Civil-rights activists paved the way for us in 1964 when they created Freedom Summer, which led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act and laid the foundation for the electoral-justice and political-organizing efforts of progressive organizations today.
Freedom Summer focused on fighting Black voter suppression in Mississippi, the epicenter of rampant racist attempts to stop Black people from voting—but the ripple effects stretched far beyond the Mississippi Delta. Freedom Summer 2020 honors our rich legacy in Black power building through voter registration and political education.
Freedom Summer 2020 continues the fight for our dream and leverages our power to keep the momentum for change going into the November elections and until we are all free.
This summer, the Movement for Black Lives is training and developing nearly 200 organizers nationwide.
We lost beloved movement elder John Lewis, but we didn’t lose his guidance. The day of his funeral in July, the New York Times published a call to action he left for us, to continue our mandate to work for justice and Black liberation. A son of sharecroppers from Alabama, Uncle John was among the original Freedom Riders and helped organize the 1963 March on Washington. We are nothing without his legacy of fighting for electoral justice and building Black political power. He showed us how to let everlasting love be our guide. With Freedom Summer 2020, we honor the bold, unflinching vision of all of our ancestors.
