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In 1965, thousands of demonstrators marched from Selma, Ala.
With Democrats, civil rights activists, and constituencies continuing to oppose Republican electoral laws in the Texan legislature and across the south, activists are hoping to have some Selma-like influence with a 42-mile hike from Georgetown to Austin calling the moral march for democracy.
The Texan March, broken into smaller legs on four mornings Wednesday through Saturday, was commissioned by Rev. Dr. William Barber of the Poor People’s Campaign and Powered by People, the electoral organization of former US MP Beto O’Rourke.
The Campaign of the Poor, a religious group protesting against economic inequality, has sparked several other protests across the country to push for suffrage reforms, including some that ended with arrests in the country’s capital.
More:Bishop Barber: Why We’re Marching in Texas
Other partners for the march include Black Voters Matter, Texas AFL-CIO, YWCA Greater Austin, among other organizations, churches and leaders.
March organizers hope to get federal officials to fully restore the 1965 Suffrage Act, raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, provide permanent protection to all undocumented immigrants, and end filibuster in the U.S. Senate, among other things.
“If these demands are not met, all people are vulnerable,” Barber said in a statement. “Blacks, browns, whites and Asians, natives and the poor and people with little wealth. Women and men, children and young people, people with disabilities, everyone is affected.”
O’Rourke said the march was especially important after key polling stations in democratic areas had been closed for the past eight years, in addition to a tough state electoral ID law and a practice that allows members of Congress to spot federal candidates for their judges To block states.
“Because of that, this is the toughest state in the country to vote,” said O’Rourke. “And the governor and the Republican majority in the state legislature are trying to make it harder, so there is no more important place to be in or involved in this fight than in Texas.”
The organizers have not disclosed the exact route of the march for safety reasons, but the walk will begin at 7 a.m. on Wednesday at Christ Lutheran Church in Georgetown and will end on Saturday with an 8 a.m. rally at the Capitol, which organizers hope will that it attracts 10,000 people.
All speakers, organizers, singers, volunteers, band members, vendors, and stagehands are required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of the march. The organizers said masks are required, protesters must register participate online, and marshals will enforce social distancing along the route.
Organizers are advising against long-distance travel prior to the march and are asking supporters living outside of a four-hour drive from Austin to attend the rally online instead.
O’Rourke said the trek should show support for electoral reform, inspired by the Selma protesters who built the momentum and public support that led to the passage of the Voting Law in 1965.
“If enough of us come out and keep standing up and standing up, then we can help push the president, who in turn can plead for changing the filibuster to allow the electoral law to be passed by a simple majority.” of the Senate, “said O’Rourke.
“It takes this kind of political courage, this kind of change, to secure the right to vote in Texas and across the country, but it will get us in Texas to do all we can,” he said.
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