Archive for the ‘Al Sharpton’ Category

What’s On Tonight: ‘Blood Brothers’ & ‘Frogger’ Span Serious-To-Silly – UPROXX

Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali (Netflix film) This documentary shines light on the friendship of the iconic twin-figures of Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, whose extraordinary friendship (and falling out) reverberated throughout the 20th century. Kenya Barris and director Marcus A. Clarke celebrate the legendary bond in question with the help of family members and luminaries including Cornel West and Al Sharpton. In the end, their positions within the Nation of Islams leadership sees ups and downs and, overall, a legendary retelling of what really went down.

Kin: (AMC+ series) Charlie Cox stars in this new Irish series about a tight-knit crime family thats drawn into wartime mode with a mighty drug kingpin. The family soon discovers that this is an unwinnable war, yet as the losses begin to mount, it becomes clear that the cartel is at one distinct disadvantage: theyre not bound by unbreakable blood bonds. The cartel does, however, have a host of exotic pets and some snazzy costumes and celebrity status, so this is a heck of a story.

Frogger: Season 1 (Peacock series) The classic, squish-filled arcade game gets the adaptation treatment from Holey Moley producers Eureka Productions. Damon Wayans Jr. hosts as contestants attempt to conquer a series of lily pads while attempting to win the cash prizes that are, surely, more valuable to them than the moving vehicles or flooded streets that they attempt to conquer. Obstacles will include Frogs in Space and Frog Skull Island, so you cant resist watching at least once.

It Couldnt Happen Here: Season 1 (Sundance TV and AMC+ series) Hilarie Burton Morgan hosts this look at stories that have taken a back seat to the more sensational true-crime accounts out there. In doing so, she helps to examine local stories that tear apart the very fabric of the communities in which they surface, with a glimpse of the unique challenges of each afflicted community.

What We Do in the Shadows (FX, 10:00 & 10:30pm) Well, well, well. Guillermo turned out to be a vampire killer, which sure as heck came as a surprise to Nandor, Nadja, and Laszlo, and Colin. The four Staten Island roommates must figure out how to handle this conundrum, along with tackling the other challenges of this season. Those include dealing with wellness cults and gym culture, along with gargoyles, werewolves who play kickball, casinos, and more. In addition, the vamps also receive a higher level of powers while Nandor experiences an eternal-life crisis, which forces him to examine whether he should be a bachelor for eternity or embrace love. This week, an ancient vehicle and an old flame both see resurrection.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Sarah Paulson, Kacey Musgraves

The Other Two: Season 1 (HBO Max series) Lorne Michaels of SNL fame executive produces this series thats created, written, and also executive produced by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider (formerly co-head writers of SNL). The cast includes Drew Tarver, Helne Yorke, Case Walker, Ken Marino, and Molly Shannon, and the plot follows a showbiz family, in which a 14-year-old pop star decides that its time to officially retire. Meanwhile, the familys 53-year-old matriarch (Shannon) is enjoying ubiquity of her own, so The Other Two will do everything they can to shine as well.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 2 (Paramount+ series) This animated series from Rick and Morty writer (and Solar Opposites creator) Mike McMahan takes things to the year 2380 (after the original Star Trek beginning in 2265), where the U.S.S. Cerritos arent the heroes that youre expecting. These are junior officers who are not pleased at their lack of power while confronting bizarre alien anomalies like enormous bugs and other such comedic-slanted creatures. This violent shows got a PG-13-like feel.

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What's On Tonight: 'Blood Brothers' & 'Frogger' Span Serious-To-Silly - UPROXX

Bias, theocracy and lies: Inside the secretive organization behind the National Prayer Breakfast – Salon

For nearly 70 years, and even in this moment of surging Christian nationalism, Democrats and Republicans have set aside their differences once a year to join in an event for fellowship and reconciliation: The National Prayer Breakfast.

The breakfast and the secretive religious group behind the scenes, popularly known as The Family, have been the subject of scandal over the years. Most notably, journalist Jeff Sharlet exposed the group's theocratic, anti-labor origins, and revealed The Family's role in Ugandan capital punishment legislation for gay people. More recently, the FBI caught Russian operatives using the breakfast to pursue back-channel connections with U.S. politicians.

But despite its dealings with international powers, The Family still enjoys the invisibility to which it attributes its influence. We've never had a full accounting of who works for The Family or even just who gets to attend the National Prayer Breakfast, let alone who decides. Until now.

