Call to Action Full Plan

Those who would keep us oppressed are planning ahead. We must do likewise.

 

COLLINS SIX-POINT PLAN FOR VOTER REGISTRATION, EDUCATION, AND OTHER ACTION

Unpublished Work, Copyright 2013 by Daisy G. Collins

(Permission is granted to reproduce and to distribute this work if not done for direct or indirect financial gain.)

 

A.INTRODUCTION

At this time, why are there so many efforts to keep people of color from voting? There is a very serious danger that many people of color will be denied the right to vote if we do not remain vigilant and effectively fight voter suppression efforts.

Incidentally, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives the right to vote to people of color. It states:

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2042, “minorities” will become the “majority,” more than half the population of the United States of America.   “Minorities” are classified as “those of any race other than non-Hispanic, single-race whites”; currently about a third of the United States population.

By 2050, 54 percent of the population of the United States of America will be people of color.

(Instead of “minority” I will use the term “people of color.” Instead of “majority” I will use “non-colored” people.) (There is a need to “re-frame” these designations.)

In my opinion, some of those in power are trying to prepare for the time when people of color outnumber non-colored people. Those who want to deny the vote to people of color want to have the then-minority to rule; in other words a rule by the non-colored people whose numbers will be less than the people of color. In t United States of America, perhaps they want a system like the apartheid system that existed in the Republic of South Africa.

Educated citizens are necessary for a democracy (government by the people) to survive. Presently, the United States of America is supposed to be a republic (a representative democracy, which means a government in which the supreme power rests in all the citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives elected by them and responsible to them). However, a recent study has shown that the United States of America is no longer a democracy, rather, it is an oligarchy (a form of government in which the ruling power belongs to a few persons).    

In order for us to survive as a people, our youth must be educated. They must work for our advancement. They must vote and exercise full citizenship rights.

 

B. CALL TO ACTION

As we know, we are at a very critical time in our history. Just as our situation changed drastically for the worst when Reconstruction ended in 1877, today we must be vigilant to guard against the efforts to deny our voting rights and other rights.

We must do everything possible to make sure that our people, especially our young people, are well educated and well informed and that every person qualified to vote does register and does vote at every election.

No human being can solve all the problems of the world; however, every individual can do something to help in some way. Those who can do great things should do them. However, not everyone can start an organization or do other great things. BUT EACH OF US CAN DO SOMETHING!   EVERY ONE OF US MUST DO SOMETHING!

Within thirty days of now, every individual is asked to do at least six things to encourage voter registration, education, and other action.   Here are examples of some actions that everyone can take:

 

I. Voter Registration
  1. Contact six or more people (siblings, cousins, other relatives, and friends) to make sure they are registered to vote and encourage them to vote at every election. Place special emphasis on persons who recently turned eighteen years old. If anyone is not registered to vote, give them information necessary to register to vote and encourage him or her to register to vote within the next thirty days. Information can be obtained from the local board of elections by phone or from their website. For example, in Cleveland, a United States Citizen who is at least eighteen years old can register at the Board of Elections or any public library and at other places. Also, nationwide, voting information can be obtained by calling 1-866-OUR-VOTE. In addition, everyone you talk to should be asked to call at least six other persons and give them the same message.   WE HAVE A DUTY TO VOTE! MANY OF OUR ANCESTORS DIED TO GET THIS RIGHT! Politicians ignore people who do not vote.
  2. In your church or other place of worship, make an oral announcement and put in your church bulletin an encouragement for everyone to register to vote and to vote at every election.
  3. At every gathering of people you attend, do the same thing.

