Voting Rights Act Gutted! How SCOTUS Undermined Black Political Power

The Voting Rights Act just took a major hit—and the consequences could reshape elections across the country.

In this episode of Fearless Politics, Dr. Avis sits down with Holli Holliday, Esq., President of Sisters Lead Sisters Vote, to break down what happened to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, why this Supreme Court decision matters, and how it could affect Black political power for years to come.

Together, they explain how voting rights, redistricting, racial discrimination, local elections, voter registration, and community organizing all connect in this moment.

In this episode:

• What happened to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act
• Why proving racial intent is so difficult
• How redistricting can weaken Black representation
• What this means for voters, candidates, and organizers
• Why local elections matter more than ever
• How 1 Million Black Voters Rising is mobilizing communities
• What people can do right now to fight back
• This is not a moment to retreat.
•  This is a moment to organize, register, run, vote, and build power.

Learn more:
 1 Million Black Voters Rising: https://sistersleadsistersvote.org/scotus-just-gutted-the-voting-rights-act-what-happened-and-what-we-do-next/

 Sisters Lead Sisters Vote: https://www.onemillionblackvotersrising.org/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What has happened to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and how does it impact us today, tomorrow, and until we figure out some way to change this? Well, let's be clear.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Um, the Voting Rights Act is basically uh dead on arrival.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

In a political world that is defined by unending chaos, crisis, and unprecedented action, politics as usual is no longer an option. Instead, this is a moment that requires bold, fearless, and fierce truth telling. And that's exactly what you'll find right here on Fearless Politics. I'm your host, Dr. Avis. Buckle up, it's time to be fearless. Welcome to today's episode of Fearless Politics. And this is a five-along fryer bonus episode for this week that we're producing right in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision. That I'm not being dramatic when I say this, but it has literally gutted the Voting Rights Act. And so to really be able to unpack this, what this means for us, for our families, for our children, for our community, honestly, for the future of this democracy, if one can say that this is what this is. An amazing sister, an expert on these issues. And uh, well, there's so much I can say about Holly, but I'm going to introduce her as the president of Sisters Lead, Sisters Vote, among other things. And before we get going in the conversation, I'll say this. One of the things I admire most about this brilliant woman is that honestly, she don't have to do this. Okay. Let me just say that. First of all, she could be living a soft life, y'all. But she chooses to target her brilliance in the direction of social justice. And for that, we should all be grateful. So welcome to the show, Holly.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Thank you, Dr. Avis. Gotten me on your uh podcast. You had a people looking for me.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

I told you away for a few minutes because this is five-belong fire time. So I know everybody wants to get your expertise in this moment. So we're not going to keep you forever, but I do want to get your perspectives on this and really break it down for people. They're seeing that there's a lot that's going on in the media about this that's talking about how dire this is. But to the average person who, unlike you, they don't have a law degree. They haven't worked in this area. They really maybe haven't even paid that much attention to the nuances of the Supreme Court on this issue, right? So can you just start out by just telling us what has happened to section two of the Voting Rights Act and how does it impact us today, tomorrow, and until we figure out some way to change this? Well, let's be clear.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Um, the Voting Rights Act is basically uh dead on arrival. Um, it does nothing. Um, I think the simplest way to explain this is to simply say that we had a test, uh, a guidance, if you will, that we were using that engaged us to look at the history of what had happened in a jurisdiction as well as the impact. Um, you'll hear words like desperate impact. Um, and now they're saying, okay, we'll acknowledge those things, but really now you have to show that the state had uh desperate intent. And basically, what that says is that the state um intentionally was using race as a factor to draw the districts. Who's actually gonna admit that? That's that's not it, but what's the evident? What what what evidence do you use to show that? Furthermore, just from uh let's just be reasonable and logical. We're looking at drawing districts for a mess. There's no one thing that drives that, even if race is in the mix, even if party is in the mix, there are at least 20 to 100 factors that drive whether or not you draw a line down the middle of this block or move it over three blocks. I mean, anybody who's ever been in God hope, I hope, you know, I don't wish this on my worst enemy, but you know, people will literally try to draw a line that goes around a specific person's house. So then you're looking for evidence that says that the state, not an independent body, not those who testify, but that the state intentionally said that race was the thing that made them draw the map the way they draw it.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Ridiculous. Well, here's the thing that I think it's important that we break down for people because the reality is that we live in a country where I am old enough to be a member of the first generation who was actually born with their voting rights as a black person in America. Yeah. It's not like this is something that has been in place for black people forever. And we do know that for most of this nation's history, we were excluded from these rights, which then that doesn't make this nation a democracy for 250 years, like they're trying to say that it is. So it really wasn't until our ancestors shed the blood, sweat, and tears that was necessary to expand the rights in the way that it did, that we finally got to a place where we were a full democracy. And so we're really a very fragile and very young democratic institution, even though 250 years is young compared to other spaces, like, for example, Iran, that's been here for thousands of years. Like this country is that old. But when you think about the degree to which we've had access to voting rights for all of us, it's a very, very short timetable. So that said, what I find interesting is that we do know for most of that history, we were specifically excluded because of race. So it's quite ironic that right now, all of a sudden, people want to take race off the table as if what happened for years had nothing to do with race. How do we reconcile that just to the lay person? That just doesn't make sense. Yeah, it does not make sense.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

