The Voting Rights Act: Part Four of a Five-Part Series The federal path is largely closed. The maps are being redrawn right now. Here is what’s left, who is already fighting, and what it is going to take. By Portia WoodSpecial to the AFRO I’m a lawyer. I’m not going to tell you there are […]
Tag: Voting Rights Act
Posted inOPINION
The 60-year project to kill it
Attorney Portia Wood traces a six-decade legal campaign to dismantle the Voting Rights Act, arguing that Supreme Court decisions from Shelby County v. Holder to Louisiana v. Callais systematically weakened protections against racial discrimination in voting and redistricting. She contends that the erosion of the law was deliberate, not accidental, and highlights the AFRO’s long-standing role in documenting the ongoing struggle for Black voting rights.
Posted inCommentary
The blood that bought the ballot
Before the Voting Rights Act existed, before the Civil Rights Movement had a name, Black Americans were fighting — and dying — for the right to vote. The AFRO was there keeping the record. Here’s what it cost to get to 1965.
Posted inCommentary
They cancelled the election
Portia Wood, an attorney and founder of Legacy Wealth Institute / Black Trust Fund Kids
Posted inOpinion
ASALH issues statement on evisceration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Dr. Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, leader of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) strongly condemns the recent Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision in the Louisiana v. Callais case. As the premier Black heritage and learned society, ASALH and its leadership knows this is yet another marker in the ongoing fight to secure and protect our vote—a struggle against disenfranchisement that we have been engaged in since the early 1800s.
Posted inElections 2026
SCOTUS Voting Rights decision is ‘almost as bad as it gets’
By undercutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court has fundamentally altered the rules of representation, setting off a new era of legal and political battles over who gets power — and who loses it.
Posted in!Front Page National News
Supreme Court ruling weakens a key tool of the Voting Rights Act
By Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira, Drew Callister, Bridget Brown, Curtis Yee and Aisha I. Jefferson The Supreme Court on April 29 struck down Louisiana’s second majority Black congressional district in a decision that could open the door for Republican-led states to eliminate Black and Latino electoral districts that tend to favor Democrats and affect the balance […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Rev. Sharpton issues statement after claims to the New York Times that White people were ‘very badly treated’ from Civil Rights Era actions
By National Action Network Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), on Jan. 12 condemned recent claims from President Trump that White people were “very badly treated” as a result of laws and policies adopted during the Civil Rights Movement. Trump’s alarming statements to the New York Times come as […]
Posted inWord In Black
To the Supreme Court: The Callais decision will show us who you are with Louisiana v. Callais, SCOTUS could strike a death blow to the Voting Rights Act.
By April England-AlbrightWord in Black The Supreme Court’s October 2025 session may be its most consequential yet in the long fight for Black freedom. Louisiana v. Callais, which was reargued on Oct. 15, is the latest case testing the Voting Rights Act — a law the court has steadily weakened over the past decade and […]
Posted inWord In Black
Editorial: The right to vote is on trial… again
AFRO CEO and Publisher Frances “Toni” Draper warns that the right to vote is once again under threat as the Supreme Court reviews a case that could weaken the Voting Rights Act. She calls on all Americans to stay vigilant, reminding readers that protecting democracy demands courage, participation, and collective responsibility.
Posted inU.S. Government
A battle over Louisiana’s map could rewrite the future of the Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court appeared poised this week to weaken one of the nation’s most powerful civil rights protections, as justices weighed whether Louisiana’s creation of a second majority-Black congressional district violates the Constitution. Advocates warn the case could dismantle a cornerstone of the Voting Rights Act, threatening minority representation nationwide.
Posted inPolitics
Supreme Court seems inclined to limit race-based electoral districts under the Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court heard arguments on October 15 that could potentially gut a key tool of the Voting Rights Act, which would boost Republican electoral prospects, particularly in the South.