{"id":3633,"date":"2026-05-27T13:39:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/27\/were-going-backwards-black-political-power-under-threat-in-alabama-after-voting-rights-act-gutting\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:39:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:39:39","slug":"were-going-backwards-black-political-power-under-threat-in-alabama-after-voting-rights-act-gutting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=3633","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019re going backwards\u2019: Black political power under threat in Alabama after Voting Rights Act gutting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1fw0voq\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1j5hrwi\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"c1591f21-70be-46ef-a12a-8e45163a6765\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a person with a microphone speaks to community members gathered nearby \" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e3996732deaa370cd28e10178f1777a451537502\/0_0_4000_2670\/master\/4000.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310.3875\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Letetia Jackson, Dothan resident and plaintiff in a redistricting lawsuit, speaks at the Tops Unity Day Parade on 1 May.<\/span> Photograph: Andi Rice\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"c1591f21-70be-46ef-a12a-8e45163a6765\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Letetia Jackson, Dothan resident and plaintiff in a redistricting lawsuit, speaks at the Tops Unity Day Parade on 1 May.<\/span> Photograph: Andi Rice\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">\u2018We\u2019re going backwards\u2019: Black political power under threat in Alabama after Voting Rights Act gutting<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-cj4vxp\">\n<p>US supreme court ruling could eliminate two majority-Black districts and entrench Republican control from Congress to county school boards<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/alabama\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Alabama<\/a> has long been considered the birthplace of the voting rights movement in America.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">During a peaceful voting rights demonstration in 1965, an <a href=\"https:\/\/viewer.gutools.co.uk\/us-news\/alabama\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Alabama<\/a> state trooper shot and killed church deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson. In response, about 600 marchers set out from Selma, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, toward the state capitol building in Montgomery to demand the right to vote. What met them on the other side \u2013 state troopers on horseback, billy clubs, teargas and a sheriff\u2019s posse \u2013 was broadcast that evening on national television.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The images from Bloody Sunday produced a moral crisis that President Lyndon B Johnson translated into federal law five months later: the Voting Rights Act.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"4fbc3531-7e1d-44b2-b1f5-a87b0eab0b9f\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-5h0uf4\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"archive image of Bloody Sunday\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/dd747ef925b7593077eba9057c8acb0ba59c41ad\/15_164_2984_1790\/master\/2984.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"266.9403485254692\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-2\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"4fbc3531-7e1d-44b2-b1f5-a87b0eab0b9f\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Teargas fumes fill the air as state troopers target demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, on what is known as Bloody Sunday on 7 March 1965.<\/span> Photograph: AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\n Now, in a state where nearly 30% of the population is Black, the legal framework that has supported Black political representation for six decades could be dismantled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Last month, the supreme court decision in <a href=\"https:\/\/viewer.gutools.co.uk\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/29\/supreme-court-louisiana-congressional-map-case-ruling\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Louisiana v Callais<\/a> weakened section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, enabling states to redraw congressional maps that protected majority Black districts. Sheyann Webb-Christburg, a Selma foot soldier who was eight years old on Bloody Sunday, called it \u201can assault on the civil rights movement\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Within days, Alabama\u2019s Republicans voted to revert to an older map that would essentially erase a majority-Black district ahead of the November midterms. On Tuesday, a <a href=\"https:\/\/viewer.gutools.co.uk\/us-news\/2026\/may\/26\/alabama-new-congressional-map-struck-down\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">federal court blocked<\/a> the state from using the Republican-friendly map.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/alabama\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Alabama<\/a> Republicans plan to appeal the latest decision to the supreme court, the representative who represents the district \u2013 Shomari Figures, one of the only two Black members of Congress from the state \u2013 said he is holding out hope his district will not be erased.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cRepublicans are doing everything they can to try to rush this to try to act as if this case is over, but it\u2019s not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Representative Terri Sewell, the only other Black representative in the state, could also see her district, where more than half of residents are Black, collapse if Republicans redraw the state\u2019s map in the coming years to further dilute Black voting power.