1
00:00:23,087 --> 00:00:28,087
Subtitles by explosiveskull
www.OpenSubtitles.org

2
00:00:33,935 --> 00:00:35,562
It might be a race

3
00:00:35,645 --> 00:00:37,522
for the Governor's Mansion
in Georgia,

4
00:00:37,605 --> 00:00:40,650
but this is one that
the entire country is watching.

5
00:00:40,734 --> 00:00:42,694
And if ever one vote counted,

6
00:00:42,777 --> 00:00:45,613
it certainly is going to count
in this particular race.

7
00:00:52,037 --> 00:00:54,789
Stacey! Stacey! Stacey!

8
00:00:54,873 --> 00:00:57,417
Stacey! Stacey! Stacey!

9
00:00:57,500 --> 00:00:59,711
The controversy surrounding

10
00:00:59,794 --> 00:01:02,005
Georgia's governor's race
is not dying down.

11
00:01:02,088 --> 00:01:03,798
Both candidates dug in today.

12
00:01:03,882 --> 00:01:05,383
Republican Brian Kemp

13
00:01:05,467 --> 00:01:10,305
and Democrat Stacey Abrams are
locked in a virtual dead heat.

14
00:01:10,388 --> 00:01:11,389
Everybody wants to know

15
00:01:11,473 --> 00:01:12,474
what's happening in Georgia.

16
00:01:12,557 --> 00:01:13,725
Still a toss-up there,
as we're waiting

17
00:01:13,808 --> 00:01:15,351
for a number of votes
to come in.

18
00:01:15,435 --> 00:01:18,396
They believe there are tens of
thousands of absentee ballots

19
00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,440
that have not yet been counted.

20
00:01:20,523 --> 00:01:22,650
Voter suppression has become

21
00:01:22,734 --> 00:01:24,110
a national talking point,

22
00:01:24,194 --> 00:01:27,280
and Brian Kemp has become
a focal point.

23
00:01:27,363 --> 00:01:30,867
All of the votes in this race
have not been counted.

24
00:01:30,950 --> 00:01:33,453
On Tuesday,
as you know, we earned

25
00:01:33,536 --> 00:01:36,247
a clear and convincing
victory at the ballot box,

26
00:01:36,331 --> 00:01:39,292
and today we're beginning
the transition process.

27
00:01:40,085 --> 00:01:41,628
Kemp was leading

28
00:01:41,711 --> 00:01:42,962
Democratic opponent
Stacey Abrams

29
00:01:43,046 --> 00:01:46,049
by a narrow margin, and
it grew more and more narrow

30
00:01:46,132 --> 00:01:48,009
in the days
following the election.

31
00:01:48,093 --> 00:01:49,886
Abrams filed multiple lawsuits

32
00:01:49,969 --> 00:01:52,388
but ultimately dropped out
of the race.

33
00:01:52,472 --> 00:01:53,890
I acknowledge

34
00:01:53,973 --> 00:01:56,768
that former Secretary of State
Brian Kemp

35
00:01:56,851 --> 00:01:58,436
will be certified as the victor

36
00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,064
in the 2018
gubernatorial election.

37
00:02:01,147 --> 00:02:03,441
But to watch
an elected official

38
00:02:03,525 --> 00:02:06,361
who claims to represent
the people and the state

39
00:02:06,444 --> 00:02:09,364
baldly pin his hopes
for election on the suppression

40
00:02:09,447 --> 00:02:11,783
of the people's
democratic right to vote

41
00:02:11,866 --> 00:02:13,785
has been truly appalling.

42
00:02:13,868 --> 00:02:15,328
So, let's be clear.

43
00:02:15,411 --> 00:02:18,039
This is not a speech
of concession.

44
00:02:18,123 --> 00:02:19,999
Because concession means
to acknowledge

45
00:02:20,083 --> 00:02:23,419
an action is right,
true or proper.

46
00:02:23,503 --> 00:02:25,547
As a woman of conscience
and faith,

47
00:02:25,630 --> 00:02:28,591
I cannot concede that.

48
00:02:57,328 --> 00:02:59,372
The fundamental
power of democracy

49
00:02:59,455 --> 00:03:01,374
lies in the right to vote.

50
00:03:01,457 --> 00:03:03,042
If you protect that right,

51
00:03:03,126 --> 00:03:05,712
you create possibilities
for everything else.

52
00:03:08,381 --> 00:03:11,843
Too many Americans take
for granted the right to vote

53
00:03:11,926 --> 00:03:13,678
and don't understand that

54
00:03:13,761 --> 00:03:16,055
unless we fight
for the right to vote,

55
00:03:16,139 --> 00:03:19,601
unless we try to include
as many people as possible,

56
00:03:19,684 --> 00:03:23,688
our democracy is put at risk.

