NASHVILLE, TN – I believe it’s going to be Black folks particularly Black elected officials that are going to have to step up to save our nation and our democracy. Because it’s truly in peril, said Georgia Representative Billy Mitchell, speaking to a gathering of Black legislators from across the South who met in Nashville the week of July 12th.
The roundtable discussion with the Black Elected Leadership of the Southern States was hosted by The National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL Women) and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) in conjunction with the 75th Annual meeting of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC).
The urgency of the meeting was in response to voter suppression laws being drafted in many southern states. The group gathered to discuss strategies to oppose the systematic dismantling of voter rights in states across the South.
At this point in history, we have black leadership across the country. We need to come together, we need to know who we are. We need to see what we’re experiencing what we can do to help each other, said Tennessee Representative Karen Camper pointing to the increasing numbers of elected officials who are minorities.