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"75b9f998-0c28-486b-8a95-74a44f139925\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-5h0uf4\">\n<div id=\"img-3\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Members the Congressional Black Caucus, with Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., speaking at lectern, meet with reporters in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling to strike down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana, at the Capitol in Washington, April 29, 2026.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/9b5740a12054bbd60a1b63f13fe8fdebf75a6bab\/0_0_8000_5333\/master\/8000.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"296.648125\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-3\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"75b9f998-0c28-486b-8a95-74a44f139925\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Members the Congressional Black caucus, with Terri Sewell, speaking at lectern, at the Capitol in Washington DC in April.<br \/><\/span> Photograph: J Scott Applewhite\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Beyond Figures\u2019 and Sewell\u2019s districts, the Callais decision will have deep, long-term consequences for Black voters across Alabama. The impact will also be felt at every level of government \u2013 in the state senate, on county commissions, on school boards \u2013 and on the issues that bear most directly on Black Alabamians, including infrastructure, water access, hospital closures and prison conditions. Black voters and officials are sounding the alarm that without this representation, life outcomes for Black Alabamians will worsen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI\u2019m mighty afraid,\u201d Sewell said. \u201cOn our collective watch, we\u2019re going backwards and not forwards. And I plan on doing everything I can to fight it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-long-road-to-black-representation-in-alabama\" class=\"dcr-12ibh7f\">The long road to Black representation in Alabama<\/h2>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Selma marchers brought the country closer to the ideal of a multiracial democracy. What followed over the next six decades was a slow, contested, legally enforced expansion of Black political representation across Alabama and the wider south.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">By 1980, 15 years after the act\u2019s passage, the number of Black elected officials in the US had grown from roughly 72 to more than 1,500. A landmark 1985 ruling, Dillard v City of Greensboro, forced Alabama counties to replace at-large elections, where voters cast district-wide ballots for every open seat, with single-member districts, where residents only vote for representation in their specific community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThat case gave us the opportunity to elect officials in over 270 cities and 67 counties\u201d across the south in the years immediately following the decision, said Alabama state senator Bobby Singleton, who has been a plaintiff or litigant in redistricting cases before the supreme court three times and has served as minority leader of the Alabama senate since 2012.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"e58c3846-b023-4fc2-b844-a9b181aadb12\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-4\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"map details of Houston County commission district 1\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/dc2906b494fc4c274c85b668590a8636059d7723\/0_0_4000_2670\/master\/4000.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"297.03749999999997\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-4\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"e58c3846-b023-4fc2-b844-a9b181aadb12\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Republicans in Alabama are attempting to redraw the state\u2019s map in the coming years to dilute Black voting power. <\/span> Photograph: Andi Rice\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">District 7, which Sewell represents, emerged from that era of voting rights expansion. Created in the 1990s as Alabama\u2019s first Voting Rights Act opportunity district, it was drawn to give Black belt voters \u2013 among the poorest in the country, descendants of enslaved people forced to work the dark, fertile soil that gave the region its name \u2013 a meaningful voice in Congress. Sewell, who grew up in Selma, won it in 2010 and has held it since being sworn in in 2011.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sewell\u2019s efforts over the past 16 years have improved outcomes in education, healthcare, poverty and other areas, constituents said. She has brought more than $334m to Alabama\u2019s HBCUs (historically Black colleges or universities) and temporarily cut child poverty in the state in half by expanding the child tax credit \u2013 before congressional Republicans blocked its renewal in 2024. She was also the only member of Alabama\u2019s congressional delegation to vote in favor of a law that brought more than $6bn to Alabama to rebuild roads and bridges, fix the state\u2019s broken wastewater systems, expand access to broadband and modernize public transportation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sewell\u2019s impact has also been felt in other areas of the state. \u201cIf I wanted help or information regarding the federal government, I would have to call Terri Sewell because I had no representation,\u201d said Letitia Jackson, a longtime community organizer in the rural area of Dothan, who recently defeated a 20-year incumbent to win the Democratic primary for Houston county commissioner. \u201cMy representative did not even engage with us at all. Did not meet with us. Did not talk to us. Never came to our community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cBefore Figures came along,\u201d Jackson said, \u201cSewell was representing all Black people in the state of Alabama because we basically had no representation.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"6a6208b4-5232-4867-8d02-83ced714768f\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-5\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a woman in a turqouise dress poses for a portrait in her home\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ed00eef2a7368080b1910b0fd0e291605195beb8\/0_0_4000_2670\/master\/4000.