Black Clergy Launch Emergency Voter Mobilization After Supreme Court Weakens Voting Rights Act
Rev. Thomas L. Bowen of the Progressive National Baptist Convention is leading efforts to protect Black voters after the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. Clergy across the country are setting up voter registration hubs and organizing Souls to the Polls Sundays.
The Supreme Court's decision to gut a central provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has set off an organized response inside the Black church. Clergy from multiple denominations are now treating voter mobilization as a matter of faith.
Rev. Thomas L. Bowen, General Secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, is at the center of the effort. The PNBC is the denominational home of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and represents more than 2.5 million members. Bowen previously served as Senior Advisor for Faith Engagement in the Biden White House.
"We are already organizing to reduce the damage to democracy that this decision is sure to cause," Bowen said in a May 9 interview with Religion News Service.
The response is taking shape at the local level. Bishop Talbert Swan II, director of social justice ministry for the Church of God in Christ, announced that every COGIC church will become a voter registration hub, with registration tables and trained volunteers. Bishop Charley Hames Jr. of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church announced designated voter engagement captains at every local church, along with assistance for mail ballots and organized Souls to the Polls Sundays.
In Louisiana, where redistricting battles are already underway, clergy are showing up at state hearings. Reverend Gregory White of Beech Grove Baptist Church in Baton Rouge testified before the state Senate, arguing for the preservation of majority-Black congressional districts. The New National Christian Leadership Movement organized protests at the Louisiana State Capitol during redistricting hearings.
In Memphis, Reverend J. Lawrence Turner and Reverend Earle Fisher participated in demonstrations against a Republican-led effort to eliminate a majority-Black district. Both vowed legal challenges and increased voter turnout.
Denominations are also renewing partnerships with local NAACP branches, ecumenical groups, and Black sororities and fraternities. Young adults are being encouraged to run for political office.
