An alliance of faith, labor and civil rights is needed to address the interlocking challenges of racism, xenophobia, militarism and authoritarianism currently looming over American democracy, said Willie Francois III, second vice president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention.
“There is something threatening about the times that we live in that requires this tripartite alliance to do what it has done in the past,” Francois said during the official launch of The People’s Revival, a four-state voter campaign led by PNBC, the AFL-CIO and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Willie Francois III
“It is hard to imagine how this country would have advanced through the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s without faith, labor and civil rights having a broad imagination and not having inflated egos so they could come together to move forward a set of policies, to move forward an agenda that helped to remake this country,” said Francois, who also co-chairs the denomination’s social action commission.
The campaign is focused on educating and protecting voters and getting out the vote in Georgia, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina. A coalition of churches, labor unions and community organizations has committed to providing information and support to heighten ballot access and election integrity.
The initiative includes a multi-city bus tour that will bring revival services, social events, Souls to the Polls training and volunteer recruitment for postcard writing, phone bank operations, poll observation and election-day ride sharing. Stops include Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., and Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
“Blessed Ballot Sundays” will be held Oct. 4, 11, 18 and 25 with activities devoted to prayer and writing postcards to encourage voters, with “Movement Mondays” dedicated to virtual training for volunteers.
Alex Rias (Screenshot)
“We must put this election season in its proper context,” said Alex Rias, director of civil, human and women’s rights for the AFL-CIO. “It comes at a time when nearly everything from food, fuel and our paychecks aren’t keeping up with the costs, and our ability to hold systems accountable through the vote is being undermined.”
The labor organization is in the process of training thousands of election peacekeepers and observers and is coordinating with attorneys nationwide to ensure those elected are certified and seated according to the law, he said.
“We have no choice but to stand firm, join arms and move together along with this campaign. This partnership is important because it speaks to the historic relationship of the three-strand cord — faith, labor and community.”
PBNC President Keith W. Byrd Sr. said the campaign is a reflection of the very DNA of the denomination, which was founded by Civil Rights leaders in 1961 and became the spiritual home of Martin Luther King Jr.
The challenge isn’t only in confronting systems and policies of oppression, but in reaching the tens of millions of Americans who did not vote in the last election, the leaders said.
Conservative evangelicals also must be targeted and convinced that God’s call for justice, mercy and humility in the book of Micah actually applies to how they treat marginalized people and to how they vote, Byrd said. “You can’t tell me you are pro-life and against SNAP. You can’t tell me you’re pro-life and you care for the unborn and support an administration whose policies are definitely attacking those who’ve been born already. You can’t tell me you’re pro-life and pro-war at the same time.”
Just as hypocritical is to welcome European immigrants with open arms but to force Haitians to wear ankle bracelets before being deported, he said. “Where is your humility? Don’t you forget that we’re walking before God who sees and knows all and will hold us accountable. So, I invite you to join the fight.”
Those who participate in The People’s Revival should be ready for a lengthy process that begins — not ends — on election day Nov. 3, especially because the Supreme Court has practically eliminated federal oversight of elections, made it harder to challenge discriminatory electoral maps and eviscerated civil rights laws, said Rainbow PUSH President Yusef Jackson, son of the late Civil Rights activist Jesse Jackson Sr.
“With the Voting Rights Act stripped, the Civil Rights Act stripped and the Immigration (and Nationality) Act taken away, essentially we are again without the protections of the law, and the last time we were out the protection of the law Jim Crow sprung up and it took 70 years” of civil rights struggles to undo, he said.
It will take “political and cultural maturity” to avoid frustration and despair when change is slow in coming, Jackson added. “The last thing we want is to get too tired on the front side of this race, so I ask you to think about this election seriously and join us on this tour throughout the South.”