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My name is Heather Booth, and I’ve been an activist and organizer for more than six decades. I’m writing to you on the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, a law that enforced voting rights protections for Black Americans and so many others.
In the Civil Rights Movement, thousands tirelessly fought, took enormous risks, and some even died to help pass the Voting Rights Act. I was one of those volunteers, and today I’m sharing my story.
Back in 1964, Black people in the South often faced impossible hurdles, and even threats, if they tried to register to vote. That year, the courageous people fighting for voting rights in Mississippi asked for support from students like me in the North. It was called the Freedom Summer Project.
I was 18 when I arrived in Mississippi, and I was soon arrested (for the first time) as the local sheriff tried to shut down our voter registration drive. Other volunteers and activists faced more grave threats, violence, and even death.
But while our opponents had intimidation and violence, our powerful organizing and loving community won the Voting Rights Act and so many other connected fights through the years.
Today, everything we’ve fought for is under attack. The Trump regime wants to turn back the clocks and make a country only for wealthy and powerful people who think like they do. And to get there, they’ve eroded the Voting Rights Act and have their sights set on dismantling our elections. Again, they’re using fear and intimidation to try to silence us.
But they will not win. I know this because of what I learned from a great heroine of the Civil Rights Movement, Fannie Lou Hamer: When we organize with love at the center, we can change the world.
So I’m asking you if you will help us come together, keep up the fight for our fundamental rights, and lead with love once again. Please watch and share this video I made with Bend the Arc.
And if you are able, sign up to help out with an upcoming phonebank, this Sunday and Tuesday, so we can protect the right to vote in this year's election.
Pursuing justice is my life’s work and our Jewish tradition. Thanks for being with Bend the Arc as we live for freedom and build the world of our dreams.
In solidarity,
Heather Booth
Lifelong activist and organizer
Heather Booth’s long career as an activist, organizer, and strategist includes work during the Civil Rights Movement, founding the JANE abortion network, advocating for gay marriage and immigration reform, and founding the Midwest Academy — one of the country’s premier organizer training institutes.