57
00:03:23,771 --> 00:03:27,275
This right to vote is bloody.

58
00:03:27,358 --> 00:03:29,152
It is contested.

59
00:03:29,235 --> 00:03:33,948
And the reason it is contested
is because the vote matters.

60
00:03:41,915 --> 00:03:44,209
♪ Register,
inform yourself and vote ♪

61
00:03:44,292 --> 00:03:47,837
♪ Register, inform yourself
and vote ♪

62
00:03:47,921 --> 00:03:49,714
♪ A country
doesn't run itself ♪

63
00:03:49,797 --> 00:03:51,341
♪ Every voter is a help... ♪

64
00:03:51,424 --> 00:03:52,800
There are those who argue

65
00:03:52,884 --> 00:03:55,386
that America is not
a democracy or a republic.

66
00:03:55,470 --> 00:03:57,138
We are a democratic republic

67
00:03:57,222 --> 00:04:00,934
because we use democracy
to elect our representatives.

68
00:04:03,436 --> 00:04:04,896
What is democracy?

69
00:04:04,979 --> 00:04:08,191
Democracy is a system
in which the voters

70
00:04:08,274 --> 00:04:10,985
choose the people
that govern them.

71
00:04:11,069 --> 00:04:13,613
I vote for every,
every election.

72
00:04:13,696 --> 00:04:15,156
I don't care what it is.

73
00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:16,741
I don't miss voting.

74
00:04:16,824 --> 00:04:19,911
And my voice,
I want to be heard.

75
00:04:19,994 --> 00:04:21,871
That's what it's
supposed to be.

76
00:04:21,955 --> 00:04:24,874
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says
she is determined

77
00:04:24,958 --> 00:04:28,169
to push for mail-in voting
across the country

78
00:04:28,253 --> 00:04:30,255
in the next relief bill.

79
00:04:30,338 --> 00:04:32,882
The things
they had in there were crazy.

80
00:04:32,966 --> 00:04:34,509
Uh, they had things, uh,

81
00:04:34,592 --> 00:04:36,844
levels of voting that,
if you ever agreed to it,

82
00:04:36,928 --> 00:04:40,265
you'd never have a Republican
elected in this country again.

83
00:04:40,348 --> 00:04:42,350
When elected officials
feel like they may not have

84
00:04:42,433 --> 00:04:44,560
the power anymore,
they have two choices.

85
00:04:44,644 --> 00:04:47,522
They can either be more
responsive to those they lead,

86
00:04:47,605 --> 00:04:49,148
or they can eliminate
the people

87
00:04:49,232 --> 00:04:50,692
they have to answer to.

88
00:04:50,775 --> 00:04:53,278
I registered to vote at DMV
about nine months ago.

89
00:04:53,361 --> 00:04:56,030
I found out three weeks ago
that I wasn't registered.

90
00:04:56,114 --> 00:04:57,156
Progress doesn't only

91
00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:58,700
go in one direction.

92
00:04:58,783 --> 00:05:01,327
We've had expansions
of American democracy,

93
00:05:01,411 --> 00:05:03,454
but we've also had times when
things have moved backwards,

94
00:05:03,538 --> 00:05:05,206
where people have lost
the right to vote.

95
00:05:05,290 --> 00:05:09,168
A monumental
decision by the Supreme Court,

96
00:05:09,252 --> 00:05:11,462
changing the Voting Rights Act,

97
00:05:11,546 --> 00:05:13,881
the law of the land
for 48 years.

98
00:05:13,965 --> 00:05:15,842
History is never
a straight line.

99
00:05:15,925 --> 00:05:17,969
It's always a fight.

100
00:05:18,052 --> 00:05:19,721
If everybody's vote

101
00:05:19,804 --> 00:05:21,264
was important and equal,

102
00:05:21,347 --> 00:05:23,933
then why are certain people

103
00:05:24,017 --> 00:05:26,477
in certain areas,
of certain backgrounds,

104
00:05:26,561 --> 00:05:28,438
why is their vote
being limited?

105
00:05:28,521 --> 00:05:30,440
- We're here to stay!
- Now, some call it

106
00:05:30,523 --> 00:05:32,859
a safeguard for the integrity
of New Hampshire elections.

107
00:05:32,942 --> 00:05:34,444
Others see it
as a political ploy

108
00:05:34,527 --> 00:05:36,195
to try and keep voters away
from the polls.

109
00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:37,780
I just think it should be

110
00:05:37,864 --> 00:05:39,157
a little more difficult
to vote.

111
00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:40,241
There's nothing
unconstitutional

112
00:05:40,325 --> 00:05:42,410
about-about literacy tests.