And think of it like this. If you're in a car accident and you want to sue the person who hit you, one of the main things that you look at is what kind of damages did I suffer? What kind of was I hurt? Was there a harm? I mean, yes, there you look at liability for sure. But if you understand that you were go, you weren't, you were turning right and I was going straight, and you ran into me and I broke my neck, me breaking my neck is a factor in your case. Absolutely. Imagine what happens if now you break your neck, and all we look at is whether or not the person had the right of way to turn right. Yes. And the fact that they actually turned right, the fact that they have no wrongdoing on your part, and the fact that you broke your neck means nothing. The fact that this person, in fact, even has a history of drunk driving, none of that matters. All that matters is whether or not uh you had the legal right or that you intended to turn right, not just turn right, but that you intended to turn right and hit me. You see what I'm saying? That's irredible. And what suspect that made? It it follows no rule of law, no logic of law that we have anywhere. And my fear, frankly, is that they're not done. That this logic could then um start to erupt, you know, what we see in employment discrimination and other kinds of discrimination. Because basically, what they're doing is taking a big swing at the way we determine discrimination in this country. And this without based under um the 14th Amendment, which is our equal protection, which is the basis of discrimination.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Indeed. In fact, well, you know, the Department of Justice have been very unvarnished in saying that we're only interested in prosecuting discrimination cases if it's white men that pop up and say that they're discriminated against.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

What kind of foolishness is that? I don't even again, again, what are they looking at? What is the part and see that the you know that this is a supremacy construct because the one thing we do recognize is white is unmarked. Black is marked. Okay, so when we talk about the sort of race neutral concept, when we say we're not going to consider race and we unmark it, we are basically saying white because that is the construct of this country. Simple, you and I both went to what historically black colleges and universities. They don't refer to white institutions as historically white institutions, right? Unmarked. And that's the concept that they're using to kind of push this around these white folks. Give me a break.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

It's very interesting that you make that point because the argument that you're making here is that in this country, whiteness is seen as normalcy. And it is seen as the base norm, which ironically is a key theoretical construct and frame of critical race theory. So I find it very interesting that this whole onslaught that they have now put in place under this president, quite frankly, it's been something that they've been building towards for years. Uh, though they never really defined what critical race theory, they just made it a sort of black boogeyman for, you know, white pearl clutchers. But as someone who studied it, utilized it in my dissertation, I know precisely what it is. And the reason why they take things like that and they demonize it is because they want to bury the truth. It's the same reason why they are attacking our history. They want to bury the truth because when they bury the truth, they can repeat history and we don't even realize what the heck is happening until it's too late.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Listen, and it's worse than that, Davis, because not only do they have they made that statement, but then they had the nerve. I mean, this is the part that really gets me. Then they had the nerve to give people the blueprint on how to never get caught doing it. Because they said they said, listen, if the goal is simply partisan and not racial, that's okay. Why? Because they know that less than 10% of black people in this country tend to vote Republican. So they have a big huge swing by utilizing and demonizing, by the way, Democrat by equating Democrat with black. And so it allows them to say, we're um, and so it weakens black political representation and they walk away clean, clean, simply by saying, hey, our goal was not to create racial gerrymandering. We just wanted to create uh a partisan.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

