This past year, people around the nation celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which was signed by former President Lyndon B. Johnson in August 1965. However, in August 2025, Texas Republicans passed new congressional maps in an effort to improve the GOP majority in the House of Representatives, a move that activists note disenfranchises African American voters and suppresses Black leaders. While other states are heeding President Donald Trump’s orders, there are advocates nationwide pushing against voter suppression, working to uplift Black voters and the promises of the 15th Amendment:
The Rev. Dr. William Barber, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and founder of Moral Mondays
“Everybody who is losing healthcare [and impacted by] the undermined health care must become a powerful voting block of pain. When we see how ruthless these politicians can be in their application of power…you can’t have 30 to 40% of Americans choosing not to vote. We need a full outpouring of the vote–this pain must produce power.”
Lezli Baskerville, CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) and founding member of HBCU Technology Foundation
“We will redouble our efforts to get more people out to vote. We’re going to continue to have conclaves with Black women, BIPOC women, and we’re going to take affirmative steps to let the white [women] who think it better to enjoy the benefits of their [white womanhood]…understand that we can thrive together if we come out with women of all races, all socioeconomic strata, and add our collective voices, our energy, our brains, our resources. We’ll do a lot better.”
Marc Morial, president of National Urban League
“It is only by using our power that we can and must push back against this assault on American democracy, civil rights and economic opportunity. We protest, we litigate, and yes, we must use the power of the vote in 2026. We can’t stop the MAGA movement, but we can slow it down, we can interrupt it, we can let our voices be heard.”