Rising to Freedom

“Freedom is never given; it is won.” – A. Philip Randolph

The United States is perched upon a precipice: In the next decade, we will either become a genuine, multiethnic democracy for the very first time or tumble backward into Jim Crow-era disenfranchisement. Right now, lawmakers in dozens of states are advancing bills that would use modern poll taxes and literacy tests to prevent millions of people from casting a vote. Whether they will succeed depends entirely on the power of our collective resistance. In this conversation, community organizers and politicians will offer wisdom about what we all can do to demand free and easy access to the ballot. And we’ll examine the lessons learned from organizing efforts in the 2020 election about the best way to encourage our neighbors to make their voices heard!

This conversation is part of the Freedom Rising Salons, a year-long conversation series that features thought leaders, organizers, artists and modern prophets reflecting on crucial justice issues, and what we all can do to rise and meet them.

In this conversation, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis will talk with LaTosha Brown and Lisa Sharon Harper about what we all can do to demand free and easy access to the ballot. And they’ll examine the lessons learned from organizing efforts in the 2020 election about the best way to encourage our neighbors to make their voices heard.