Earlier this year, The Young Turks obtained a list of the 4,465 people invited to the 2016 National Prayer Breakfast. The document identifies guest connections to The Family and names virtually everyone who works for The Family, as well as numerous volunteers and allies. It also identifies which Family insiders submitted each invitee's name.

Since then, TYT has been researching individuals named in that document and in others (including a list of 2018 breakfast attendees obtained last month). With assistance from organizations including the international journalism collective Bellingcat, the Military Religious Freedom Foundationand the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, TYT is assembling what amounts to an X-ray of The Family, and a map of its connections and endeavors around the world.

Although more remains to be learned, we can now draw some conclusions and begin reporting on what we are finding. (This is an ongoing project and we invite journalists and advocacy groups to contact us if they are interested in conducting research of their own.)

The prayer breakfast is, we've been told, an ecumenical, nonpartisan event for leaders of every stripe, run by prayer groups in the House and Senate. None of that is true.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

The National Prayer Breakfast (NPB) is not run by Congress. The Family controls it, uses the breakfast for its own ends, and can do so thanks to the bipartisan fiction maintained by its remaining Democratic allies. (Democratic protectiveness of the breakfast may have its roots in the weekly congressional prayer meetings, which appear, like the breakfast, to offer members moments of genuine bonding and connection.)

Only a few congressional Democrats are even tangentially involved in the NPB. A handful of congressional Republicans play significant roles. But the breakfast itself is overwhelmingly a production of The Family. The event's only significant financial backer is a well-knownright-wing theocrat.

The Family's congressional defenders have served up portraits of the NPB that could never be refuted because they wouldn't release the invitation list. (It has never been clear why an event ostensibly produced by Congress would be shrouded in such profound secrecy.)

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., The Family's most prominent Democrat, said earlier this year that the breakfast "has brought together religious, politicaland cultural leaders from all over the world." But many attendees are not leaders at all; they are fellow travelers and friends of The Family. Others springboard off the breakfast to build anti-LGBTQ, anti-democratic networks in their home countries. International media portray the breakfast invitations as coming from Congress or the president, boosting the standing of the Family-allied politicians who get invited.

It's not just Democrats who perpetuate this. The Family operates in a penumbra of secrecy formed by the overlap of lax IRS disclosure laws and law enforcement squeamishness about scrutinizing organizations that appear evenremotely religious.

And the diversity implied by Coons' roledoesn't apply to the delegations of guests from multiple countries. The breakfast is neither nonpartisannor ecumenical.

The politics of the breakfast its attendees and those who choose them are a far cry from Coons' claim. For instance, of the 20 individuals who invited the most guests in 2016, TYT was able to assess the politics of 13,using voter registrations and political donations as gauges. Of those 13, only one was a Democrat: Grace Nelson, a former Family board member and wife of former Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. The top five inviters whose politics could be ascertained were all Republicans.

The Republicans who got to pick the most attendees are overwhelmingly Trump supporters. Their ranks range from a Chick-fil-A franchisee (who invited 38 guests) to former South Carolina governorDavid Beasley, a Republican andTrump supporterwhom Trump later appointedto run the UNWorld Food Programme. Many Family insiders are now actively supporting Trump's election lies, the Christian nationalist movement undergirding those liesand the movement's leaders.

Two of the top inviters had no U.S. political footprint because they don't live in America. One of them has ties to theocratic, anti-LGBTQ organizations. Heinvited 30 people to the 2016 breakfast.

The invitation list categorizes 253 invitees as "non-entertainment media." Thoseinclude a lot of local Washington-area on-air people including traffic and weather reporters.But the political media are overwhelmingly conservative: The Daily Caller, The Blaze, the Washington Times, Newsmax, the Weekly Standard, the Washington Examiner CEO's assistant, Rush and David Limbaugh, Stephen Hayes, Laura Ingraham, etc.

Five media people are specifically noted on the list as Fox News (TYT identified at least 22 others connected to Fox News). Democratic media figures invited are likely to have appeared on Fox. CNN is mentioned in connection to one guest; MSNBC not at all.

Invited writers from mainstream outlets are often conservative pundits or cover a religion beat. Liberal and progressive names seldom appear, even from major outlets, let alone progressive media counterparts to the Daily Caller or the Blaze.