113
00:05:42,493 --> 00:05:45,204
The fight over voting rights
is ultimately about power.

114
00:05:45,288 --> 00:05:46,622
Districts have been scrambled

115
00:05:46,706 --> 00:05:48,666
all over the state of Texas
in the past,

116
00:05:48,750 --> 00:05:51,252
and they elected white people
and nobody questioned it.

117
00:05:51,336 --> 00:05:52,628
Do you believe that

118
00:05:52,712 --> 00:05:54,547
democracy exists in America?

119
00:05:54,630 --> 00:05:56,632
Well, I've lived in America
all my life,

120
00:05:56,716 --> 00:05:58,217
and I've never seen
democracy yet,

121
00:05:58,301 --> 00:06:00,261
so I don't know what the hell
you're talking about.

122
00:06:00,345 --> 00:06:03,264
People in Washington know
nothing about reality.

123
00:06:03,348 --> 00:06:05,266
They know nothing
about what's happening

124
00:06:05,350 --> 00:06:07,101
to little people
in the community.

125
00:06:07,185 --> 00:06:08,603
But you add it all up,
and all of a sudden,

126
00:06:08,686 --> 00:06:09,687
p-people look at
their government,

127
00:06:09,771 --> 00:06:10,772
think,
"It doesn't represent me."

128
00:06:10,855 --> 00:06:12,565
And in many cases
these days, uh,

129
00:06:12,648 --> 00:06:14,359
for a lot of reasons,
it really doesn't.

130
00:06:14,442 --> 00:06:16,069
In Wisconsin, voters headed

131
00:06:16,152 --> 00:06:18,363
to the polls today,
the first state

132
00:06:18,446 --> 00:06:21,532
to hold a major election
with in-person voting

133
00:06:21,616 --> 00:06:23,368
in the midst
of a stay-at-home order.

134
00:06:23,451 --> 00:06:27,705
Do they expect us to go
against public safety?

135
00:06:27,789 --> 00:06:29,457
The United States is
the only country

136
00:06:29,540 --> 00:06:33,002
that makes it so difficult for
communities to own their power

137
00:06:33,086 --> 00:06:35,213
by requiring them
to jump through hoops

138
00:06:35,296 --> 00:06:38,299
to simply participate
in basic elections.

139
00:06:38,383 --> 00:06:41,052
It's pernicious
because it convinces you

140
00:06:41,135 --> 00:06:43,012
that maybe it's not
worth trying again.

141
00:06:43,096 --> 00:06:46,808
And when entire communities
become convinced

142
00:06:46,891 --> 00:06:48,976
that the process
is not for them,

143
00:06:49,060 --> 00:06:51,270
we lose their participation
in our nation's future,

144
00:06:51,354 --> 00:06:53,189
and that's dangerous
to everyone.

145
00:07:05,618 --> 00:07:09,372
You cannot understand
where we are right now

146
00:07:09,455 --> 00:07:12,291
unless you understand
the history of voting rights

147
00:07:12,375 --> 00:07:14,585
and the struggle
for voting rights.

148
00:07:18,089 --> 00:07:20,591
Past is prologue.

149
00:07:20,675 --> 00:07:25,138
Those forces that are
systematically determined

150
00:07:25,221 --> 00:07:28,975
to keep American citizens
from voting,

151
00:07:29,058 --> 00:07:33,104
they have been
laying the seeds over time.

152
00:07:34,605 --> 00:07:37,567
When we started as a country,
it wasn't really anything

153
00:07:37,650 --> 00:07:39,694
like what we would consider
a democracy.

154
00:07:39,777 --> 00:07:41,821
Only white men
who owned property

155
00:07:41,904 --> 00:07:43,406
had the right to vote.

156
00:07:43,489 --> 00:07:47,869
That was a very small segment
of the country even then.

157
00:07:47,952 --> 00:07:50,788
The Constitution begins with
the words, "We the people."

158
00:07:50,872 --> 00:07:54,041
And yet, who were the people?

159
00:07:54,125 --> 00:07:58,754
It doesn't include slaves.
It doesn't include women.

160
00:07:58,838 --> 00:08:01,632
Doesn't include
Native Americans.

161
00:08:01,716 --> 00:08:03,509
Doesn't include young people.

162
00:08:03,593 --> 00:08:06,929
So, the notion of "the people"
is very restricted.

163
00:08:07,013 --> 00:08:08,973
You won't find sitting anywhere

164
00:08:09,056 --> 00:08:12,393
in the articles of the
Constitution where it says,

165
00:08:12,477 --> 00:08:15,146
"American citizens have
the right to vote."

