MONTGOMERY, Ala. — On Saturday, thousands gathered in Montgomery, the birthplace of the modern Civil Rights Movement, to champion a new era of voting rights. This comes as conservative states work to dismantle congressional districts that have been pivotal in securing Black political representation.
U.S. Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey described Montgomery as “sacred soil” in the ongoing battle for civil rights.
“If we in our generation do not now do our duty, we will lose the gains and the rights and the liberties that our ancestors afforded us,” Booker stated.
The crowds were animated, chanting slogans like “we won’t go back” and “we fight.”
Shalela Dowdy, a plaintiff in the Alabama redistricting case, declared, “We are not going down without a fight. We are not going down to Jim Crow maps.”
The rally of thousands took place at the historic Alabama Capitol, where the Confederacy was established in 1861 and where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech in 1965 following the Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March. The stage was positioned between statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and civil rights icon Rosa Parks, representing contrasting historical narratives nearly 90 years apart.
Speakers emphasized that the site, once a symbol of the Confederacy, has evolved into a hallowed ground of the civil rights movement.
Some attendees remarked on the historical resonance of current efforts to redraw district lines.
“We lived through the ’60s. It takes you back. When you think that Alabama’s moving forward, it takes two steps back,” said Camellia A Hooks, 70, from Montgomery.
The rally’s origins trace back to Selma, where a violent 1965 clash between law enforcement and voting rights activists spurred the passage of the Voting Rights Act. It concluded at the state Capitol, where King delivered his “How Long, Not Long” speech that same year.
A recent Supreme Court decision regarding Louisiana has further eroded voting rights laws, already weakened by a 2013 ruling. This has paved the way for more stringent voter ID laws, registration restrictions, and changes to early voting and polling locations, especially in states with histories of racial discrimination in voting.
Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement are deeply concerned about the rapid rollbacks, observing that protections achieved through decades of sacrifice have been significantly undermined in just over ten years.
Kirk Carrington, 75, recollected being a teenager in 1965 when law enforcement attacked marchers in Selma during “Bloody Sunday.” A white man on horseback wielding a stick chased him through the streets.
“It’s really just appalling to me and all the young people that marched during the ’60s, fought hard to get voting rights, equal rights and civil rights,” Carrington expressed. “It’s sad that it’s continuing after 60-plus-odd years that we are still fighting for the same thing we fought for back then.”
City will be affected by Supreme Court ruling
Montgomery is home to one of the congressional districts undergoing changes following the Supreme Court ruling.
In 2023, a federal court redrew Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, finding that the state had intentionally diluted the voting power of Black residents, who constitute approximately 27% of the population. The court advocated for a district where Black people comprise a majority or near-majority, allowing them to elect their preferred candidates.
However, the Supreme Court has permitted the implementation of a different map, potentially enabling the GOP to reclaim the seat. While the issue remains in litigation, the state plans special primaries on August 11 under the new map.
Democratic Representative Shomari Figures, who was elected in the district in 2024, emphasized that the issue is about people’s ability to have representation, not about him personally.
“When Republicans are literally turning back the clock on what representation, what the faces of representation, look like, what the opportunities, legitimate opportunities for representation look like across this country, then I think it starts to resonate with people in a little bit of a different way,” Figures commented.
Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, a Republican, stated that the Louisiana ruling provided an opportunity to revisit a map imposed on the state by the federal court.
“People tend to forget what happened. When this thing went to court, the Republican Party had that seat, congressional seat two,” Ledbetter mentioned last week. “There’s been a push through the courts to try to overtake some of these red state seats, and that’s certainly what happened in that one.”
Evan Milligan, the lead plaintiff in the Alabama redistricting case, acknowledged the disappointment over the erosion of the Voting Rights Act but stressed the need for renewed commitment to the cause.
“We have to accept that this is the new reality, whether we like it or not,” Milligan noted. “We don’t have to accept that this will be the reality for the next 10 years or two years or forever.”