Sitting members of Congress are automatically invited, but of former members, The Family invited 20 Democrats and 38 Republicans, almost twice as many, plus former Democrat Joe Lieberman.

The invitation list reflects recurring religious discrimination, too. In nations TYT has looked at, a clear pattern emerges among who gets to choose the guests and, not surprisingly, among the guests they invite.

Christianity is favored over non-Christianity, Protestantism over Catholicism, and evangelicalism over non-evangelicalism. Non-evangelical leaders are vastly outnumbered by evangelical non-leaders.

What the documents do not show is intentional discrimination. If anything, The Family appears un-strategic in its operations, at times to its own detriment. The autonomy its associates enjoy mirrors the laissez-faire economic philosophies that helped give rise to The Family.

This makes it difficult to infer intent or to apply sweeping generalities to The Family or the breakfast. The organization is relational; if you're friends with a Family insider, you might get an invite. Disparities in who gets invited arise less from a conscious plan and more from the vagaries of who becomes friends with someone inside The Family. Which, of course, is a textbook recipe for systemic bias. In some cases, invitations also appear to be tied to whether invitees might provide financial support for Family associates (who raise their own funds that are then administered by The Family).

It can be startling at times to come across the online ministries of Family associates. In blog posts and videos, they project inclusivity, joyand distinctly un-Trumpian gentleness, humorand even vulnerability.

They seldom resemble servants of an angry God or the cartoons of televangelism. The modest fundraising conducted by Family associates appears largely untouched by modern marketing. By any measure, they appear genuine in their compassion and desire to do good. They "have a heart for Africa," many say. Some literally spend their lives overseas in conditions materially wanting but spiritually rewarding. They dedicate themselves to helping others.

But their compassion is intuitive, not strategic. Few are experts or rely on experts to determine the best way to do the most good. God leads them.

As it turns out, God seldom leads them to assist the elderly or the sick. More often, Family missionaries are led to help those whose responses happen to be the most rewarding.

So you will find Family associates working with impoverished children or remote villages in Africa, southeast Asiaor Latin America. They build schools and they teach. Typically they teach lessons premised on belief in Jesus. If you believe Jesus is the answer to all problems, after all, what solution would not include Jesus?

Kids are taught English, for instance, by learning songs about how Jesus loves them. They learn the language, but also the love as The Family sees it. It's a love based on surrender, accepting God's will and Biblical authority including condemnation of homosexuality and even, for some, the subordination of women. The Family's students learn to speak that language, too, overseas and at Christian schools in the U.S. where scholarships bring them.

Because how unsatisfying would it be to make the world a better place by doing volunteer accounting in the back office of some bureaucratic (but effective and professionally run) monolith with exacting, quantitative standards? Family associates can be found instead at the low-profile, sometimes one-person nonprofits that proliferate on the IRS website like weeds in a vast orchard of Christian charities.

Some Family members have anonymous benefactors, wealthy enough to support mission work that jibes with their political inclinations. The politics matter, because The Family tasks its missionaries to bond with the leaders of their host nations leaders who know full well, as Sharlet documented, that these bright-eyed missionaries have the ears of the Americans who hold the wallets and bombs of the U.S. government. These missionaries use their access to local leaders to help stand up miniature versions of both the prayer breakfast and The Family iterations that share or even exceed the homophobic or theocratic leanings of their model.

Ironically, one could argue that The Family does not use its influence enough. In accordance with their famous slogan of "Jesus Plus Nothing," The Family asks little of the leaders they minister. As we'll report, The Family enjoys proximity to local and national leaders that entails virtually no accountability for their political decisions and accepts virtually any policy that can be seen as Jesus-based.

To The Family, accountability starts with Jesus; they seldom champion the checks-and-balances accountability that transparency brings. As one source close to The Family told me, its leaders might counsel a senator to work on his marriage, but remain silent on matters such as encouraging violent upheaval of American democracy. During a conversation with notorious Republican operative Lee Atwater, Doug Coe, the late Family leader, reportedly condemned adultery only when pressed.

And so these smiling missionaries, even those preaching inclusivity and love for sinners and enemies, end up arm in arm with unsmiling politicians feverish to squeeze voting rightsor reproductive rights. A smaller group inside the ranks of The Family flares with anger when LGBTQ rights are framed as an affront to religious freedom.

