AUSTIN, Texas (CN) — On Wednesday, marchers began their 27-mile, “Selma to Montgomery” style march in Georgetown, Texas, north of Austin. Led by former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke and North Carolina Minister and social activist Reverend William Barber II, marchers sought to bring attention to civil rights causes and called on Congress for federal action to support them.
The march was in part organized by the Poor People’s Campaign, which Barber is a co-chair of. The group advocates for ending the Senate filibuster, restoring the 1965 Voting Rights Act, passing the For The People Act, raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and protections for undocumented immigrants.
During this same time, the Texas Legislature is at a standstill due to Democrats' action to prevent voting legislation from being passed. On July 12, House Democrats denied the Texas House of Representatives a quorum by leaving the state and heading to the nation’s capital.
While in Washington D.C. they continued their work from earlier this summer, lobbying Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Advancement Act. President Joe Biden has voiced his support for passing the For the People Act and has called out states for enacting legislation he calls, “Jim Crow 2.0.”
The marchers support passing both forms of voting legislation in the hands of Congress, because they believe both will expand access to the ballot box and reverse voting laws passed in many Republican-led states, such as Georgia, and Florida. Texas is one of many other states where numerous Republican-backed voting bills have been filed.
The bills Texas Democratic lawmakers fled the state over are Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 3. Both bills are similar to Senate Bill 7, which was blocked at the end of the regular legislative session when Democrats for the first time in this fight broke quorum.
The bills seek to restrict how elections are conducted in the state, banning practices such as 24-hour and drive-through voting, which were created by Texas’ largest county, Harris, to increase turnout while limiting the public's exposure to Covid-19 last fall. The bills would also criminalize election officials from soliciting vote by mail ballot applications and place new identification requirements for those applying to vote by mail. Poll workers would also face penalties for obstructing poll watchers and expanding watchers' abilities while at polling locations.
On Saturday, the march ended at the Texas Capitol. Beginning the final leg of the journey at the Texas American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations headquarters (AFL-CIO), Reverend William Barber, Beto O’Rourke and hundreds of activists followed a hearse labeled with bills across the country that they say seek to kill civil rights.
Pastor Kennedy Jones was at the front of the group. He traveled from Arlington, Texas, to attend the rally. Jones believes that this is a modern-day civil rights movement, similar to the one during the 1960s.
“It is the fight for the soul of our democracy, that is what we are doing here,” said Jones. “In 1965 we were fighting for the soul of the people, today we are fighting for the soul of the nation.”
Marchers Nakyla, Sundie and Dave Garrison echoed similar calls for voting rights but expanded the scope of their reason for attending to ending the Senate filibuster, Immigrants rights and for her daughter, who was being carried by Dave. All three of the Garrisons came from Georgetown where the march began and participated that first day. Nakyla applauded the Democrats from the Texas House who broke quorum and still reside in Washington D.C.
“I think they are heroes, we need more people like that, they sacrificed a lot to be away from their families just for us,” said Nakyla.
On the south steps of the Capitol, Texas Democratic leaders, civil rights activists and clergy members from across the state took turns coming on stage to speak out against the actions of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Republican lawmakers and encouraged President Biden and Democratic members of Congress to pass voting rights legislation.
Barber in his opening remarks to the crowd said, “The infrastructure of this democracy is being threatened now!”
The activism brought to Austin is all wrapped in one large fight for systemic change. Barber clarified that they were not just there for voting rights, they were there because the same who support bills like SB 1 and HB 3 are the same who they view are opposed to workers rights, immigrants rights and environmental protection.
Luci Baines Johnson, the daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, spoke about her father's role in signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
“Working for social justice has been [my] family’s mission for generations,” said Johnson. “In 1965, when Lyndon Johnson pled for voting rights reform, he invoked the mighty anthem of the civil rights movement, these words still beat in my heart, we shall overcome.”
At the end of the rally, country music singer and native Texan Willie Nelson performed for the crowd, appearing in solidarity and support for the mission of the Poor People’s Campaign and Barber. Nelson has been a supporter of progressive causes in the state and was a supporter of Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 Senate run against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.
Earlier this week while the march in Texas was underway, three members of the Democratic delegation in D.C. testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. In their testimony, they addressed how the Republican-backed bills would disenfranchise voters of color and those with disabilities.
Republican members of the committee, some from Texas, accused them of abandoning their responsibilities to the people they represent.
On Monday, Reverend Barber plans to travel to Washington D.C. with clergy members from across the country. While at Capitol Hill, they will continue pressuring the U.S. Senate to end the filibuster and expand voting rights. The Poor People’s Campaign has set a deadline for Congress to meet their demands by Aug. 6, the 56-year anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. If the legislation is not passed, Barber has vowed to intensify pressure on lawmakers to see change is made.
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