And that's wow. So let's sort of think about that a little bit more, even um, let's talk a little bit about what are the impacts then. Let's just kind of unpack that a little bit. Let's do it. How is this going to impact what we might expect in terms of the number of black people not only elected to Congress, but elected to city council, elected as dog catcher? Like, how does this impact us all across the political spectrum?

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Well, first of all, it changes. Let's start with something basic again. This is so fundamental that it should change the way that we even run a political campaign. That the ways and the tactics that we use to reach people fundamentally have to change after yesterday. Fundamentally have to change. Because who has access to the ballot and the way in which they have access to the ballot has also changed. Um, so yes, it affects us as voters in terms of which how we cast our ballots. Um, it affects us as people who are running for office because it it impacts how we have to get attract our voters. It even affects us as organizers because even um defending the rights of others got infinitely harder. So no matter which way you may come to this as a voter, as a candidate, as an organizer, uh, you are impacted and your life has changed.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Wow. Wow. Hold on a second. Let me see if I can pull up something here. Yeah. I want to show this to the viewers here. This chart that I uh have that shows where we've been over time with our representation. So let's look at this, okay? This chart really looks at our voter registration over the long haul, starting in 1878, so like the late 1800s. And we saw that it was peaking right about then because that's about the time of Reconstruction. And then we have the post-Reconstruction period, backlash, right? And so when the grandfather clause period started, look at the precipitous drop. I mean, it just dropped like a rock. And interestingly, here, the black line represents black people. That's good, we can keep that in mind. The white line there represents poorer white. So, what I find very interesting here is that when we were first given the franchise, you can see, at least, you know, black men were first given the franchise. You can see they even overperformed their white male counterparts in that period.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

I'm sure that freaked them the hell out. Okay. Yeah. Which is one of the reasons why in the post-Reconstruction period, one of the first things they did was to go after our voting rights. So you had this precipitous drop that started in the post-Reconstruction period and stayed that way from like 1898 all the way up through the implementation of poll taxes, uh white primaries, the understanding clause that began to come up a little bit. Basically, they would ask you stupid ass questions. Do you, you know, test your knowledge on history and how many bubbles does this thing make? It and it I honestly, I'm shocked to see that it came up some, but it didn't really start to take off until guess what? 1964. What happened in 1964, Holly?

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Well, we already know that's the beginning of our Civil Rights Act and the voting rights.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

So we started to get civil rights and voting rights legislation. That's when we started to see our representation increase in terms of the number of people that were registered to vote. And we get all the way up here where we're beginning to eclipse them again. And now here we are today in 2026, and we get this ruling. Let me just ask you this very stark question. I'm looking at the drop-off that we experienced in the post-Reconstruction era. Is this a modern-day post-Reconstruction? How bad would the impact be if we aren't proactive about doing something about this to make sure that we don't lose these rights that we spent centuries, years, blood, tears in order to gain in the first place?

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Oh, it's gonna be catastrophic. I mean, I want you to note these years between uh 1900 and 1944, uh, and keeping in mind that during that same time was one of the most damaging economic times since post-slavery for African Americans, but let's be honest, frankly, for poor whites too. Uh, and so you're looking at the Great Depression that happens, you're looking at two, two, two world wars. Um, and we don't start to see a rise until um the early 1950s. And note here that sharp rise around 1954, which is when you get Brown versus Board of Education. I just point this out because there is a through line between voting, between our economics, between our educational opportunities. All of these things really go together. And so we're not thinking about them as uh connected, then we're getting it wrong.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Oh my God, such a powerful, powerful statement. Absolutely true. And so that really shows how important it is for us to be very, very cognizant about the the depth of this issue. Yeah. Let's talk about solutions a little bit. Um Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

I wanted to get here.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

If you got a solutions, we can't spend the whole time just sort of whining and crying because we are a very proactive people. One thing about us is that we always fight back, as that chart showed, right? Yes. So, what's the plan now? What is the action that all of us should be thinking about taking and actually taking, not even thinking about should we be taking right now in order to fight back and protect our rights?

