The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Action Fund endorsed U.S. Reps. Shomari Figures (D-Mobile) and Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) on Monday.
The SPLC Action Fund is the left-wing nonprofit’s PAC. The SPLC Action Fund endorsed 10 incumbent candidates in their bids for reelection to the House of Representatives. The candidates are all part of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“The Black representation that we see in the House of Representatives today is a testament to the relentless work of the civil rights and voting rights activists who marched, protested, boycotted and organized for decades throughout the Deep South to win a seat at the table,” said Madison Hollon, senior program manager of political campaigns, SPLC Action Fund. “The members of the CBC that we are endorsing have consistently used their political power to give a voice to their communities in debates in Washington and to advance legislation that serves the interests of every American, not just the wealthy and privileged.”
She continued, “However, this nation is at a crossroads where Black representation, particularly in the South, is once again under very serious threat. A looming Supreme Court decision could further gut the Voting Rights Act and, in the process, enable states to gerrymander Black congressional leaders out of power.”
“To push back and prevent these antidemocratic efforts from succeeding, it is imperative that those who believe in the value of representation engage in democracy. Get registered, make a voting plan and show up to the polls on Election Day this November. Protect Black political power in the Deep South, and send a message to lawmakers who would attempt to rig elections that they ultimately still answer to the people,” Hollon added.
A Montgomery grand jury returned an indictment charging the SPLC with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and money laundering on Tuesday.
According to the indictment, starting in the 1980s, the SPLC began operating a covert network of individuals who were either associated with violent and extremist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, or who had infiltrated violent extremist groups at the SPLC’s direction. Unbeknownst to donors, some of their donated money was being used to fund the leaders and organizers of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website, according to the DOJ.
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