MAGA Voting Rights Power Grab. Stacey Abrams Dire Warning. Justin Jones Stripped of All Committees.
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Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is calling a special session to redraw maps, aiming to reduce Black representation by 2028, and has made local elections non-partisan in key Black-majority counties.
- ❖South Carolina Governor is also calling a special session to target Congressman Jim Clyburn's seat, despite initial legislative resistance.
- ❖Tennessee Republicans removed all Democrats from committees in retaliation for protesting the stripping of Memphis's congressional seat.
- ❖Stacey Abrams frames the Republican actions as a power grab, driven by the impending 'majority-minority' demographic shift in the U.S. by 2046.
- ❖The host and guests advocate for a 'Freedom Summer 2.0' with massive voter turnout, registration, and consistent citizenship training.
- ❖Congressman Mark Veasey and Roland Martin propose Black athletes boycott SEC/ACC schools in states engaging in voter suppression to exert economic pressure.
- ❖The SCORE Act is identified as a bill targeting Black athletes' Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) earnings, further illustrating economic attacks.
- ❖The Attorney General of Louisiana is threatening to remove New Orleans city officials for resisting state-level power grabs, highlighting state vs. local conflict.
- ❖CBC Director Vince Evans publicly criticized Senator Bernie Sanders for his silence on the attacks on Black voting rights.
Insights
1Coordinated GOP Attack on Black Political Power
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp called a special session on June 17th to redraw maps, impacting legislative and congressional seats for 2028. He also signed a law making various county races (DA, commissioner, tax commissioner) non-partisan in five predominantly Black metro Atlanta counties (Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton) to counter Democratic success. South Carolina's governor is also calling a special session to target Congressman Jim Clyburn's seat. Tennessee Republicans removed all Democrats from committees after they protested the stripping of Memphis's congressional seat.
Roland Martin details actions by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (, ), South Carolina Governor (), and Tennessee Republicans (, ). Stacey Abrams explains the context in Georgia (). Gerald Griggs elaborates on Georgia's specific targeting ().
2Demographic Shifts Fueling the Power Grab
Stacey Abrams asserts that the Republican party's aggressive actions are fundamentally about power, driven by the knowledge that the U.S. will become a majority-minority country by 2046. The strategy is to diminish the political, economic, and educational power of the Black community, which has historically advanced other communities of color, to construct an 'America they wish they had.'
Stacey Abrams states, 'This is all about power. They know that in 2046, the United States of America is going to be a majority minority country.' () She adds, 'If you take us out... that gives the authoritarian regime... the ability to construct the America they wish they had.' ()
3Call for 'Freedom Summer 2.0' and Sustained Mobilization
The host and guests emphasize the urgent need for a massive, sustained voter turnout and mobilization effort, drawing parallels to the 1965 Voting Rights Act and Obama's 2008 election. This includes consistent citizenship training events, year-round funding for voter turnout (not just during general elections), and connecting voting to tangible issues like healthcare, housing, and education. Stacey Abrams highlights Georgia's success in 2018, adding 800,000 people to voter participation without national investment.
Roland Martin calls for a 'massive voter turnout' () and a 'freedom summer' (). Stacey Abrams details Georgia's 2018 turnout increase () and the need to 'connect the dots' between voting and daily life issues (). Gerald Griggs discusses the Georgia NAACP's GOTV efforts ().
4Economic Boycott of Southern Sports as a Counter-Strategy
Congressman Mark Veasey and Roland Martin advocate for Black athletes to boycott SEC and ACC schools in Southern states that are actively suppressing Black voting rights. They cite the example of Kylin Hill, a Mississippi State running back, whose 2020 tweet threatening to not represent the state led to the removal of the Confederate emblem from the state flag within eight days. They argue that these schools cannot survive or win without Black talent, making it a powerful leverage point.
Congressman Veasey states, 'We as fans, we have to stop watching these games. We cannot continue to let them exploit our children and make them billions and billions of dollars while they take our voting rights away.' () Roland Martin recounts Kylin Hill's 2020 action () and asserts, 'Those schools cannot survive playing football or basketball without black people.' ().
5The SCORE Act: Targeting Black Athlete Earnings
Congressman Mark Veasey highlights the SCORE Act, a bill on the House floor, as a direct attack on Black athletes. He explains that the bill's language prevents athletes from having sponsors or endorsements that conflict with their school's existing product affiliations (e.g., an athlete at a Nike-sponsored school cannot sign with Adidas), thereby limiting their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) earning potential. Roland Martin notes that some Black Caucus members are co-sponsors, calling for their withdrawal.
Congressman Veasey describes the SCORE Act: 'It goes after black athletes. It says that you can use name, image, and likeness, but you can't you can't have a sponsor or or an endorsement from a product that your school has a conflict with.' () Roland Martin adds, 'The score act absolutely is targeting black athletes.' () and mentions CBC co-sponsors ().
Bottom Line
The 'Jim Crow Playbook' is being applied in a new era where Black communities possess significant, yet often untapped, electoral and economic power, making the current attacks a sign of fear rather than absolute dominance.
This reframes the struggle from a losing battle to a strategic fight where the opposition's speed and aggression indicate their vulnerability to organized counter-movements.
Focus on leveraging existing Black electoral strength and economic influence (e.g., sports, consumer power) as direct tools for resistance, rather than solely relying on traditional political advocacy.
The political apathy among younger generations (Gen Z, Gen Alpha), who have primarily experienced a chaotic political landscape under Trump, poses a significant challenge to mobilization efforts.
