The Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice and the Transformative Justice Coalition hosted the John Lewis National Day of Action & Candlelight Vigils, a series of events taking place across the country today to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis.
Lewis served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. He also helped organize voter registration during the Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964.
In Charlotte, one of the 100 participating communities, several speakers appeared at the event calling on the black population to vote.
“It is our duty as Black people to vote,” said Kass Ottley, executive director of local nonprofit Seeking Justice Charlotte. “We have to stand on the backs of our ancestors. We have to go out and vote … vote like our lives depend on it.”
Event attendees also called for the passage of key voting rights legislation, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the Native American Voting Rights Act and the Freedom To Vote Act.
Several organizations sponsored the event, including Black Voters Matter, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Interfaith Alliance, a network of multifaith organizations that support democracy.
