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Tag: ashley k shelton

Black Southern Women’s Collaborative Condemns Supreme Court Decision Limiting Mass Protests

Posted on

For Immediate Release

April 22, 2024

BATON ROUGE – The Supreme Court recently announced it will not hear Mckesson v. Doe. This decision leaves in place a lower court order that effectively eliminated the right to organize a mass protest in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The Black Southern Women’s Collaborative (BSWC) has previously spoken on the dangers of limiting constitutional rights to protest in opinion pieces from Ashley Shelton who leads the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice in Louisiana and Tameka Greer who leads Memphis Artists for Change in Tennessee. You can read those pieces here and here. If you report on this issue, Shelton and Greer, and other members of the BSWC are available for comment.

“The Constitution’s first amendment protects our rights to freedom of speech and to peaceably assemble; despite this, we see efforts to criminalize protests rather than address the reason people are protesting in the first place,” Greer said. “This is deflection. Policymakers shouldn’t be punishing those who exercise their right to demand answers for their grievances.”

“This ruling undermines the heart of the U.S. Constitution,” Shelton said. “Anti-protest laws are not about safety. If they were about safety, my First Amendment rights would enjoy the same protection as my Second Amendment rights. Instead, these policies are specifically designed to silence Black people, persons in poverty, and persons from marginalized communities. If we do not resist such measures, we will see escalating campaigns to silence Black people, people of color, religious minorities, and others. Once that happens, we will have no way to challenge laws that relegate many to second-class status.”

“All people deserve to live in a society that sees and responds to their needs,” said Nsombi Lambright Haynes, executive director of One Voice and a member of the BSWC. “Preventing the right to gather sends the message that our communities have no right to remedy injustice. The courts are telling the American people that we must accept injustice today, tomorrow and forever. Such messages eliminate confidence in our democracy and in our judiciary.”

“This latest play demonstrates extreme white supremacist governing,” said Phyllis Hill, founder of the BSWC. “It is in line with other efforts to strip away our rights, such as Roe vs Wade. They are stripping away our rights and eliminating our right to voice dissent through voting.”

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Black Southern Women’s Collaborative Weigh in on Redistricting in States Such as Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana

Posted on

For Immediate Release

Oct. 30, 2023

ATLANTA – On Thursday, October 26, U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones declared that Georgia’s current maps violated the Voting Rights Act and must be redrawn by Dec. 8. Gov. Brian Kemp ordered a special session on Nov. 29 to begin the map-drawing process. The Black Southern Women’s Collaborative, which includes founder Phyllis Hill; Kendra Cotton, CEO of the New Georgia Project; Nsombi Lambright-Haynes, executive director of One Voice; Tameka Greer, executive director of Memphis Artists for Change; Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida; and Ashley K. Shelton, president and founder of the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice, released the following statement:

“For years, Black women have been organizing against unfair and inequitable redistricting maps,” Cotton said. “We have done this even as we have gone to great lengths to educate our communities on how they could engage in the process. The federal court ruling in Georgia, and the Supreme Court rulings in Alabama and Louisiana affirm what we’ve said all along, the state and congressional districting lines in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana disproportionately harmed Black voters.”

“We have repeatedly urged elected officials to create fair maps while also educating voters on how they could engage in the redistricting process,” Shelton said. “In Louisiana, we launched a tour where we went city by city to explain the process in accessible terms. We, along with partners and allies, also filed a legal challenge to Louisiana’s maps which diluted the voting power of Black voters. Our work has shown that when Black women organize, Black communities benefit. It is imperative that donors and foundations continue to get resources to Black women who have time and time again proven to be defenders of democracy.”

The victory for Black voters in Georgia follows similar wins in Louisiana and Alabama where the Supreme Court ruled those states’ maps violated Black voters’ ability to elect candidates of choice. Ohio advocates are also preparing to put a measure on the ballot that would allow ordinary citizens as opposed to politicians to draw state legislative lines.

“The right to vote is sacred,” Hill said. “And from coast to coast, Black women organizers have been pushing back on attacks that undermine the right to vote and democracy itself. From experience, we know that when we fight, we will win.”

