Reflective Democracy

On April 20, sheriffs’ deputies in Georgia pulled over a bus transporting the women’s lacrosse team from Delaware State University, a historically Black university, and without probable cause brought in drug-sniffing dogs and hand-searched the women’s personal belongings. The officers were white, and almost all of the female athletes and staff Black.

Suzanne Almeida of Common Cause, a frequent litigant opposing gerrymanders, noted that courts in Republican states like Ohio have joined ones in deep Democratic states like New York in striking down partisan maps. “If I ran the world,” Almeida said, there’d be national standards against gerrymandering to ensure skewed maps in one big state don’t tilt the entire congressional map. But a Democratic proposal for just that foundered in Congress earlier this year. So, Almeida said, ”we are taking the wins that we can take.”

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court is a victory for the American people at a time when our democracy is under siege. Soon-to-be Justice Jackson has demonstrated a longstanding and unwavering commitment to justice for all Americans. That commitment will be crucial as it has increasingly fallen to the courts to serve as a bulwark to our democracy at a time when too many politicians are passing laws to make it harder for certain Americans – particularly Black and Brown Americans - to vote and to be heard by those in power.

"All Americans should come together now to support the fight for democracy abroad and renew our commitment to a democracy that strengthens the people’s voice at home."

As we honor and work to advance the legacies of Black change-makers this Black History Month, we here at Common Cause want to take a special moment to highlight some of our Democracy Fellows – as well as the transformative work they have spearheaded at their Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).