Historically, The Family's rationale for serving leaders unconditionally is that reducing evil means engaging with it. Who needs prayer more, after all, than the worst among us?

As Rep. Thomas Suozzi, D-N.Y., another Family ally, said this year, "the Prayer Breakfast reminds us to both love our neighbors and even the more challenging love our enemies." It was an irrefutable defense, right up until we could check whether The Family engages its own enemies as fervently as it engages the enemies of others.

Now, however, Suozzi's high-minded aspirations are hard to reconcile with the 2016 invitation list. The names present, and those omitted, suggest that enemies of human rights may come and break bread, but enemies of Republicans get left out in the cold.

The Revs. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jacksonand William J. Barber II some of America's top religious leaders on the left are all absent from the 2016 invitation list. Business leaders, however, appear in abundance (although yesteryear's captains of industry have been replaced by today's regional managers of industry).

Non-religious leaders who advocate for the disenfranchised are hard to come by. The late AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka, invited by Beasley, was one of the rare labor leaders on the list.

Still, participating Democrats claim the breakfast somehow can foster reconciliation, regardless of the short supply there of LGBTQ people, socialistsand baby-killers with whom to reconcile. "After a very divisive time in our nation's history," Coons said in February, "it's my hope that this year's breakfast offers Americans of all faiths and backgrounds the strength and courage to unite as a nation and tackle the challenges we face together."

Except now we know that Americans of all faiths and backgrounds aren't at the breakfast. In fact, as our first report will show, the breakfast and some Family leaders helped fuel our current divisions. And their secret work today is at the heart of the challenges we now face.

With additional research and reporting by TYT Investigates News Assistant Zoltan Lucas and Intern Jamia Zarzuella, and assistance from members of the TYT Army.

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Bias, theocracy and lies: Inside the secretive organization behind the National Prayer Breakfast - Salon

Imani Oakley, Progressive Candidate for NJCD 10, Joins MLK3 and Al Sharpton in DC for March on Voting Rights – InsiderNJ

Imani Oakley, Progressive Candidate for NJCD 10,

Joins MLK3 and Al Sharpton in DC for March on Voting Rights

Washington, DC Imani Oakley pro-democracy activist and progressive candidate for Congress in New Jerseys 10th congressional district arrived in Washington Saturday to join the mass mobilization led by Martin Luther King III and Rev. Al Sharpton urging the Senate to pass crucial voting rights legislation.

Voting rights is the ultimate issue, Oakley said. The fight for voting rights sits at the very heart of our work to create a true multi-racial democracy. Everything else a Green New Deal, Medicare 4 All, student loan forgiveness it all stems from having the true representation that strong voting rights guarantee

The event titled the March On For Washington and Voting Rights sought to apply public pressure on US senators to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which are currently stalled in the Senate due to Republican opposition. The main march in DC was also supplemented by mobilizations across the country.

Oakleys decision to attend was rooted in her fight for better democracy in New Jersey specifically her work countering the ballot line. During her time as a political organizer, Oakley worked to expose the negative effects of New Jerseys ballot design on the states democracy in general and the electoral power of the states Black and Brown voters.

The ballot line rigs our elections against challengers and ultimately marginalized communities, Oakley said. New Jersey is often called the Jim Crow of the North so of course it has to be part of the discussion on voting rights.

###

Imani Oakley is a long-time political organizer and pro-democracy activist running for Congress in New Jerseys 10th Congressional District. The seat covers parts of Essex, Union, and Hudson counties. Her time working in New Jersey political spaces has made one thing clear: our state suffers from rabid corruption. Her campaign is dedicated to ending this system and lifting up working-class communities.

For more information about Imani, please visit: Oakleyforcongress.com

(Visited 29 times, 9 visits today)

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Imani Oakley, Progressive Candidate for NJCD 10, Joins MLK3 and Al Sharpton in DC for March on Voting Rights - InsiderNJ

Thousands expected for protests, rallies on the National Mall – WUSA9.com

Several events are expected to take place on the National Mall to coincide with the 58th anniversary of the March on Washington.

WASHINGTON Saturday, August 28, marks the 58th anniversary of the first March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In 1963, an estimated 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to bring attention to inequalities Black people faced. During the event, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream Speech." Nearly 60 years later, several demonstrations are once again planned on the National Mall. Here's what we know about each of them:

March On for Voting Rights

The largest of these demonstrations is planned by the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network.

