Stevie Wonder's blunt message to U.S. Senators about voting rights

Music legend, Stevie wonder posted a video message to his YouTube channel in which he rather blunty expressed his thoughts about the voting rights bill that Senate Democrats are expected to meet about on Tuesday.

SPEAKER PELOSI TO JOIN MARTIN LUTHER KING III & FAMILY FOR MLK DAY PRESS CONFERENCE ON VOTING RIGHTS

On Monday,  the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will join Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King and Yolanda Renee King, as well as other elected officials and civil rights leaders at a press conference to discuss the critical need for action on voting rights legislation. The press conference comes as the Senate heads for a vote on the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act on Tuesday. Mr. King and others will call on the Senate to do away with the filibuster in order to pass this bill.

The list of speakers includes:

• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi  
• Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus 
• Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL), United States Congress
• Martin Luther King III, Chairman of the Drum Major Institute
• Arndrea Waters King, President of the Drum Major Institute
• Yolanda Renee King, Director of Youth Programming for the Drum Major Institute and Granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King
• Rev. Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network 
• DaMareo Cooper Co-Chair of the Center for Popular Democracy 
• Kelly Robinson, Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Vice President of Advocacy and Organizing at Planned Parenthood Federation of America 
• Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino  
• Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers 
• Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association 
• Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation 
• LaTosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter
• Rahna Epting, Executive Director of MoveOn
• Donald Cravins, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Urban League
• Rev. Lis Theoharis, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign 
• Ramón Cruz, President of Sierra Club 
• Stephanie Young, Executive Director of When We All Vote 
• Taifa Smith Butler, President of Demos
• Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of League of Women Voters 
• 
  

In the morning before the press conference, Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, Yolanda Renee King and representatives from partner organizations will join the D.C. MLK Holiday Committee for their D.C. Peace Walk: Change Happens with Good Hope and a Dream. The King family will not be formally speaking at the Peace Walk; however, media is invited to capture footage and photos of the family crossing the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.

Black radio legend Joe Madison goes on hunger strike until Congress passes the voting rights act

Black radio legend, Joe Madison of SiriusXM Urban View’s Joe Madison Show announced on his program that he’s starting a hunger strike in protest of voting rights not getting passed in the Senate.

He will continue his hunger strike until congress passes, and President Biden signs, the Freedom to Vote Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Listen to his announcement below:

Democrats near a compromise on a federal voting rights bill

Rep. Terri Sewell discussed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and her belief that Democrats are near a deal on Jonathan Capehart's MSNBC show, The Sunday Show.

Watch that segment below.

Rev. Dr. William Barber says it's time to “reset this whole argument” on voting rights

Rev. Dr. William Barber, Co-Chairman of “The Poor People’s Campaign” and ‘Moral Mondays’ architect, has been leading marches of clergy and voting rights activists, often getting arrested. As the pressure campaign from the public builds, members of Congress are trying to work out some form of ‘compromise.’ But Barber and fellow advocates say a “watered down” voting rights bill isn’t enough. He calls this game a “Washington two-step,” making a bill “so weak it doesn’t deal with the problem.” “We are talking about the greatest attack on voting rights since the Civil War...you shouldn’t be watering it down, you should be strengthening it.”

Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn pushes for using reconciliation in the fight for voting rights

On The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart Rep. James Clyburn pushed for Democrats to use reconciliation in the fight for voting rights. Watch him explain how reconciliation could be used to pass voting rights legislation.

President Biden urges Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act

In pre-taped remarks at the Martin & Coretta Scott King Unity Breakfast which was held on the anniversary the march in Selma, President Biden urged Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

...I also urge Congress to fully restore the Voting Rights Act, named in John Lewis’ honor.

Today, on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I am signing an executive order to make it easier for eligible voters to register to vote and improve access to voting. Every eligible voter should be able to vote and have that vote counted. If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote.

I’ll close with this – a few days before he passed, Jill and I spoke with John, Congressman Lewis.

But instead of answering our concerns about him, “how are you doing, John,” he asked us to stay focused on the work left undone to heal and to unite this nation around what it means to be an American.

That’s the God’s truth. John wouldn’t talk about his pending death or his concerns. He said we just got to get this done.

That we are all created equal. That we all deserve to be treated equally.

On this day of reflection, please, let’s stay focused on the work ahead.

Let’s remember all those who came before us as a bridge to our history so we do not forget its pain, and as a bridge to our future so we never lose our hope.

May God bless their memory. May God bless you all.