To my fellow Illinoisans:
The ground beneath our democracy has shifted, and we must wake up before the progress of the last sixty years is completely buried. The Supreme Court’s recent decision to eviscerate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is not just a legal setback; it is a calculated erasure of the history written in the blood of our ancestors. When our elders marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, they weren’t just fighting for a ballot; they were fighting for representation—the right to have a seat at the table where decisions about our schools, our housing, our healthcare, and our economic survival are made.
By dismantling Section 2, the federal government has effectively signaled that Black political power is no longer a protected right, but a "gift" that can be snatched away by partisan legislatures. The facts released by the ACLU are staggering and demand our immediate attention. Their findings confirm that this ruling creates a "nearly insurmountable" legal barrier by requiring us to prove discriminatory intent rather than just discriminatory effect. This is a "permission slip" for states to "crack and pack" our communities, diluting our voices until they are a whisper. For Black Americans, this means a catastrophic loss of representation—a "leap backwards" that threatens to return us to the era of Jim Crow tactics. In Illinois, while we have stood strong, we are no longer shielded by the federal government.
We cannot be silenced while rights are being dismantled in broad daylight. Representation is the heartbeat of our community; without it, we lose our ability to advocate for the fair housing, quality education, and economic equity. We must continue to stand up, we must continue to organize, and we must continue to be the beacon of hope even while the Supreme Court has abandoned us. Our ancestors did not back down in 1965, and we will not back down in 2026.
Our history is our power—and we will not let them take it.
ILBC Joint Chairwoman Lakesia Collins District 5
Lakesia Collins
