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On February 1st, 2023, we honor Prince Hall of Boston, who was not only a registered voter of his day, but a staunch abolitionist and civil rights activist who used the power of petitions to effectively petition the government to gain rights for Black people.
Today we honor Paul Cuffe Sr, who, by way of petitions, civil disobedience, and working within the system, helped pave the way for Black (and Native American) men in Massachusetts to be able to vote. While Cuffe's petition was denied, "it laid the groundwork for the Massachusetts Legislature to grant voting rights to all free male citizens in 1783."
Today we honor Robert Purvis, a Black man who lost his voting rights in the early 1800’s in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On March 14, 1838, Purvis submitted a petition to fight for his and 40,000 other Black Philadelphians' voting rights in response to a new state constitutional amendment that restricted suffrage to only White men. "Despite the massive effort […]
Today, February 4th, 2023, we honor the Reconstruction Congress of 1867, which passed several measures to promote Black enfranchisement. "Following the end of the Civil War, the United States Congress forged a plan to reconstruct the war-torn country. Three dynamic measures were passed in 1867." The District of Columbia Suffrage Bill "The District of Columbia Suffrage Bill, 'a bill […]
Today, February 5th, 2023, we honor the Black soldiers who fought in the American Civil War. The Black soldiers- in no exaggerated terms- decided the direction of the war. Because of a 1792 law that banned Black people for bearing arms or serving in the army, Black soldiers had to fight for the right to be able to fight in […]
Today, February 6th, 2023, we honor the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlaws discrimination in voting rights on the basis of race, color, and previous condition of servitude; thereby advancing suffrage for African Americans (although only men could vote at that time). This was the last and most hard fought for of all the Reconstruction Congress' […]
Lynchings were the original form of voter suppression...The legacy of that suppression is still evident today. The past affects people's behavior today even if they don't realize it.” - Jhacova Williams, author of a study finding Historical Lynchings and Contemporary Voting Behavior of Blacks (2017) and an associate economist at the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization.
The Igniting Change Radio Show on Tuesday, February 3, 2023, entitled “The Death of Tyre Nichols:
Race, Policing and the Struggle for Equality.”
Today, February 8th, 2022, we honor George H. White, who was a lawyer and a Republican African-American Congressman from North Carolina’s Second Congressional District (1899-1901). The Black massacres of the 1860's- 1880's were over voting. While many more massacres occurred after 1880's, the extreme concentration of Black massacres during this time period were specifically targeted against Black […]
Today, February 8th, 2023, we honor Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who was a journalist, civil rights activist, and suffragist who endlessly fought against racial and sexual discrimination. Biography“Born a slave in 1862, Ida Bell Wells was the oldest daughter of James and Lizzie Wells. The Wells family, as well as the rest of the slaves of the Confederate states, were […]
Today, February 10th, 2022, we honor the First National Conference of the Colored Women of America. Earlier, we focused on George H, White, the unsung hero who was the last of the Reconstruction Era Black Congressmen. He detailed brutal racial voter suppression that destroyed the Black vote. It would be another 91 years before another […]
Deadly violence has plagued the African-American quest for racial justice since the end of the civil war. Sadly these insurrections oftentimes resulted in the destruction of Black voting power. We must recognize this true line of violent history of the past to the violent history of the present. "It’s not that the rioters were duped […]
Take a break from the Superbowl with some Black History! Today, February 12th, 2023, we remember the 1918 flu, and the struggles and triumphs of suffragists as well as the massacres of Black voters during that time.Author's Introduction History is important. We have all heard the saying "those who do not learn from their history […]
Today, February 13th, 2023, we honor Maggie Lena Walker. Maggie organized pre-registration meetings in in 1920 in Richmond, Virginia after the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Those meetings led to a huge voter registration drive for African American women and resulted in the highest rate of African American women registered to vote in Richmond that […]
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, on 13 December 1903, Baker was raised on the same land her grandparents had worked as slaves. Baker’s childhood was marked early on by the activist spirit of her mother, a member of the local missionary association, who called on women to act as agents of social change in their communities. […]
February 14th, 2023, “Elevating Black Excellence: Celebrating Upcoming Second HBCU All-Star Game Week, March 28th - April 2nd, 2023, Houston, Texas" Join President and Founder Barbara R. Arnwine, Esq. along with Co-Host and Chair Board, Daryl D. Jones, Esq., Every Tuesday from 12:00pm to 1:00pm NewsTalk1450 #IgnitingChange Call in with Questions During the Show1-800-450-7876——The Igniting […]