166
00:08:16,189 --> 00:08:18,149
When you have the-the founders

167
00:08:18,232 --> 00:08:20,151
writing in the language
of Enlightenment,

168
00:08:20,234 --> 00:08:22,570
dealing with getting rid
of monarchy

169
00:08:22,653 --> 00:08:24,238
and getting rid of kings

170
00:08:24,322 --> 00:08:28,242
and-and having this wonderful,
beautiful republic,

171
00:08:28,326 --> 00:08:33,414
and then you have six percent
who are eligible to vote.

172
00:08:35,249 --> 00:08:38,377
White male property owners.

173
00:08:42,173 --> 00:08:45,885
It tells you we had
a lot of work to do.

174
00:08:55,478 --> 00:08:58,147
I grew up
in Gulfport, Mississippi.

175
00:08:58,231 --> 00:09:00,191
My dad was a shipyard worker.

176
00:09:00,274 --> 00:09:04,195
My mom was the head librarian
at William Carey College.

177
00:09:04,278 --> 00:09:06,864
Both of my parents were first
in their family.

178
00:09:06,948 --> 00:09:09,200
My mom's the only one
of her siblings

179
00:09:09,283 --> 00:09:12,119
to finish high school and,
let alone, go to grad school.

180
00:09:12,203 --> 00:09:15,039
My dad was the first man
in his family to go to college.

181
00:09:18,626 --> 00:09:21,087
My mom and dad
were very prolific.

182
00:09:21,170 --> 00:09:24,924
I am the second
of six children.

183
00:09:25,007 --> 00:09:27,176
My parents were
very intentional with us.

184
00:09:27,260 --> 00:09:28,511
And we had three jobs.

185
00:09:28,594 --> 00:09:30,054
You had to go to church.

186
00:09:30,137 --> 00:09:31,138
Had to go to church.

187
00:09:31,222 --> 00:09:32,765
And you had to go to school.

188
00:09:32,848 --> 00:09:34,392
Go to school
and take care of each other.

189
00:09:34,475 --> 00:09:36,727
And in the meantime,
you had to do something

190
00:09:36,811 --> 00:09:38,771
- to help someone else.
- Help somebody else.

191
00:09:38,854 --> 00:09:40,523
We would volunteer

192
00:09:40,606 --> 00:09:42,942
at soup kitchens
and homeless shelters.

193
00:09:43,025 --> 00:09:45,361
If there was someone in need,
my parents found a way

194
00:09:45,444 --> 00:09:47,196
to make sure
we were there to help.

195
00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:48,573
Which was odd to us because,

196
00:09:48,656 --> 00:09:50,449
we would point out,
we were poor, too.

197
00:09:50,533 --> 00:09:52,451
Why are we serving
other people?

198
00:09:53,703 --> 00:09:55,121
They would say, "Having nothing

199
00:09:55,204 --> 00:09:57,123
is not an excuse
for doing nothing."

200
00:09:57,206 --> 00:09:58,791
And I'll tell you what,

201
00:09:58,874 --> 00:10:00,960
when those kids
were growing up,

202
00:10:01,043 --> 00:10:04,255
every time we voted,
we took them with us,

203
00:10:04,338 --> 00:10:07,216
and they saw us
cast our ballot.

204
00:10:07,300 --> 00:10:09,552
And we'd sort of
trail out of the voting booth

205
00:10:09,635 --> 00:10:10,761
like Make Way for Ducklings

206
00:10:10,845 --> 00:10:12,638
because there were
so many of us.

207
00:10:12,722 --> 00:10:16,225
But they wanted us to see them
in the act of casting a vote.

208
00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,401
My parents were admitted
to Emory University in 1989

209
00:10:25,484 --> 00:10:28,738
to become
United Methodist ministers.

210
00:10:28,821 --> 00:10:32,450
I was 15, so I was unhappy
with the world around me,

211
00:10:32,533 --> 00:10:36,203
so I was very excited
about moving to Atlanta.

212
00:10:36,287 --> 00:10:38,539
I attended
Avondale High School,

213
00:10:38,623 --> 00:10:42,376
and I became the valedictorian
of my high school.

214
00:10:44,337 --> 00:10:46,422
When you're valedictorian
in Georgia,

215
00:10:46,505 --> 00:10:50,468
you get invited to meet
the governor of Georgia.

216
00:10:57,350 --> 00:10:59,018
It was a Sunday morning.

217
00:10:59,101 --> 00:11:02,480
We got dressed,
put on our best clothes

218
00:11:02,563 --> 00:11:07,401
and got on the bus
because we didn't have a car.

219
00:11:10,071 --> 00:11:12,698
We get to the guard gate,
and the guard looks at me,

220
00:11:12,782 --> 00:11:14,825
and he looks at my parents,
and he says,

221
00:11:14,909 --> 00:11:17,703
"This is a private event.
You don't belong here."

