Frustration with lip service has crystallized into resistance from some Black leaders
(The Slice): Black Voters Matter is boycotting Pres. Joe Biden and Vice Pres. Kamala Harris' speeches in Atlanta today, saying Black voters are not "props." As a part of a coalition of Black civil rights organizations, they say they are no longer interested in speeches, expecting lawmakers to pass key voting measures into law imminently. These Black voting advocates are seeking concrete results in the second year of the Biden-Harris Administration.
Organizers of get-out-the vote efforts were largely responsible for delivering a win for Joe Biden and Democrats during the 2020 election season, voting for the Party of Barack Obama by overwhelming percentages. The subsequent Jan. 6 insurrections and changes to election laws in over a dozen states following a bevy of issues in the presidential election made voting rights reform a leading agenda item for Black Americans.
For months, after Black Civil Rights leaders met with both Biden and Harris at the White House, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and Freedom to Vote Act (both passed in the House) have been held up in the Senate.
While Biden has a history of supporting voting and civil rights legislation from his years in the Senate, the top Democrat has been called out for inaction during the first year of his presidency while the assault on voting reform was fresh. The president said that the Build Back Better Plan was his initial priority. Once he got his top legislative item squared away, he said he would concentrate on voting, but has placed the responsibility on the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for a vote on a rule change by MLK Day, next Monday. Several democrats join a fully opposed Senate Republicans with questions about he bills as they stand, indicating there is not a path to a vote. The only way to move forward is to have all 50 Democrats vote in favor of both bills. The filibuster would allow Vice President Kamala Harris to cast a tie-breaking vote.
What will Pres. Biden say to convince Black voters they have his buy-in against pressure the Senate to act in favor of securing the sacred right to vote? He is expected to support Senate rule changes that will move voting legislation forward,
The White House released the following excerpt from the speech:
“Will we choose democracy over autocracy, light over shadow, justice over injustice?” Biden plans to say. “I know where I stand. I will not yield. I will not flinch. I will defend your right to vote and our democracy against all enemies foreign and domestic. And so the question is where will the institution of United States Senate stand?”
Georgia voters have heard their share of political speeches and are some of the most civicly engaged in the nation. The speech will be held in the historic Atlanta's AUC Center, the heart of an HBCU consortium, located in the district of late congressman John Lewis. The home of MLK and Sen. Raphael Warnock is the mecca of Civil Rights. Skeptics complain that the journey of prominent leaders to Atlanta is a public relations ploy to take advantage of the symbolic backdrop for a photo opportunity.
This is not the case Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a preview of Biden's remarks on Monday, sharing that he will expound on his Jan. 6th speech wherein he touched on voting rights. "The President will forcefully advocate for protecting the most bedrock American right: the right to vote and have your voice counted in a free, fair, and secure election that is not tainted by partisan manipulation."
Psaki also placed the responsibility for the passage of the crucial legislation in the hands of the Senate adding, "The only way to do that are for the Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.?
Raising skepticism, Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams says she has a scheduling conflict and will not attend. But, former First Lady Michelle Obama is also slated to speak.
"At this point we don't need him to come to Georgia and use us as a prop. What we need is work," said Cliff Albright the Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter on CNN Tuesday morning ahead of the speech.
Others in the coalition have the same sentiment.
"We're beyond speeches. We're beyond events," says @MsLaToshaBrown, calling on POTUS to stay in DC and push voting bills now."
After participating in the meeting with VP Harris in July of 2021 Brown said in a statement, "The White House has the authority — and the obligation — to champion legislation that safeguards our most basic right as citizens of a democracy: the right to vote. While we’re encouraged by today’s meeting with Vice President Harris and appreciate her leadership and willingness to meet with activists, we still expect President Biden to put the full weight of his office behind HR1 and HR4 and remove any barriers to protecting our elections — even if that means ending the filibuster.”
Groups opposing the Atlanta visit prefer that the president and his delegation stays in Washington to develop a plan to counteract Republican opposition.
This is the sizeable delegation of supporters from travelers traveling with both the president and vice president. They will have several stops in the city of Atlanta before their speaking engagement.
Traveling aboard Air Force One with POTUS: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Reps. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.). Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Traveling on Air Force Two with VPOTUS: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), CBC Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) and Reps. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and John Sarbanes (D-Md.). Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens will meet Biden and Harris when they arrive at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Both POTUS and VPOTUS will make stops at the Center for Nonviolent Social Change to meet the family members of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They will also visit Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Sen. Warnock is the senior pastor and meet with Democrats in the Georgia congressional delegation.
A number of civil rights leaders will be in attendance including Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Al Sharpton, Marc Morial, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, Ben Jealous, Lawyers Committee President Damon Hewitt, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation CEO Melanie Campbell, Latin American Association CEO Santiago Marquez, Hispanic Foundation CEO Frankie Miranda, Latino Community Fund Executive Director Gigi Pedraza, VOTO Latino CEO Maria Teresa Kumar, League of Women Voters CEO Virginia Kase Solomon, SPLC CEO Margaret Huang, ACLU of Georgia Executive Director Andrea Young and Fighting for Our Vote Campaign Manager Bishop Leah Daughtry. The presidents of Morehouse University, Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown College will all attend, as well.