Today, February 15th, 2023, we honor Fannie Lou Hamer, a seminal figure in the fight for African American voting rights and political power in the 1960's. Hamer "was a civil rights activist whose passionate depiction of her own suffering in a racist society helped focus attention on the plight of African-Americans throughout the South." "Born Fannie Lou Townsend on October […]
Today, February 16th, 2023, we honor the Children’s Crusade. which was the successful effort to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama. Led by thousands of children, underneath the leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and its leaders, Martin Luther King Jr, Rev. James Bevel, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, and Dorothy Cotton, this movement to protest racial violence […]
Today, February 17th, 2023, we honor Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson, who "was a civil rights pioneer who championed voting rights for African Americans." “Born when slavery and the Civil War were still in living memory, Mrs. Boynton Robinson became a voting rights activist in the 1930s and was a friend of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and other civil […]
Congressman John Lewis (1940-2020) 2022 Edition: The "Good Trouble" Spirit of John Lewis Marches On Today, February 18th, 2023, we honor Congressman John Lewis, who fought for equality and voting rights his entire life. Congressman John Lewis put his heart, soul, skin, blood, and tears into the fight for African-American suffrage. Congressman John Lewis was “a […]
Today, We Remember the History of Felon Disenfranchisement (1600's - Present) #VRABlackHistory 2023 Today, February 19th, 2023, we remember the history of felon disenfranchisement as part of a 2-part article reviewing felon disenfranchisement and the individuals affected. The Transformative Justice Coalition is committed to working with groups worldwide to combat felon disenfranchisement. Written in October of 2016, "Understanding Felon […]
Today, February 21st, 2023, we highlighted the current state of felon disenfranchisement and honoring those fighting for the right to restore the vote to returning citizens (those with past felony convictions). This is part 2 of the 2-part article reviewing felon disenfranchisement and the individuals affected. The Transformative Justice Coalition is committed to working with groups […]
Tuesday, February 21st, 2023, from 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Eastern Time, entitled “Black History in the Making: Sharing Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) Black History Month Voting Compendium; Ahmuad Arbery National TeleTown Hall; and, Upcoming TJC Selma Jubilee Voting Rights Series”
Today, February 22nd, 2023, we are highlighting the founding of the Congressional Black Caucus and its work and honoring its founding and current members. There are already great written accounts about the founding and work of the Congressional Black Caucus. Therefore, I am curating all of those wonderful accounts together so you can explore in-depth […]
Today, February 23rd, 2023, on the third anniversary of his killing, we honor Ahmaud Arbery and remember how his tragic passing led to the Brunswick, Georgia community, whom we also honor in this article, coming together to vote out their Judicial Circuit District Attorney (DA), Jackie Johnson, who had been shamefully failing to provide equal […]
This Tele-Town Hall is occurring on the third anniversary of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery by three white vigilantes in Brunswick, Georgia. Ahmaud Arbery, an avid runner, was running in the white community of Satilla Shores when he was killed by three white racist men. It should be noted that Ahmaud committed no crime.
Today, we honor the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. “The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, is one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. Over the past forty years, he has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and […]
Today, we honor Martin Luther King Jr., who "was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968.
#VRABlackHistory 2023 - The Voting Rights Alliance Thank you for following our #VRABlackHistory series, where for 28 days we have honored, recognized, and educated about a person, organization, or event, spanning over 5 centuries and told in chronological order about those moments that forever changed the movement for African-American suffrage. Below is the list of […]
Voting rights for #BIPOC communities have consistently been under attack. These attacks ranged from poll taxes and tests in the Jim Crow south, to modern methods such as voter registration obstacles, voter ID laws, and decreasing early voting ballot drop boxes in communities. Join us for the panel Take it to the Polls at our […]
The Igniting Change Radio Show on Tuesday, February 28th, 2023, from 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Eastern Time, entitled “Walking In The Steps of the Ancestors: Transformative Justice Coalition’s Voting Rights Series during Selma Jubilee Bridge Crossing and Gen Z and Millennial Votes Matter Houston Training Event Application Deadline Looms”,
The Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) will sponsor an afternoon of powerful back to back voting rights educational and organizing events. The events will include a free luncheon session (registration required), 2 workshops and a Happy Hour. Each workshop will consist of an opening speaker, followed by a panel discussion and audience interaction. All events composing the Voting Rights Series will be held on Saturday, March 4th from 12:00 p.m. until 5:30 p.m..