Up North Progressive

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day 2022 should be a day to remember and celebrate the legacy of Dr. King and the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement. However, on this holiday, we’re reminded that any achievement fought for will have to be defended against those who insist there isn’t enough democracy to go around for everyone.

The election of 2020 gave polling officials in the United States significant problems to solve to ensure people could vote and remain safe during a global pandemic. States with expanded access to voting through a vote by mail, early voting, voting day registration, and absentee voting for any reason proved that when people have access to the polls, they will vote.

Election officials did such a good job providing access to voting; states won by Trump in 2016 flipped for President Biden in 2020. Republicans know more than anyone. When more people vote, Republicans lose. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton even admitted he had to stop counties from mailing absentee ballot applications, or Texas would have turned blue in 2020.

The Up North Progressive was reminded of this fact during a mild October day in 2017 while circulating the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission petition. Proudly wearing the Voters Not Politicians volunteer button and clipboards in hand, people learned about gerrymandering in the state of Michigan and the effort to change that so everyone’s vote counted. Many enthusiastically signed. Some declined.

One older gentleman approached and asked about the petition. While cheerfully pitching the speech about ending gerrymandering in the state of Michigan with a new commission to redraw our voting districts, the pensioner’s face became alarmed, and he exclaimed:

“Oh no! I can’t sign that! We need that gerrymandering. We need that gerrymandering to keep the n*****s from voting. Without that, they will take over and you know that is what they want.”

The man wandered off after his racist lecture. The Up North Progressive decided to triple efforts to collect signatures and do everything possible to make sure this ballot initiative made it on the 2018 ballot.

That racist jerk is now in the same congressional district as Up North Progressive.

This Dr. Martin Luther King Day reminds us that defending democracy in the United States is an ongoing struggle. Republicans push through new voting restrictions because that is the only way they can stay in power. Republicans gerrymander voting districts to disenfranchise minority voters because that is the only way they can stay in control. The fight to apportion Electoral College votes is in many states’ futures, including Michigan.

We need the Freedom to Vote Act: The John Lewis Voting Rights Bill passed by Congress to protect democracy in the United States. Preserving democracy is the struggle to keep Dr. King’s legacy strong.