SPEAKER_01 18:49

So I think the first thing is we have to not lose hope. And there's a couple of themes, I think, around not losing hope. So, one of the things around not losing hope is that we've been here before. Um, in 1980, the Supreme Court also challenged and introduced this idea of um of having to look at discriminatory intent as related to voting systems, mobile versus bold. Um and uh that happened in 1980. And in 1982, um, that is when we made an amendment to the voting rights um through Congress. So this is not the same as that, although there are lots of similarities, but certainly there are lessons to be learned from Bolden. What we do, I think there's four things we do. I'm gonna keep it top level. First of all, we have to be informed. Knowledge is our first act of power. So, Dr. Abis, kudos to you for putting this out immediately, for recognizing that we needed to make sure that our folks were informed. We do need to understand exactly what is going on and um and what's at stake. I think it it boils down to what has happened, what's at stake, and what can we do. And we need to make sure that as we are having this conversation, that we hit those three B's. Um, I think the second thing is we got to remember that all politics is local. The next battlefield, and frankly, let me be honest, the current battlefield is wherever you live. It is not uh just in Michigan, it is not just in Florida or Ohio or Texas or some of the ways in which they try to say it's this state or that state. It is wherever black people are located. It is every state house, every county commission, and every local election in this country. We need to be paying attention. This fight did not end or start yesterday with that decision. Um, the Brennan Center has already documented more than 100 state-level rollbacks in voting rights. So this trickle has been building for a while. We need to get in there and get moving. Uh, this is fighting voter ID laws, looking at poll closures, fighting purge voting rolls, uh, absentee balloting, all of that. Here's the good news. For that, we have a model. Come on, Maryland. Maryland recently passed the Voting Rights Act that provides a replicable blueprint. We need to get that legislation in the hands of every elected official. Every question that we ask for state people needs to be are you willing to uh sponsor or co-sponsor this legislation? Can we count on you for a vote? This is where we start to fight. Um, and then you're gonna hear this as a theme, but in the state, we need more candidates. We need you to run for everything. Nothing needs to be unopposed. Because here's the thing yes, we want you to win. Let me not forget that part. We want you to win. But even if you run, you change the conversation. I tell people all the time Bernie Sanders has run for president a billion. And is one of the most influential people in politics, but ain't won never. Right. And has no path to victory to be president. But yet his influence is seen everywhere. There is power in being a candidate. Being a candidate allows you to ask questions from a position that you don't just ask as being a regular voter. So run, run, run, run everybody. Make everything contested, make everybody answer your question. Um, this leads into step three: expand the electorate. The court can't gerrymander a movement. Okay, we need more activists, more candidates. We just need more. Uh, you know, you want the the the solution to dilution is death. If we are everywhere, if we are doing everything, we can win. And you know, Sisters Lay Sisters Vote does a report, and one thing we're seeing with black women candidates is that they win everywhere. We don't have to have just black districts to win. We win because we vote, we work within our communities because we are known, we are trusted. Everybody has to get involved. Um, this especially includes voter registration. And by the way, this is not transactional. This is not me saying, hey, are you registered to vote? No, this is me being in community with you and working with you hand in hand and saying, hey, let's change our community. And one of the things that we're going to do to change our community together is vote. Um, and then the fourth thing is we cannot leave Congress out. Congress has got to be held to account. Uh, this is a mid-year election. Who's going to Congress? It's being decided right the hell now. And we need to push Congress to reimagine the law. Listen, voting rights as we know it may not come back, but it does create an opportunity for us to get it right or get it better at least. Let me, I don't even want to put right, but let's say get it better. Um, let's codify some statutory standards that talk about what harm looks like. Let's codify some statutory standards that show uh what we need to look at in terms of voting and how it needs to play out. And let's again not leave any stone unturned. The name of the game, expansion. Expansion everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

