PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION FOR PROGRESS VOTING RIGHTS FORUM IN JERSEY CITY WILL URGE PEOPLE TO VOTE DURING MIDTERM ELECTIONS

“The Attack On Voting Rights And The War On Black People,” will be the subject of a forum that will be held on Friday, October 23, 2026, 7:00pm at Metropolitan AME Zion Church, 140 Belmont Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The event is sponsored by the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) a grassroots group that fights for civil and human rights. It has been endorsed by the Martin Luther King People’s Convention for Justice and Resistance planning committee.

“One of the main reasons we are having this program is to discuss why it is important to vote during the midterm elections. These will be the most consequential midterms so far during this century,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated.

“During this election we are choosing the people who will represent us in both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The lawmakers we send there will impact the future direction of this country,” Hamm said.  

“This is why it is so important that we vote in this election which has already begun. Mail-in voting is already in progress. Early in-person voting will take place from October 24th to November 1st,” he said.

“And of course people should vote in massive numbers on Election Day, November 3rd,” he said.

Speakers scheduled for the forum will include Rev. Eli Smith, Senior Pastor, Metropolitan AME Zion Church, Pamela Johnson, winner of the Democratic primary for Hudson County Commissioner, Toni Irvin, community activist, and Lawrence Hamm. Jersey City Councilman Frank Gilmore has been invited to be on the panel.

Rev. Dr Allen Simmons will serve as program moderator.

“Another important reason for this forum is to discuss the diabolical efforts being made by the Trump administration to interfere with the midterm elections and prevent citizens from freely exercising their voting rights,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated.

“We will also examine the particular impact this is having on the Black community, and what can be done about it,” Hamm said.

The upcoming forum in Jersey City is the ninth of a series on this topic. Others were held in Montclair, Plainfield, Newark, Maplewood, Hackensack, East Orange, and Riverton. Future programs are scheduled for Paterson, Roselle, and Newark.

The program will have two parts. The first part will consist of a panel discussion. The panelists will include community leaders and activists. The second part will consist of audience participation.

Hamm said the country is imperiled and facing a political and possibly a constitutional crisis.

“The racist and fascist Trump administration, ultra-conservative super majority on  the U.S. Supreme Court, and the right-wing MAGA Republican majority in Congress are engaged in a multi-pronged attack on voting rights,” he asserted.

“I believe that we are witnessing in real time an attempt right by Trump and his collaborators to steal the midterm elections,” he said.

“Trump has even said he is not ruling out sending ICE agents and National guard troops to polling places, invoking the Insurrection Act, declaring a national emergency during the midterm elections, and he has urged his supporters to cheat like hell,” he said.

“We oppose any attempts by Trump to steal the election, invoke the Insurrection Act, declare a national emergency, or declare martial law during the midterm elections, “ Hamm said.

However, the discussion will not end with the attack on voting rights but will include the attacks on black people in the economy, education, health, criminal justice and other important areas.

For more information on the forum or to reserve a seat on the bus to Trenton please call People’s Organization for Progress at 973 801-0001.

ATTACKS ON VOTING RIGHTS FORUM SCHEDULED IN MONTCLAR NJ

“The Attack On Voting Rights And The War On Black People,” will be the subject of a panel discussion that will be held on Friday, May 29, 2026, 7:00pm at St Paul’s Baptist Church, 119 Elm Street in Montclair, New Jersey.

The event is sponsored by the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) a grassroots group that works for racial, social, economic justice and peace.

“The purpose of this forum is to examine the negative political, economic, and social impact of the racist and fascist Trump regime, right-wing Congress, and ultra conservative Supreme Court on Black people and to discuss strategies and tactics to fight back against this onslaught,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated.

The panelists will include Rev Campbell Singleton, Union Baptist Church of Montclair, James Harris, former president New Jersey Association of Black Educators, State Senator Britnee Timberlake, and Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress. The panel moderator will be Ingrid Hill, Vice Chairwoman, People’s Organization For Progress.

Invited special guest speakers include Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Congresswoman Monica McIver and Congresswoman Analilia Mejia.

“We decided to have this forum after the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in the Louisiana v. Callais case. That ruling effectively killed the 1965 Voting Rights Act,” Hamm said.

“That was one of the worst U.S. Supreme Court decisions since the ruling in the Dred Scott case of 1857 which said that black people had no rights that white people were bound to respect,” he said.

Hamm said the court’s decision enables racist state legislatures to redraw their congressional districts and eliminate those districts which have large black populations.

“These states, most of which are part of the old Confederacy, have already redrawn their maps or are in the process of doing so. Ultimately, their efforts could result in the loss of as many as 19 congressional seats now held by African Americans,” he said.

“It could possibly leave the South, where the majority of African Americans still live, with little or no Black congressional representation,” he said.

However, the attack on voting rights is not the only reason the program is being held. He said Black people feel that they are being attacked politically, economically, and socially.

“The racist and fascist vitriol of President Trump, reactionary policies coming from the White House, the right wing decisions of the Supreme Court, failure of Congress to uphold the Constitution and stand up for equality and democracy makes it feel like we are being attacked from all sides,” Hamm said.

He stated additional reasons. Racism and racist violence against black people continues to rise. African Americans continue to have the highest number of victims of race-based and bias related crimes.

Black Americans experience the highest rate of police brutality and fatal shootings by police. Black people are three times more likely to be killed by police than whites.

Enrollment of black students at colleges and universities has declined due to the Supreme Court decision to end affirmative action in higher education.  

Black unemployment has doubled this past year, with more than 600,000 black people losing their jobs, including 350,000 Black women, due in part to a sagging economy, federal budget cuts, and the ending of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.

“It feels like we are being dragged back to the nightmare of Jim Crow segregation. We feel under siege. We feel like there is a war on the black community,”he said.

The program will basically have two parts. The first part will consist of a panel discussion. The second part will consist audience participation.

For more information please call People’s Organization for Progress at 973 801-0001.