America’s Journey for Justice

Just steps away from where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. vividly called for racial equality more than 50 years ago, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) led a broad, diverse coalition of grassroots labor, environmental, and democracy groups on Monday in a new call for justice.  

The organization held a morning press conference at the Lincoln Memorial announcing “America’s Journey for Justice”, an 860-mile march from historic Selma, Alabama to Washington, D.C. beginning in August. Including a series of teach-ins, rallies, and other events along the march route and throughout the nation, the journey aims to protect and enhance the rights of all Americans.

In his opening remarks, NAACP President and CEO Cornell Brooks delivered an eloquent appeal for economic sustainability, public safety, and voting rights to help reform American democracy and society.

Wendy Fields, Common Cause’s Vice President for Campaigns & Strategic Partnerships, also spoke at the event, focusing on the need for enhanced voting rights and political representation. “Our challenge today – our common cause – is to renew the Voting Rights Act and to collaborate on other reforms that ensure that in this era of rising economic inequality, the right to vote, the key to political equality – is easily available to every citizen.”

Common Cause is pleased to join the NAACP in pursuing the goal of America’s Journey for Justice: making “Our Lives, Our Votes, Our Jobs, Our Schools Matter.” This journey is reminiscent of the civil rights movements in the 1960’s, as Americans of every region united to advance the rights of African Americans and other minorities. As citizens and voters, we need to ensure that every voice is heard in our society. As President Brooks noted Monday, we are in the midst of the “Third Reconstruction”. We have the chance to reform our society and our government; we just need to start the journey for justice now.