Dubbed the March On For Voting Rights rally, the event is meant to focus on the importance of voting rights for all Americans. According to the event's website, "since the beginning of 2021, more than 400 voter suppression bills have been introduced in 49 states." National Action Network also points to the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, when supporters of former president Donald Trump stormed the Capitol following a rally to protest unfounded claims of election fraud, as a reason to fight for voting rights.

According to the National Action Network's website, the organization is partnering with D.C. statehood organization 51 for 51 for the rally.

The National Park Service has issued a permit for this rally. The permit says organizers anticipate 50,000 people to attend.

The March On for Voting Rights rally is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. at McPherson Square, march past Black Lives Matter Plaza, The White House and the Washington Monument, with demonstrators gathering from 7th St. to 14th St. between Jefferson Dr. and Madison Drive from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The D.C. rally is one of several rallies planned across the country by the National Action Network.

March On Washington Anniversary

The National Park Service is processing a permit for a separate march to commemorate the first March on Washington. According to that permit, 100,000 people are expected to attend at the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Potomac Park polo fields and JFK hockey fields. That permit has not yet been issued.

The Dream March on Washington

In addition, The Douglass Commonwealth Coalition has applied for a permit to march for "D.C. statehood, green jobs and justice," on Saturday. Organizers estimate 100,000 people to attend that event, which will begin at Freedom Plaza at 8 a.m. and end with a rally at the Lincoln Memorial beginning at 10 a.m. The permit for this event has also not yet been issued.

First Amendment Rally

A rally hosted by Mass Action Against Police Brutality has received a permit to take place on the grounds of the Washington Monument. The rally will continue on to Lafayette Park and the Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalk near the Department of Justice.

Every Case Matters

The National Park Service has issued a permit for a demonstration for criminal justice reform by the group Every Case Matters. The permit estimates 100 people for the march taking place at John Marshall Park.

More Than a Protest

The National Park Service has issued a permit for an event dubbed More Than A Protest. The event, which according to the permit estimates 100 people, will take place on the National Mall on the gravel walkway between 6th and 7th street. The event aims to collect school supplies and donations and provide information as students head back to class.

CANCELED: The Memorial Foundation, Inc.

The Memorial Foundation, Inc. has applied for a permit for an event at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on Saturday. The permit estimates 250 participants at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. This permit has not yet been issued by the National Park Service.

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Thousands expected for protests, rallies on the National Mall - WUSA9.com

‘March on for Voting Rights’ will take place Saturday in DC, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix and Miami – WXII The Triad