222
00:11:17,787 --> 00:11:19,747
My dad says, "No, no,
this is my daughter Stacey.

223
00:11:19,830 --> 00:11:21,290
She's one of
the valedictorians."

224
00:11:21,374 --> 00:11:24,210
But the guard doesn't check
his checklist.

225
00:11:24,293 --> 00:11:26,879
He instead...
I remember very clearly

226
00:11:26,962 --> 00:11:31,050
him looking over our shoulders
at the bus that's pulling away,

227
00:11:31,133 --> 00:11:33,094
and he looks back at us,
and he basically says,

228
00:11:33,177 --> 00:11:36,681
he's like, "No," like,
"you don't belong here."

229
00:11:41,060 --> 00:11:43,145
The story he told himself
was that

230
00:11:43,229 --> 00:11:45,981
these three Black people
getting off a bus,

231
00:11:46,065 --> 00:11:50,027
they can't possibly belong
in the Governor's Mansion

232
00:11:50,111 --> 00:11:53,072
on this day that's celebrating
success and opportunity.

233
00:11:53,155 --> 00:11:55,491
- ♪ Let 'em know ♪
- ♪ Uh, yeah, we winnin' now ♪

234
00:11:55,574 --> 00:11:57,910
♪ Yeah, we risin' to the top,
new beginning now ♪

235
00:11:57,993 --> 00:11:59,453
- ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ And we never gonna stop ♪

236
00:11:59,537 --> 00:12:00,996
♪ Yeah, we grinnin' now ♪

237
00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:02,373
♪ Never been here, wow ♪

238
00:12:02,456 --> 00:12:04,542
♪ But we in here now,
holla black, yeah... ♪

239
00:12:04,625 --> 00:12:07,002
My parents had a very engaged

240
00:12:07,086 --> 00:12:08,754
and spirited discussion
with this gentleman

241
00:12:08,838 --> 00:12:10,214
about his
decision-making skills,

242
00:12:10,297 --> 00:12:11,757
about his reading
comprehension.

243
00:12:11,841 --> 00:12:13,259
Robert had to have
a few choice words.

244
00:12:13,342 --> 00:12:15,886
It was explained to him
in a certain way that,

245
00:12:15,970 --> 00:12:17,430
if you want to stay healthy...

246
00:12:17,513 --> 00:12:19,098
- Well...
- ...you look at the list.

247
00:12:19,181 --> 00:12:21,267
I won't go no further
than that.

248
00:12:21,350 --> 00:12:23,144
♪ Yeah, we're here now,
uh, uh ♪

249
00:12:23,227 --> 00:12:24,562
♪ Yeah, we're here now... ♪

250
00:12:24,645 --> 00:12:26,188
What I remember about that day

251
00:12:26,272 --> 00:12:28,274
is not meeting the governor.

252
00:12:28,357 --> 00:12:31,068
Don't remember meeting
my fellow valedictorians.

253
00:12:32,278 --> 00:12:34,363
All I remember is this man
standing in front

254
00:12:34,447 --> 00:12:36,323
of the most powerful place
in Georgia,

255
00:12:36,407 --> 00:12:38,451
telling me
I don't belong inside.

256
00:12:38,534 --> 00:12:41,746
And that was my first encounter
with the governor of Georgia.

257
00:12:41,829 --> 00:12:44,415
♪ Stand up, stand up,
stand up ♪

258
00:12:44,498 --> 00:12:48,252
♪ No time to hide,
we can't be denied, nah. ♪

259
00:12:48,335 --> 00:12:52,757
It never occurred to me
to think I could be governor.

260
00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,301
I had simply never seen it.

261
00:12:55,384 --> 00:12:56,886
When I started running,

262
00:12:56,969 --> 00:12:59,972
that story for me
was an important narrative

263
00:13:00,055 --> 00:13:01,849
because it reminded
people that,

264
00:13:01,932 --> 00:13:03,934
just as I was told
I don't belong here,

265
00:13:04,018 --> 00:13:08,355
so much of what voting is about
is whether you belong,

266
00:13:08,439 --> 00:13:09,982
whether you have value.

267
00:13:12,985 --> 00:13:16,238
James Baldwin said that
"people are trapped in history

268
00:13:16,322 --> 00:13:18,574
and history is trapped
in people."

269
00:13:18,657 --> 00:13:21,619
We can't escape
where we come from,

270
00:13:21,702 --> 00:13:23,204
but it's our responsibility

271
00:13:23,287 --> 00:13:25,956
to reshape
what that story looks like.