 

II. Education
  1. Contact one or more “at-risk” youth and encourage him or her to do what he or she should do to have a good future.   For example, you might try to help them understand the importance of getting an education. Moreover, each and every one of them has a duty to become educated; each of them has no right to be ignorant in view of our ancestors’ suffering to get education. (See “You Have A Duty To Become Educated (You Do Not Have A Right To Be Ignorant” elsewhere on this website.)
  2. Tell our youth they must be educated in order to exercise their full citizenship rights.
  3. Tell your children, grandchildren, and others:

a. Remember who you are.
b. Remember how you got to where you are.
c. Remember those who made it possible for you to get to where you are.
d. Remember your ancestors who worked in the cotton fields, who worked in the hot steel mills, who scrubbed floors, and did other hard work to make it possible for you to be where you are today.
e. Live your life in such a way to make your ancestors proud.
f. Live your life in such a way that you say “Thank You!” to your

 7. Encourage your children, grandchildren, and others to read important historical documents: for example, the Emancipation Proclamation, Dr. King’s April 16, 1963 “Letter From A Birmingham Jail,” and the entire text of Dr. King’s 1963 speech, especially “the Negro…[came] to our nation’s capital to cash a check….America has given the Negro people a bad check….” Dr. King stated five dreams, first “It is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed—we hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal.” Dr. King said “Let freedom ring” eight times—“from the mighty mountains of New York… from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania… from the snow-capped Rockies   of Colorado… from the curvaceous slopes of California… from Stone Mountain of Georgia…from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee…from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” And everyone should know the end of the speech—“Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last.” I call it the “Bad Check—I Have A Dream—Let Freedom Ring—Free At Last” Speech. (There is a need to re-frame this designation.)

  1. Encourage your children, grandchildren, and others to do their own research on important historical events. For example, they might not have learned from the news media that one of the “Big Six”, A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters suggested the March and played a large part in organizing (along with Bayard Rustin and others) the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They need to know that Whitney Young of the Urban League, Roy Wilkins of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and James Farmer of the Congress of Racial Equality, along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee made up the “Big Six” who spoke at the March. Dr. Dorothy Height of the National Council of Negro Women and other women played important roles but did not speak.

 

III. Other Action
  1. Contact talk shows and other social media to disseminate appropriate information.   For example, on one talk show a caller and the host did not understand why requiring state-issued photograph identification denies some persons the right to vote. This listener was not able to call in, but did send an email to the talk show host requesting that when the subject is discussed again, please explain that some elderly persons in the South do not have birthcertificates or other required documentation to get a state-issued photograph
  2. The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. and others urge us to contact our Congressmen and Senators and urge them to pass legislation expeditiously to update the coverage formula to determine which jurisdictions will be covered by Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and ensure that voters in jurisdictions with current and persistent records of discrimination continue to be protected. As of May 1, 2014, an Amendment has been introduced, but no committee hearing has been scheduled. Ask them to do whatever possible to get the committee hearing scheduled and to try to strengthen the bill. (This is necessary because the Supreme Court of the United States struck down Section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.) If your Congressman or Senator wants more information, please ask them to contactthe Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) (info@lawyerscommittee.org) or the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (vote@naacpldf.org).
  3. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and others ask that if you live in a southern state, or in Arizona, Alaska, Michigan, California, South Dakota, or the City of New York, please let the following organizations know of any voting changes that are planned for your community, such as moving polling places in minority communities; switches to at-large voting or toappointing officials who were formerly elected; redrawing district lines that significantly impact majority-Black or Latino districts; changes in early voting; registration opportunities; or implementation of new voter identification requirements—NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (vote@naacpdlf.org), Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (info@lawyerscommittee.org), or call the Election Protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
  4. The National Bar Association asks that you contact your Congressmen and Senators and urge them to support the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA) of 2013 (S.1670 and H.R.2851). According to the 9/4/13 National Bar Association Advocacy Brief, if passed, this Act would prohibit the use of profiling on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin or religion by law enforcement agencies.
  5. Contact friends, relatives and acquaintances to encourage them to use their telephone conversations to discuss positive, constructive worthwhile actionsthat will advance the objectives we are discussing here. For example, they can discuss: voter registration; contacting their Senators and Congressmen; and their Family History and plans to preserve it in written form. This is important!
  6. Please take whatever additional actions you deem appropriate.