Traditional political messaging may not resonate; strategies must address their disillusionment by clearly connecting political action to tangible improvements in their lives and demonstrating hope beyond the current chaos.
Develop innovative, community-based citizenship training and organizing models that are tailored to the experiences and communication preferences of younger demographics, emphasizing collective survival and tangible outcomes.
The criticism of progressive allies (like Bernie Sanders) for their perceived silence on Black voting rights attacks highlights a critical fault line within the Democratic coalition.
This suggests that Black issues are still often compartmentalized as 'niche' rather than central to broader progressive agendas, leading to a lack of fervent advocacy from some allies.
Force a 'come to Jesus meeting' with progressive and liberal allies to demand reciprocal advocacy for Black issues, emphasizing that Black political power is foundational to achieving their own broader agendas.
Key Concepts
Economic Withdrawal (Dr. King's Principle)
The deliberate withholding of economic support (e.g., consumer spending, athletic talent) from institutions or regions to exert pressure and force policy changes, as advocated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for 'redistributing the pain'.
Power Dynamics and Demographic Shift
The concept that political and economic attacks on marginalized communities are often driven by a fear of shifting demographics, where a rising 'majority-minority' population threatens existing power structures, leading to efforts to diminish their influence.
Jim Crow Playbook 2.0
The modern application of historical tactics of racial disenfranchisement and suppression (like gerrymandering, voter purges, polling place closures) in a contemporary context, adapted to current legal and political frameworks.
Lessons
- Participate in 'Freedom Summer 2.0' by joining massive voter registration drives, mobilization efforts, and consistent citizenship training events.
- Black athletes and their families should consider boycotting SEC and ACC schools in states actively engaged in voter suppression to exert economic pressure.
- Support organizations like the NAACP and the 10 Steps Campaign (10stepscampaign.org) that are actively fighting voter suppression and providing civic education and legal defense.
Freedom Summer 2.0: Mobilizing Against Voter Suppression
**Massive Voter Turnout & Registration:** Initiate and sustain large-scale voter registration and Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts, akin to historical civil rights movements, focusing on consistent, year-round engagement rather than just election cycles.
**Civic Education & Dot-Connecting:** Conduct regular citizenship training events and educational campaigns to inform communities about current legislative attacks and explicitly connect voting to tangible issues like healthcare, housing, education, and economic opportunity.
**Strategic Economic Action:** Leverage collective economic power through targeted boycotts (e.g., of Southern collegiate sports programs) and demand accountability from corporations operating in states that suppress voting rights.
**Legal & Coalition Building:** Support lawsuits challenging gerrymandering and voter suppression, and build broad coalitions across Black, Brown, and white communities who believe in democracy, recognizing the fight as democracy vs. authoritarianism, not just partisan.
**Hold Allies Accountable:** Demand active and fervent advocacy from progressive and liberal allies on issues impacting Black communities, ensuring that Black political power is prioritized as a foundational element of broader progressive agendas.
Notable Moments
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp calls a special session for June 17th to redraw maps for 2028 and makes local elections non-partisan in five Black-majority counties.
This demonstrates a direct, multi-pronged effort to dilute Black political power at both state and local levels, impacting future representation and governance.
Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones describes Republicans removing all Democrats from committees as 'Jim Crow committees' and calls House Speaker Cameron Sexton the 'Grand Wizard and Chief'.
This highlights the extreme retaliatory measures taken against Black elected officials and the inflammatory language used to describe the political climate, framing it as a 'civil war' against Black folks in the South.
Congressman Mark Veasey and Roland Martin advocate for Black athletes to boycott SEC/ACC schools in states with voter suppression, citing Kylin Hill's successful protest against the Mississippi state flag.
This introduces a powerful, non-traditional economic leverage point against state policies, demonstrating the significant influence Black athletes hold and the potential for 'economic withdrawal' to force political change.
CBC Executive Director Vince Evans publicly calls out Senator Bernie Sanders for his silence on attacks against Black voting rights.
This exposes a perceived disconnect or lack of urgency from some progressive allies regarding issues central to Black political power, challenging the solidarity within the broader Democratic coalition.
Donald Trump publicly insults and demeans Black female reporters, calling them 'dumb' and 'not a smart person'.
This illustrates a pattern of disrespectful and racially charged behavior towards Black women in media, contributing to a hostile environment for journalists and normalizing such rhetoric from public figures.
Quotes
"This is all about power. They know that in 2046, the United States of America is going to be a majority minority country. And they know that the community that has been the most both at risk and responsible for the advancement of communities of color, for the advancement of the marginalized and the oppressed has been the black community. So if you take us out, if you diminish our political power, you eliminate our economic power, you remove our educational opportunities, that gives the authoritarian regime, because that's what this is. It gives them the ability to construct the America they wish they had as opposed to the America we have helped to build."
"If you just take black representation and cut it in half in Congress, well, the next time there's a question about police brutality, that that bill is even making it to the floor for debate, let alone for a vote. that we're talking about black maternal health. You can push that out the window and nobody gonna be worried about that. There's no one in the room to talk about it."
"We have nothing to lose as black people in the south. We must fight with everything we have. We must stand up, do things out of the ordinary. We cannot be cowardous, but we must be courageous in this moment and fight back because if we don't, if we're not careful, we'll be like the end of reconstruction. We will have no black lawmakers left in the South."
"If one top 300 recruit if one says I will not be going to an SEC school in a state where they are disenfranchising black people. I'm telling you it is going that's all we need is one."
"Allyship means that that that doesn't just mean we vote for your thing. That means that also you are going to vote for our thing because helping us helps you."
Q&A
Recent Questions
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