272
00:13:29,543 --> 00:13:31,212
After the Civil War,

273
00:13:31,295 --> 00:13:36,258
the number-one question was:
What is gonna replace slavery?

274
00:13:36,342 --> 00:13:38,636
What system of labor?
What system of politics?

275
00:13:38,719 --> 00:13:41,222
What system of race relations?

276
00:13:41,305 --> 00:13:43,933
Reconstruction is
the nation's effort

277
00:13:44,016 --> 00:13:48,354
to come to terms
with the abolition of slavery.

278
00:13:50,731 --> 00:13:52,441
They were trying
to figure out,

279
00:13:52,525 --> 00:13:54,276
"How do we heal this nation?

280
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:55,986
How do we stitch it
back together?"

281
00:13:56,070 --> 00:13:59,114
And then you've got
four million freed people.

282
00:13:59,198 --> 00:14:00,825
"How do we do this?"

283
00:14:04,870 --> 00:14:08,165
The three amendments...
the 13th, 14th and 15th...

284
00:14:08,249 --> 00:14:10,417
were not just
small-scale changes

285
00:14:10,501 --> 00:14:12,670
in an existing structure.

286
00:14:14,630 --> 00:14:17,550
They made the Constitution,
for the first time,

287
00:14:17,633 --> 00:14:22,054
a vehicle through which people
could claim greater equality.

288
00:14:22,137 --> 00:14:24,807
They actually transformed
the Constitution

289
00:14:24,890 --> 00:14:27,393
into something new
and different.

290
00:14:29,979 --> 00:14:32,606
They took slavery out
of the Constitution,

291
00:14:32,690 --> 00:14:34,859
where it had been embedded.

292
00:14:37,903 --> 00:14:39,363
They created
for the first time

293
00:14:39,446 --> 00:14:41,699
a national definition
of citizenship

294
00:14:41,782 --> 00:14:43,993
and insisted
that all those citizens

295
00:14:44,076 --> 00:14:45,828
and other persons
in the country

296
00:14:45,911 --> 00:14:48,289
had to be treated equally.

297
00:14:50,875 --> 00:14:53,961
And they mandated
that African American men

298
00:14:54,044 --> 00:14:55,880
must have the right to vote.

299
00:14:55,963 --> 00:14:58,549
That amendment in 1870 said

300
00:14:58,632 --> 00:15:01,093
the right to vote "shall not
be denied or abridged"

301
00:15:01,176 --> 00:15:03,012
on the basis "of race, color

302
00:15:03,095 --> 00:15:04,889
or previous condition
of servitude."

303
00:15:04,972 --> 00:15:09,393
The state shall not
abridge the right to vote

304
00:15:09,476 --> 00:15:12,313
"on account of race, color

305
00:15:12,396 --> 00:15:15,399
or previous condition
of servitude."

306
00:15:15,482 --> 00:15:17,902
The idea of
a national standard for voting

307
00:15:17,985 --> 00:15:19,695
was very controversial.

308
00:15:19,778 --> 00:15:22,573
During the debates
on the 15th Amendment,

309
00:15:22,656 --> 00:15:25,451
even Northern states
wanted to keep control

310
00:15:25,534 --> 00:15:27,286
of the voting qualifications,
because there were

311
00:15:27,369 --> 00:15:29,038
people in their state
they didn't want voting.

312
00:15:29,121 --> 00:15:30,539
And it's not about blacks.

313
00:15:32,249 --> 00:15:36,045
California and Oregon did not
ratify the 15th Amendment,

314
00:15:36,128 --> 00:15:38,172
because they were afraid that

315
00:15:38,255 --> 00:15:40,841
it might let
Chinese people vote.

316
00:15:44,595 --> 00:15:48,515
But by 1870, when the
15th Amendment was ratified,

317
00:15:48,599 --> 00:15:51,101
Black men now had
the right to vote

318
00:15:51,185 --> 00:15:54,021
in every state in the union
for the first time.

319
00:15:54,104 --> 00:15:56,565
And indeed,
also to hold office.

320
00:15:59,860 --> 00:16:02,237
What Reconstruction offered

321
00:16:02,321 --> 00:16:04,573
was a fresh start for America.

322
00:16:05,908 --> 00:16:08,035
You had this moment where

323
00:16:08,118 --> 00:16:11,622
Black citizens
enjoyed citizenship.

324
00:16:13,415 --> 00:16:17,002
That was evidenced by Black men
going to the U.S. Senate.

325
00:16:22,007 --> 00:16:25,177
You start having
Black elected officials

326
00:16:25,260 --> 00:16:28,430
in these amazingly high spaces

327
00:16:28,514 --> 00:16:31,767
where you would not
have imagined them

328
00:16:31,850 --> 00:16:33,394
20 years earlier.