Video above: House passes voting rights bill named after John LewisWhen Medgar Evers and Jimmie Lee Jackson were killed amid a yearslong battle for voting rights, it brought a sense of doom and darkness over the civil rights movement of the 1960s.Evers, an NAACP field secretary and civil rights leader who organized voter registration drives, boycotts and protests against school segregation, was shot in the back by a White supremacist in his driveway in June 1963.Jackson, a church deacon, was shot in the stomach by an Alabama State Trooper while trying to protect his mother during a march for voting rights in Marion, Alabama, in February 1965.Despite the anger and grief in the wake of their deaths, the civil rights movement pressed forward, activists and protesters kept marching and in August 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting.The leaders of today's movement say they are carrying that same spirit of resilience as they lobby for Congress to pass federal voting legislation that would counter state-level laws they say are suppressing Black and brown voters.On Saturday, the March on for Voting Rights will take place in Washington DC, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix and Miami to put pressure on the Senate to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which increases the power of the federal government to block discriminatory election rules. The bill was passed in the House earlier this week but faces an uphill battle with the Senate given most Republicans oppose it. And on Friday, the Texas House approved a Republican voting restrictions bill after months of Democratic delays. Opponents warned that the bill would make voting harder for people of color, who often back Democrats, as well as disabled people -- in part by outlawing the all-night and drive-through voting that Houston conducted during the 2020 election.Saturday's mass mobilization will mark the 58th anniversary of the historic March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. That march came just two months after Evers' death. An anniversary march was also held last year in Washington on the heels of nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd.The March On for Voting Rights comes after the arrests this summer of several civil rights leaders and lawmakers protesting voter suppression. Among them were Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. William J. Barber II, Cliff Albright, Rep. Hank Johnson and Rep. Joyce Beatty.The Rev. Al Sharpton, who is helping lead Saturday's march, said the deaths of Jimmie Lee Jackson and Evers taught many that the road to equality is never easy. A few weeks after Jackson was killed in 1965, John Lewis was beaten by White police officers so badly that he suffered a broken skull during "Bloody Sunday." Lewis and others marched for voting rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama."It's always been darkness before light broke through," Sharpton said. "We come out of that tradition."A persistent fight Civil rights icon Andrew Young said Jimmie Lee Jackson's death was actually the breaking point that led to the Selma march. Jackson, who had just returned from Vietnam, was attending his first march in Marion, Alabama with his mother and grandfather when he was shot trying to shield his mother from being beaten.Young recalled marching six miles in the freezing rain with other leaders from Jackson's funeral at a local church to the cemetery. Frustrated with Jackson's death, they began planning their next move: they were going to march from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting rights.Violence from police and White supremacists would never stop their fight, Young said."If somebody gets killed doing something right you have to send people there to take their place," Young said. "Because if you don't, you send the message that all you have to do to stop us is to kill someone."Mary Marcus, a friend of Jimmie Lee Jackson's family, said Jackson wasn't a vocal civil rights leader. He was a quiet man who mostly supported the movement behind the scenes, including taking his mother and grandfather to the march the day he was shot. Young said Jackson occasionally volunteered with voter registration efforts.Marcus said she hopes today's activists understand the battle for equality often requires sacrifice from more than just civil rights leaders, but also the foot soldiers in the background. "His (Jackson's) role was supporting those who supported the movement," said Marcus, 62 of Marion. "As a result of that when it was his turn to go to the rescue of someone else, he did. As a result of that, he lost his life."A historic victoryMonths after Jimmie Lee Jackson was slain and the Selma march happened, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Johnson signed it.Young recalled going to the White House with Martin Luther King Jr. to meet with Johnson who insisted he did not have enough votes from Congress to get the bill passed.But Selma, Young said, influenced public opinion of voting rights and prompted lawmakers to support the bill. He believes today's activists can learn from the power of their organizing."We riled up the nation," Young said. "That persuaded the citizens that voting rights needed to be protected and that gave the president the power."Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was hospitalized last week for COVID-19, said in a statement that he will not be attending the march Saturday and is still receiving medical care.Jackson urged the nation to march whether in DC or at a local demonstration and pressure Congress to pass federal voting bills. He said the right to vote is key to jobs, raising the minimum wage, criminal justice reform, expanded health care and improving public education."So we want everybody to put on your marching shoes, and keep them on until everyone's right to vote is protected," Jackson said. "Keep marching and keep hope alive."Martin Luther King III, King Jr.'s eldest son who is also leading Saturday's march, said he has seen fervor in the demonstrators who rallied across the country after Floyd's death and showed up at last year's anniversary march.And while the 1963 March on Washington ultimately led to key voting rights legislation -- one of its top demands in addition to jobs and civil rights -- voter suppression efforts in recent years have been a setback, King said.Many of the tactics being used to disenfranchise Black and brown voters are "a more sophisticated form of Jim Crow," King said.King said he hopes the Saturday march sends the message that there is an urgency to rally around voting rights. He called it "frightening" that state legislatures are enacting laws that give them control over election outcomes."We are not going to just sit by idle and allow our rights to be eroded," King said. "My hope is that the community understands this is enough. We're not going to give up. "

Video above: House passes voting rights bill named after John Lewis

When Medgar Evers and Jimmie Lee Jackson were killed amid a yearslong battle for voting rights, it brought a sense of doom and darkness over the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Evers, an NAACP field secretary and civil rights leader who organized voter registration drives, boycotts and protests against school segregation, was shot in the back by a White supremacist in his driveway in June 1963.

Jackson, a church deacon, was shot in the stomach by an Alabama State Trooper while trying to protect his mother during a march for voting rights in Marion, Alabama, in February 1965.

Despite the anger and grief in the wake of their deaths, the civil rights movement pressed forward, activists and protesters kept marching and in August 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting.

The leaders of today's movement say they are carrying that same spirit of resilience as they lobby for Congress to pass federal voting legislation that would counter state-level laws they say are suppressing Black and brown voters.