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Power Coalition for Equity & Justice Releases Testimony During Louisiana Redistricting Process

Posted on

For Immediate Release

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Power Coalition for Equity & Justice today released public testimony its president and CEO Ashley K. Shelton gave to the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. The testimony, which is copied below, makes clear the importance of an equitable and fair districting process. It was delivered before the Louisiana Senate voted down Sen. Cleo Fields’ congressional redistricting map and prior to the Louisiana House voting down Rep. Randal Gaines’ congressional redistricting map. Those proposals included two minority-majority districts, something Black voters in the state advocated for. 

Good Morning, Speaker of the House and Members of the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. My name is Ashley Kennedy Shelton, and I am the Founder, President and CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. I join you here today to speak on behalf of the state and the people I love.

I often say, “everything I love is in this place and that is why I fight for it.” The criteria for the redistricting process is clear, we must first comply with the Federal law which includes the Voting Rights Act, Section Two. Louisiana has the 2nd largest Black population in the country and this map does not create additional majority-minority districts beyond the 29 we already have, which very likely violates Section 2 of the VRA. Speaker, you mention tradition and keeping your decisions in line with the elected officials who came before you…however, those that came before you have allowed and have maintained significant racial gerrymandering. We know that there is an opportunity for Louisiana to add at least 9 additional majority-minority seats, we understand and find it unfortunate that because of the political reality in our state this will not happen. I want to be clear however that the people of Louisiana deserve Representation and not merely “protection.” You cannot protect anyone that does not have a voice or an elected leader willing to give them voice.

This process will determine voice and representation for the next ten years and whether our communities grow because there is true voice and representation. We have been engaging in voter engagement for the last five years, and what I know is that our engagement work of a universe of 500,000 to 800,000 has consistently shown 62% or more of our universe turns out to vote. This makes several things clear to me…that when engaged, minority voters vote! We also know that having candidates that excite them also moves people to the polls.

It feels important to acknowledge that in this process all maps had to include no split precincts. In meeting the letter of the law, we must first comply with federal law, the VRA Section Two, then state law…and by forcing no precincts be split, has impacted map drawing and voices of communities of color.

In closing, Louisiana is the second poorest state in the country and failing at most quality of life indicators clearly, our elected leaders at every level of government have work to do…and in talking to your constituents all over this state, I am always struck by how we don’t differ much on the things that are important to us. It is however not lost on me or the voters of this state that there is a clear disconnect between our voices and values and the types of policies moved by our elected leaders.

For more information or to speak with Shelton, contact press@spotlightpr.org.

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Power Coalition: Redistricting Must Ensure Maps That Look Like the State

Posted on

For Immediate Release

Jan. 31, 2022

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Power Coalition for Equity & Justice is continuing efforts to ensure an equitable and fair redistricting process. Today, it called on elected leaders to ensure new maps that are representative of Louisiana. With the redistricting process in Louisiana set to begin on Feb. 1, the organization has announced a series of events to engage voters and legislators alike.

After hosting a multicity roadshow in fall 2021, where organizational leaders engaged voters around redistricting, the Power Coalition held a series of group texting events. Titled Texting Tuesdays Power Hour, the weekly sessions enable voters to engage one another and elected leaders about redistricting. The virtual sessions, which began in mid-January, are held on Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. CST. To date, advocates have contacted 7,000 people through the Texting Tuesdays Power Hour events.

Additionally, the Power Coalition will convene voters at the state capitol on Feb. 1 and 2 to urge legislators to create two minority-majority seats and ensure that the new maps are more representative of the 40% people of color in the state. At the conclusion of the Feb. 1 convening, where 200 people are registered to attend, there will be a 4:00 p.m. CST press conference at the Louisiana State Capitol, 900 North Third Street in Baton Rouge. Reporters must register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/power-mobilization-redistricting-advocacy-day-tickets-243380847667.

“Our intention is to help legislators understand and appreciate the desires of voters,” said Ashley K. Shelton, executive director of the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice. “We need elected leaders to ensure all voters have every opportunity to be heard. Legislators must ensure new maps are representative of the demographics of the state. Elected officials cannot ignore communities of interest that are strongly influenced by communities of color.”

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The Power Coalition for Equity & Justice works to build power and voice in traditionally disenfranchised communities across Louisiana. It is a coalition of groups united around a shared mission of organizing in impacted communities, educating, and turning out voters, and fighting for policies that create a more equitable and just system in our state.

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