329
00:16:33,477 --> 00:16:35,479
That was the power
of Reconstruction,

330
00:16:35,562 --> 00:16:37,982
and that was the power
of the vote.

331
00:16:49,159 --> 00:16:53,163
Please welcome
the first lady of our movement,

332
00:16:53,247 --> 00:16:56,875
Mrs. Coretta Scott King.

333
00:17:02,756 --> 00:17:06,802
Hi. Welcome, all of you,
my brothers and sisters,

334
00:17:06,885 --> 00:17:10,973
to this 30th-anniversary
March on Washington.

335
00:17:11,890 --> 00:17:14,476
Dr. King's spirit is with us.

336
00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,604
When I spoke at the
March on Washington, I was 19.

337
00:17:17,688 --> 00:17:21,316
I was terrified,
and I do not recall to this day

338
00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:23,152
actually giving that speech.

339
00:17:24,820 --> 00:17:27,114
I'm delighted now to introduce

340
00:17:27,197 --> 00:17:30,868
our next speaker,
Stacey Abrams,

341
00:17:30,951 --> 00:17:34,538
who is a junior
at Spelman College in Atlanta.

342
00:17:34,621 --> 00:17:38,792
She has helped mobilize
students to be here today,

343
00:17:38,876 --> 00:17:44,548
and we are very, very proud
of our sister, Stacey Abrams.

344
00:17:44,631 --> 00:17:45,716
Stacey.

345
00:17:45,799 --> 00:17:48,427
There was a guy with a clock

346
00:17:48,510 --> 00:17:51,555
who told me, "You only have
X amount of time to speak."

347
00:17:51,638 --> 00:17:53,891
And I remember him saying,
"Start."

348
00:17:53,974 --> 00:17:57,061
Jobs, justice, peace.

349
00:17:57,144 --> 00:17:59,021
This is a theme that
we've been hearing today

350
00:17:59,104 --> 00:18:00,814
over and over again.

351
00:18:00,898 --> 00:18:01,940
This is a theme...

352
00:18:02,024 --> 00:18:03,942
When you walk onto the stage

353
00:18:04,026 --> 00:18:06,779
and you look out
over the Reflecting Pool,

354
00:18:06,862 --> 00:18:11,408
I'd never seen that many people
in one place in my entire life.

355
00:18:11,492 --> 00:18:15,537
Today we come before you,
walking on the road to jobs,

356
00:18:15,621 --> 00:18:18,499
the road to peace,
the road to justice.

357
00:18:19,458 --> 00:18:20,793
When I was in college,

358
00:18:20,876 --> 00:18:24,463
I was very involved
in voter registration.

359
00:18:24,546 --> 00:18:27,549
What I was concerned about
as a young person was

360
00:18:27,633 --> 00:18:29,843
how many people
weren't taking advantage

361
00:18:29,927 --> 00:18:31,970
of this right, of this power.

362
00:18:32,054 --> 00:18:34,515
I set up voter registration
opportunities,

363
00:18:34,598 --> 00:18:37,851
and I would annoy my friends,
and they did not care.

364
00:18:37,935 --> 00:18:41,313
But I knew how important it was
to have this right to vote,

365
00:18:41,396 --> 00:18:44,316
because I'd remembered my
parents teaching me about this.

366
00:18:44,399 --> 00:18:46,193
I'd seen what it meant.

367
00:18:46,276 --> 00:18:50,697
At Spelman, I used to go
to city council meetings.

368
00:18:50,781 --> 00:18:53,575
I was starting to understand
how government worked,

369
00:18:53,659 --> 00:18:57,079
but I was also becoming very
aware of how it didn't work.

370
00:18:59,957 --> 00:19:02,042
I was protesting.

371
00:19:02,126 --> 00:19:04,628
I burned the Georgia state flag

372
00:19:04,711 --> 00:19:07,214
because it had
a Confederate emblem on it.

373
00:19:08,966 --> 00:19:11,135
We first tried to get
a meeting with the governor

374
00:19:11,218 --> 00:19:13,220
to talk about it,
and when that wasn't fruitful,

375
00:19:13,303 --> 00:19:17,266
we decided to bring attention
to it by setting it on fire.

376
00:19:17,349 --> 00:19:19,268
Now, I got a burn permit
for it,

377
00:19:19,351 --> 00:19:21,061
so everyone knew
I was doing it.

378
00:19:21,145 --> 00:19:22,688
I'm like, "I don't
have to break the law

379
00:19:22,771 --> 00:19:23,856
to make my point."

380
00:19:23,939 --> 00:19:27,776
Stacey Yvonne Abrams,
magna cum laude.