On Saturday, the March on for Voting Rights will take place in Washington DC, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix and Miami to put pressure on the Senate to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which increases the power of the federal government to block discriminatory election rules. The bill was passed in the House earlier this week but faces an uphill battle with the Senate given most Republicans oppose it. And on Friday, the Texas House approved a Republican voting restrictions bill after months of Democratic delays. Opponents warned that the bill would make voting harder for people of color, who often back Democrats, as well as disabled people -- in part by outlawing the all-night and drive-through voting that Houston conducted during the 2020 election.

Saturday's mass mobilization will mark the 58th anniversary of the historic March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. That march came just two months after Evers' death. An anniversary march was also held last year in Washington on the heels of nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd.

The March On for Voting Rights comes after the arrests this summer of several civil rights leaders and lawmakers protesting voter suppression. Among them were Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. William J. Barber II, Cliff Albright, Rep. Hank Johnson and Rep. Joyce Beatty.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who is helping lead Saturday's march, said the deaths of Jimmie Lee Jackson and Evers taught many that the road to equality is never easy. A few weeks after Jackson was killed in 1965, John Lewis was beaten by White police officers so badly that he suffered a broken skull during "Bloody Sunday." Lewis and others marched for voting rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

"It's always been darkness before light broke through," Sharpton said. "We come out of that tradition."

Civil rights icon Andrew Young said Jimmie Lee Jackson's death was actually the breaking point that led to the Selma march. Jackson, who had just returned from Vietnam, was attending his first march in Marion, Alabama with his mother and grandfather when he was shot trying to shield his mother from being beaten.

Young recalled marching six miles in the freezing rain with other leaders from Jackson's funeral at a local church to the cemetery. Frustrated with Jackson's death, they began planning their next move: they were going to march from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting rights.

Violence from police and White supremacists would never stop their fight, Young said.

"If somebody gets killed doing something right you have to send people there to take their place," Young said. "Because if you don't, you send the message that all you have to do to stop us is to kill someone."

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Mary Marcus, a friend of Jimmie Lee Jackson's family, said Jackson wasn't a vocal civil rights leader. He was a quiet man who mostly supported the movement behind the scenes, including taking his mother and grandfather to the march the day he was shot. Young said Jackson occasionally volunteered with voter registration efforts.

Marcus said she hopes today's activists understand the battle for equality often requires sacrifice from more than just civil rights leaders, but also the foot soldiers in the background.

"His (Jackson's) role was supporting those who supported the movement," said Marcus, 62 of Marion. "As a result of that when it was his turn to go to the rescue of someone else, he did. As a result of that, he lost his life."

Months after Jimmie Lee Jackson was slain and the Selma march happened, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Johnson signed it.

Young recalled going to the White House with Martin Luther King Jr. to meet with Johnson who insisted he did not have enough votes from Congress to get the bill passed.

But Selma, Young said, influenced public opinion of voting rights and prompted lawmakers to support the bill. He believes today's activists can learn from the power of their organizing.

"We riled up the nation," Young said. "That persuaded the citizens that voting rights needed to be protected and that gave the president the power."

JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was hospitalized last week for COVID-19, said in a statement that he will not be attending the march Saturday and is still receiving medical care.

Jackson urged the nation to march whether in DC or at a local demonstration and pressure Congress to pass federal voting bills. He said the right to vote is key to jobs, raising the minimum wage, criminal justice reform, expanded health care and improving public education.

"So we want everybody to put on your marching shoes, and keep them on until everyone's right to vote is protected," Jackson said. "Keep marching and keep hope alive."

Martin Luther King III, King Jr.'s eldest son who is also leading Saturday's march, said he has seen fervor in the demonstrators who rallied across the country after Floyd's death and showed up at last year's anniversary march.

And while the 1963 March on Washington ultimately led to key voting rights legislation -- one of its top demands in addition to jobs and civil rights -- voter suppression efforts in recent years have been a setback, King said.

Many of the tactics being used to disenfranchise Black and brown voters are "a more sophisticated form of Jim Crow," King said.

King said he hopes the Saturday march sends the message that there is an urgency to rally around voting rights. He called it "frightening" that state legislatures are enacting laws that give them control over election outcomes.

"We are not going to just sit by idle and allow our rights to be eroded," King said. "My hope is that the community understands this is enough. We're not going to give up. "

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'March on for Voting Rights' will take place Saturday in DC, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix and Miami - WXII The Triad