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"297.03749999999997\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-5\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"6a6208b4-5232-4867-8d02-83ced714768f\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Dothan resident Letetia Jackson, who is running for Houston county commissioner, in her home. <\/span> Photograph: Andi Rice\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"the-cost-of-erasure\" class=\"dcr-12ibh7f\">The cost of erasure<\/h2>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Figures won his seat in 2024 \u2013 a direct product of the supreme court decision in Allen v Milligan a year earlier that ordered Alabama to draw a second majority-Black district. It was the first time since Reconstruction that Alabama had sent two Black members to Congress simultaneously.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In his first term, Figures secured nearly $19m in community project funds, much of it going to rural counties that had never before received a direct federal appropriation. He has elevated the crisis of the district\u2019s potential medical desert \u2013 where 22 of 26 rural hospitals are rated at immediate risk of closure, where residents in some counties wait more than 45 minutes for an ambulance and where a baby can only be delivered in two of 13 counties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Figures said he was only just beginning to get more attention on the long list of needs in rural south Alabama. \u201cWe have to give voters a reason to go vote and believe in how we will look out for their communities and their needs,\u201d Figures said. \u201cIt\u2019s beyond just saying we will get them healthcare. The healthcare argument looks a lot different when you don\u2019t have a hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"0c8ca0b8-263f-40a1-bdea-50040c2918fa\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-5h0uf4\">\n<div id=\"img-6\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Shomari Figures outside the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/abfdb7d38f8dff3f62070e25eb63996e13282bb6\/0_0_3600_2400\/master\/3600.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"296.66666666666663\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-6\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"0c8ca0b8-263f-40a1-bdea-50040c2918fa\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Shomari Figures outside the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. <\/span> Photograph: Kevin Mohatt\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In Sewell\u2019s district, former state representative Phillip Ensler \u2013 who is now running for lieutenant governor \u2013 described a basic sanitation crisis that federal investment has only begun to address. Thousands of residents in the district, he said, are not connected to a proper sewage system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThey literally have straight pipes that run out of the back of their house, and sewage and wastewater just gets dumped in the backyard,\u201d Ensler said. \u201cAnd then what happens is that sometimes it gets backed up and that dirty water comes back up in the kitchen sink.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sewell\u2019s Black belt outreach coordinator, Byron Evans, said the threat of redistricting had cast a shadow over years of development work. There are plans for a new National Park Service welcome center that would preserve the history of the 1965 voting rights marches in downtown Selma. A health and science school is also in the works, Evans said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI\u2019m really worried about these plans because of lines being redrawn,\u201d Evans said. \u201cIt\u2019s scary.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"8e673d57-5f5a-441d-9b3c-896e36cad75e\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-7\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a man in a blue suit poses for a photograph on the steps of a building\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/7d2ef9aa1d5b994ee63547d5639a821c7b1efd3d\/0_0_7911_5933\/master\/7911.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"333.7359373024902\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-7\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"8e673d57-5f5a-441d-9b3c-896e36cad75e\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Byron Evans, coordinator for Sewell\u2019s Black Belt Outreach, in Selma.<\/span> Photograph: Matt Odom\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"the-broader-impact-beyond-congress\" class=\"dcr-12ibh7f\">The broader impact, beyond Congress<\/h2>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The congressional seats are only part of the story. In the same special session where Alabama Republicans voted to eliminate Figures\u2019 district, they also moved to revert state senate maps to older configurations, threatening two majority-minority districts in Montgomery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Singleton said the state\u2019s Black caucus would lose a lot of gains without a seat at that table: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen bills like DEI, critical race theory. We\u2019ve seen attempts to wipe out books in our libraries, wipe out history at our archives. And thus far, because we\u2019ve been at the table, we\u2019ve been able to kill some of those bills.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">At the county and local level, the implications of Callais may ultimately be more consequential, still. In Alabama, county commissioners and school board members run on partisan lines, in drawn districts. Where Black officials have won those seats, it has been in part because the Voting Rights Act required district lines to give Black voters an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice, Ensler said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Brennan Center for Justice noted in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/our-work\/research-reports\/louisiana-v-callais\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">amicus brief<\/a> that nearly half of all section 2 cases challenging at-large elections since 1982 have resulted in hundreds of local government bodies, including school boards, adopting fairer electoral systems with measurable positive impact on representation. All of that is now in jeopardy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cAll politics start locally,\u201d said Selma\u2019s mayor, Johnny \u201cSkip\u201d Moss III, who served on the city\u2019s school board for nine years. Selma is a majority-Black city in a deep-red state, and its outcomes are tied directly to the quality of its congressional representation \u2013 to having, as Moss said, \u201cpeople speaking for us to make sure we get the resources we need\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"29f07eb4-ddb5-4736-aabe-df4483874e26\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-8\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a man in a grey suit poses for a portrait \" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/f4eec70e01571e3d7d9a1f50fc58f985c079a482\/0_0_8000_6000\/master\/8000.