Richmond, VA – On Saturday, May 16, people rallied for two constitutional amendments which will be on the ballot this November: Reproductive Freedom and Restoration of Voting Rights. It was hot on Saturday, but it didn’t deter the participants who were fired up over the Calais Supreme Court decision resulting in the decimation of Black congressional districts in the South and the Virginia Supreme Court ruling overturning the recent redistricting election.
The events kicked off at the Bell Tower in Capitol Square with the Reproductive Freedom rally followed by a March. Women shared their personal experiences about why reproductive freedom is important to protect.
One mother spoke about how IVF finally resulted in her being able to give birth. She spoke about how the high cost of IVF makes fertility treatments inaccessible for all women struggling with infertility or a genetic history that IVF could help result in a healthy baby.
Another mother talked about how she didn’t feel supported during her birth and how it inspired her to become a doula. She spoke about the importance of women being informed about the choices available to them when giving birth and that all women need to be able to access the support they need.
Unfortunately anti-abortion propaganda dismisses the need women have to access affordable and safe abortion care. Since the Dobbs decision designated the states to determine if and how they would allow abortions, women have been dying due to lack of care. Some mothers have literally bled to death in parking lots because their state prevents any care unless the mother is about to die. When mothers get so close to dying they don’t make it and some mothers who survive lose their fertility.
A mother shared her heartbreak when her pregnancy ended in a miscarriage that needed medical care. She was grateful that she was able to get the help she needed and didn’t die. She encouraged women who had miscarriages to talk about their experiences and why women need access to abortion care.
A woman who had crippling pain due to ovarian cysts explained how taking the birth control pill finally gave her back her life. She explained that we can’t take our reproductive health for granted because even the birth control pill is under attack. She urged people to do the work to get our reproductive freedom enshrined in the Virginia constitution this fall.
After the rally, people marched to Broad street chanting and then they lined the street. Many cars driving by honked their horns in support.
Next up was the NAACP March and Rally for Voting Rights. People were fired up after Thursday’s May 14 NAACP national call for people to rise up for another Freedom Summer and to stop Jim Crow 2.0. They started off on Broad St and marched chanting to the Bell Tower.
A young Black, Elijah Lee, spoke about how he was born with more rights than he has now. He was grateful for the work for the Freedom Fighters who worked tirelessly to get the Civil Rights Act passed and said that now it was time for his generation to continue their work. He’s been volunteering to protect Civil Rights since he was 12. He was able to vote yes on the redistricting amendment because he’s turning 18 before the November election. He talked about how it felt that the first vote he was able to cast was overturned by the Virginia Supreme Court. He encouraged everyone to start working now to turn out the vote this November. After he finished speaking he left the rally to go get dressed for his high school prom.
Alexsis Rodgers, the Managing Director of the Black Futures Lab, spoke about her experience being a poll greeter in Georgia last year when an elderly Black woman was on her way to the polls to vote. She told Rodgers that her sister had died while volunteering to get the Civil Rights Act passed and how precious our right to vote is. Rodgers encouraged everyone to go to the Black Census Project and to take the survey about how we want our democracy to function. She explained that our current system is functioning the way it was intended to protect the interests of rich white men and that it was up to us to change the system.
A woman talked about the importance of restoring people’s voting rights. She explained how she had been unjustly convicted for a crime that removed her voting rights. Her parents had also lost their voting rights. Both she and her mother were able to get their rights restored and became poll workers. She explained how important voting is for her family and the work she continues to do to make sure that people get their rights back to be able to vote. This November the Restoring Voting Rights constitutional amendment will be on the ballot and she encouraged people to vote yes on this amendment.
Many attended both of the rallies. People are angry about the redistricting election being overturned and how they’re watching our democracy unravel. People are encouraged to join the NAACP and to support their efforts to register voters and to turn out to vote this November.
A significant difference between the people who attended the 1960’s rallies and this past Saturday’s was the diversity of the attendees both in age and ethnicity.
The People are united and determined to transform our democracy to protect people’s rights. Everyone was encouraged to start right now to finally fulfill the promise of Martin Luther King’s dream.
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