These Black Women Are Defending Voter Rights and Leading the Fight Against Repression in Key Battleground States – Essence

As executive director of Blueprint North Carolina, Serena Sebring has critical knowledge of “what it would take to protect people in elections.” NC map is committed to creating an anti-racist and inclusive democracy where everyone’s vote counts. Through its “people power” partnership with 102 organizations, Sebring believes it is well positioned to increase voter participation. There are obstacles to this goal, however, and they have parallels in U.S. history.

North Carolina was the scene of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre, in which angry white mobs destroyed a multiracial democracy in which blacks thrived. Once again, even as an inclusive, multiracial democracy grows statewide, new efforts at disenfranchisement and oppression have proliferated. “We know there are extremists in many pockets of this state who are preparing to use good old-fashioned intimidation to quell this,” Sebring said. “I think this is an opportunity for us to move forward and say that this is not an election that will be won or lost on the basis of political violence or intimidation, but rather that we are all determined to do what it takes to defuse the situation. , to intervene, so that the voice of North Carolinians can, in this moment, be heard in a way that was not heard in 1898.”

North Carolinians, particularly those in the eastern part of the state known as the Black Belt because of its fertile soil and large black population, fear their votes won’t count. Sebring owes this to several reasons: redistricting in the North Carolina General Assembly which attempted to dilute the black vote; uncertainty surrounding voter ID laws that have been implemented since the last election means judges 100 different county election boards will determine whether a voter’s ID is valid and, a new rule that allows partisan poll watchers in the voting booth. Sebring said of the latter “we are really concerned about the outright physical intimidation that is happening at polling places. »

In response, Blueprint NC will deploy its statewide Election Protection Table, which now has more than 40 partners to protect the vote from litigation to getting on the ballot. These protectors will also be physically present at polling places to document what is happening regarding voter ID decisions and will “prepare to intervene to ensure that everyone who wants to vote this year in North Carolina will have the necessary support to do it.” that, said Sebrin.

Working to protect the voting rights of people of color in a country divided and filled with threats of violence is extremely valuable, but it does not come without cost to the Black women and men who do it. “There’s a kind of vulnerability that comes with black leadership right now and I think we shouldn’t be shy about talking about it,” Sebring said. It’s a sacrifice on every level for people who are currently in a vulnerable or rather invisible direction. And I think it’s important for people to be aware of that and to support and mobilize under the leadership they believe in, more than ever during this time. I think we need to speak out now about protecting black leaders.