I love that. And and this to me is a special call out to those individuals who every election always come out and say, Well, my vote isn't going to count, or oh wow, the two candidates are the same, so why should I? We leave so much power on the table. What would you say to those individuals who are not engaged, who typically don't vote, uh, and now we're in this space. What would you say to to inspire someone who thinks like that about the need for them to get involved, especially in this moment?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Well, first of all, I'm just gonna invite them over. What I'm gonna say is let's go to dinner. What I'm gonna say is, and bring your friends. Let's all sit down. And we've got to get out of these one-to-one conversations because when we are talking with one, the one feels alone. I'm gonna invite those people to uh a conversation or a town hall. I'm gonna invite those people to share their thoughts uh with a bigger audience. I'm gonna invite them in. That's what I'm gonna do. And I'm going to stay with them and keep inviting them until they feel like part of the community. And once I got them, I'm gonna go get me some more. And I'm just gonna keep inviting people to be a part of this conversation, to be actively engaged. I'm not gonna stress them out about whether they vote or not. Right now, the key is we need you to be engaged in community. So I'm gonna start with information and I'm gonna start with community. I love it. So can you tell everyone before we leave here today a little bit about one million black voters rising? So, you know, I said voter registration has to be on the table. Um, Sisters Lay Sisters Vote, along with 11 other Black women-led national organizations, including uh Your Sororities, NCNW, Higher Heights, Black Women's Roundtable, uh The Lynx Incorporated. We are all band together Power Rising. We're all banding together to say that we can change our country. Um, and it's gonna start, and it is just what I said before. It is us getting together in community to ensure that you, everybody, everybody is you, that everybody is together. So we're encouraging people to create their own communities. We call them the circles of 10, but it could be seven, it could be five, it could be 50, whatever your circle is, and then do things together. Show up to rallies together. We'll have some national activities. We're also gonna be encouraging state activities. But even if it's just you and your girls or you and your people, um, we're gonna be encouraging you to get together and get together often and talk about these issues and then share those with others. The main thing is you will not be alone and we will change this situation. Listen, we got to be clear. We are not in retreat. We are not in retreat, we are in reorganization. Uh, and so now we're gonna stay informed, we're gonna fight for our states, we're gonna expand the electorate, and we have the opportunity to reimagine how it is. And I'm going to hope anybody who, if I said to you, what do you want democracy to look like? And I want you to be a part of building it, that's what I'm gonna say to the people who don't.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

I love it, I love it. And it's so needed, and I love the fact that you are emphasizing that we are not in retreat. Listen, we come from a lineage of not only survivors, but of fighters. And giving everything that we have experienced over the arc of our time here, which goes well beyond 250 years, we have always fought back and we are still here. We are still fighters, and I am going to bear witness to say that we will win. So, once again, thank you for joining us today and sharing a little bit of your genius with us. How can people join the One Million Voters campaign? Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

They can go to 1million BlackVotersrising.org and find out all about it.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Perfect. And we'll make sure to put that link in the show notes as well as the link to Sisters Lead, Sisters Vote, which did an incredible report on this issue that goes into great detail so that you can get all the information you need to be armed with all of the genius of this woman and more as we look to fight back because this is a fight. This is the beginning of a fight. If you've been resting, now it's time to get off the couch and start to fight. Okay. With that said, look, you inspired me. Let's go fight something. I'm I'm ready, girl. I'm ready to bim slap somebody, you know. Okay. With that said, thank you so much, Holly. Thanks for joining us. I appreciate you, dear, and thank you for joining us on this episode of Fearless Politics. We'll see you next time. Thank you for joining us on today's episode of Fearless Politics. And while you're here, don't forget to subscribe, follow, and leave that five-star rating that you and I both know we deserve. Also, feel free to leave a review so more people can find out about us and become members of the Fearless Politics Crew. And finally, if you want to go further down the rabbit hole with us, then be sure to check us out at Fearless PoliticsPodcast.com. Or connect with me personally on Instagram at FearlessDr.Avis. With that said, we'll see you next time. And don't forget, it's time to be fearless. See you soon.