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"333.75\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-8\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"29f07eb4-ddb5-4736-aabe-df4483874e26\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Johnny \u2018Skip\u2019 Moss III.<\/span> Photograph: Matt Odom\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">He noted that recent local elections had been decided by margins of three and 11 votes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIf it didn\u2019t matter, people wouldn\u2019t be trying to change the laws,\u201d Moss said.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"squeeze-every-bit-of-good-out-of-the-time-we-have-left\" class=\"dcr-12ibh7f\">\u2018Squeeze every bit of good out of the time we have left\u2019<\/h2>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A few weeks after the Callais decision, thousands of demonstrators, who arrived from more than a dozen other states, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/16\/alabama-black-voting-rights-protest\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">gathered at the Alabama state capitol<\/a> to protest against Republican redistricting and demand the protection of Black voting power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The day began with a silent march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to echo the historic 1965 civil rights marches. At the Montgomery rally, political and civil rights leaders \u2013 including Senators Cory Booker and Raphael Warnock and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez \u2013 energized the crowd, while others reminded participants about the struggle to gain the right to vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe have done so much work over the years in this state to make sure that there is a vibrant electorate, and we\u2019ve been able to make some progress because of the representation we\u2019ve gained,\u201d said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, who helped organize the Montgomery rally. \u201cThe supreme court is undermining all those folks who fought and gave their lives in the voting rights movement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Jackson said in the wake of the Callais decision, grassroots organizers are returning to the original playbook: door-to-door organising, voter registration, sustained community engagement in places national campaigns routinely ignore.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"d29583bc-498a-42c5-b3a4-5ea4535a1f18\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-5h0uf4\">\n<div id=\"img-9\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a person at a small podium speaks to attendees at an event for voters \" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ca9d06a61f79e77bf5a553e03a4fd8c1c9a551db\/0_0_4000_2670\/master\/4000.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"297.03749999999997\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-9\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"d29583bc-498a-42c5-b3a4-5ea4535a1f18\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">LaTosha Brown speaks during The Ordinary People Society (Tops) Founder\u2019s Unity Day banquet on 1 May in Dothan. <\/span> Photograph: Andi Rice\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sewell said she was inspired by the rally\u2019s \u201cfired-up\u201d crowd: \u201cInstead of bemoaning [the decision], people have become energized. I expect more people to go to the polls. I expect a greater showing in November and a bigger victory for the Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Figures and Sewell don\u2019t intend to go out without a fight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe have a term to represent,\u201d Figures said. \u201cWe go to work, continue to do everything we can to squeeze every bit of good and every bit of progress out of the time we have left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Meanwhile, the Rev Benny Tucker, beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday and still living in Selma, offered the same counsel he has offered for six decades. \u201cKeep marching,\u201d he said. \u201cOur voice is going to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/alabama\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Alabama<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/series\/building-power\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Building power<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-voting-rights\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US voting rights<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/features\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">features<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=%E2%80%98We%E2%80%99re%20going%20backwards%E2%80%99:%20Black%20political%20power%20under%20threat%20in%20Alabama%20after%20Voting%20Rights%20Act%20gutting&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/27\/alabama-voting-rights-act-maps?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F27%2Falabama-voting-rights-act-maps&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/27\/alabama-voting-rights-act-maps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-jwg3xc\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Letetia Jackson, Dothan resident and plaintiff in a redistricting lawsuit, speaks at the Tops Unity Day Parade on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}