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To be real with you, I was hoping that I’d never have to send you this email. With Republicans now in control of the Senate, we will see a change in Congress that signals deep challenges for our families and communities.
Over the coming weeks and months, analysts will have much to say about the role that Black voters played in this election. Already we know that across the country, Black voters defied expectations and turned out at rates higher than in 2010 despite continued attempts by the right wing to suppress our votes.
And, unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough.
It wasn’t enough for Kay Hagan (D-NC) who lost a must-win Senate seat to Thom Tillis (R-NC) by a razor thin margin — while our communities faced the most aggressive voter suppression laws passed in the country since the Voting Rights Act. It wasn’t enough in Georgia, either, as we watched Michelle Nunn (D-GA) concede while thousands of voter registration forms remained unprocessed. And it certainly wasn’t enough in Kentucky where Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Democratic challenger wouldn’t even admit to voting for President Obama.
As a movement, we’ve got a lot to figure out; a lot more work to do to hold the people in power accountable.
I know this much: an America in which candidates are afraid or unwilling to speak directly to Black voters about the issues that matter to us is an unacceptable, insufferable status quo; an America where politicians ignore police violence and support a broken criminal justice system, prioritize corporate interests over community values and fight to make it harder for us to vote is intolerable.
If we learn one thing from yesterday’s election, it’s that — now more than ever — is a time to organize.
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Obscured by the larger national picture, yesterday had some meaningful victories which demonstrate the strength of our movement. Californians passed Proposition 47 which will force the state to change course from four-decades of misguided, incarceration-only policies which have destabilized Black families and drained resources from Black communities.
Massachusetts passed a bill providing for earned sick time that will relieve working folks of having to choose between their job and the health of their families. Additionally, voters in South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas and Alaska passing ballot measures to increase the minimum wage shows that there is a groundswell of popular support for issues of economic equality but candidates must exhibit political courage to move this agenda forward.
And despite the Republican takeover, the 114th Congress will have more Black members than at any time in history.
With announcements coming soon about the indictments of the officers responsible for murdering Mike Brown and Eric Garner our movement has never been more important. We can’t afford to stop fighting.
Thanks and peace,
Rashad
O’DONNELL: Many Democrats don’t like a last-minute change from the top Republican leaders to alter campaign finance rules, so big donors can give ten times more money – up to $324,000; watering down requirements for school lunch nutrition, backed by Mrs. Obama; cutting staff at the Environmental Protection Agency; stopping the District of Columbia from legalizing marijuana; and most controversial: rolling back a current ban on taxpayer bailouts for big banks that engage in high-risk investments.
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