the Shelby County v. Holder decision, voter suppression spreading in non-Section 5 states, and what we need to do in 2020 to overcome these obstacles and vote.

Speakers:
Vanita Gupta, president and CEO, The Leadership Conference
Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Ala. 7th District)
Leigh Chapman, director of voting rights program, The Leadership Conference

Wednesday, June 24
7 p.m. EST

And Still I Vote℠ Mothers of the Movement: Why I Vote – Hosted by Mrs. Tina Knowles-Lawson and mothers of Black children killed by state sanctioned violence, The Leadership Conference and All Voting is Local joined forces with Black women of Hollywood to encourage hope in the midst of the Movement for Black Lives and push Black communities to prepare to vote this election cycle.

Speakers:
Tina Knowles-Lawson, activist
Kelly Rowland, entertainer and activist
Lala Anthony, entertainer and activist
Sabrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin
Wanda Cooper-Jones, mother of Ahmaud Arbery
Yvette Nicole Brown, entertainer and activist
Gwenn Carr, activist
Jamira Burley, activist
Leigh Chapman, director of voting rights program, The Leadership Conference
Sakira Cook, director of justice reform program, The Leadership Conference
Tiffany Loftin director, NAACP Youth & College Division

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

All Voting is Local fights to eliminate needless and discriminatory barriers to voting before they happen, to build a democracy that works for us all. It is a collaborative campaign housed at The Leadership Conference Education Fund, in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation; the American Constitution Society; the Campaign Legal Center; and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. For more information about All Voting is Local, visit https://allvotingislocal.org and follow us on Twitter @votingislocal.