381
00:19:27,860 --> 00:19:30,279
I learned at Spelman College

382
00:19:30,362 --> 00:19:33,115
I didn't have to limit my goals

383
00:19:33,198 --> 00:19:35,951
to what I'd seen
other people do.

384
00:19:37,452 --> 00:19:40,080
Today, I come to you
as a young person,

385
00:19:40,164 --> 00:19:43,333
as a young woman,
as a young Black woman,

386
00:19:43,417 --> 00:19:45,419
to ask you to use us.

387
00:19:45,502 --> 00:19:48,547
Use the young people
of the United States of America

388
00:19:48,630 --> 00:19:51,175
to pave a road
that will last forever.

389
00:20:06,815 --> 00:20:08,650
The first great protest march

390
00:20:08,734 --> 00:20:10,152
on the nation's capital ever

391
00:20:10,235 --> 00:20:12,654
was for the right to vote
for women.

392
00:20:14,031 --> 00:20:18,869
In 1913, the day before
the presidential inauguration,

393
00:20:18,952 --> 00:20:21,872
5,000 women marched
down Pennsylvania Avenue.

394
00:20:25,876 --> 00:20:28,212
It took pushing
and pushing and pushing.

395
00:20:28,295 --> 00:20:30,756
It took hunger strikes,

396
00:20:30,839 --> 00:20:33,258
picketing in front
of the White House.

397
00:20:34,551 --> 00:20:36,678
All these creative,
nonviolent protests...

398
00:20:36,762 --> 00:20:38,305
that was new to this country.

399
00:20:38,388 --> 00:20:41,433
This was before Gandhi had done
a lot of these things.

400
00:20:41,516 --> 00:20:44,186
But the women's movement and
the fight for women's suffrage

401
00:20:44,269 --> 00:20:46,647
introduced them
to the United States.

402
00:20:46,730 --> 00:20:49,816
We get to the 19th Amendment

403
00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:53,820
that guarantees women
the right to vote.

404
00:20:58,283 --> 00:21:00,202
When you look back at how long

405
00:21:00,285 --> 00:21:02,913
women fought
for the right to vote...

406
00:21:04,289 --> 00:21:06,124
We're used to movements now...

407
00:21:06,208 --> 00:21:08,752
ten or 20 years,
and the change happens.

408
00:21:08,835 --> 00:21:10,671
Women spent
their entire lifetimes

409
00:21:10,754 --> 00:21:12,798
fighting for
the 19th Amendment.

410
00:21:15,467 --> 00:21:16,969
Black women were instrumental

411
00:21:17,052 --> 00:21:19,846
in the passage
of the 19th Amendment,

412
00:21:19,930 --> 00:21:22,057
and they had been part
of this conversation

413
00:21:22,140 --> 00:21:23,976
from its beginning.

414
00:21:24,059 --> 00:21:25,811
Women who were helping

415
00:21:25,894 --> 00:21:30,065
shape opportunity for
white women and for Black men,

416
00:21:30,148 --> 00:21:32,818
and yet, in each
of these conversations,

417
00:21:32,901 --> 00:21:35,445
Black women were left out
of the narrative.

418
00:21:36,488 --> 00:21:38,573
And then, post-Reconstruction,

419
00:21:38,657 --> 00:21:43,120
Black men, who had suddenly
become part of the body politic,

420
00:21:43,203 --> 00:21:45,455
were once again
disenfranchised.

421
00:21:57,467 --> 00:22:00,554
The greatest
moments of progress

422
00:22:00,637 --> 00:22:04,182
are followed by
the most intense periods

423
00:22:04,266 --> 00:22:06,018
of retrenchment.

424
00:22:06,101 --> 00:22:08,437
That's what happened
after the Civil War.

425
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,064
Reconstruction was a high point
for voting rights,

426
00:22:11,148 --> 00:22:14,234
and it was followed by nearly
a hundred years of Jim Crow.

427
00:22:16,194 --> 00:22:18,238
The decision to remove

428
00:22:18,322 --> 00:22:20,032
the troops from the South

429
00:22:20,115 --> 00:22:23,994
was a decision made by one vote
in the Congress.

430
00:22:24,077 --> 00:22:29,166
One vote put an end
to Reconstruction

431
00:22:29,249 --> 00:22:33,045
and started the era of violence

432
00:22:33,128 --> 00:22:38,759
and bloodshed
and Klan-led catastrophes.

433
00:22:41,553 --> 00:22:44,097
The South was
trying to figure out,

434
00:22:44,181 --> 00:22:47,934
"How do we stop all of
these Black folk from voting?

435
00:22:48,018 --> 00:22:52,731
If they continue to vote,
we're in trouble."

436
00:22:52,814 --> 00:22:55,108
How do you say, "We don't want
Black folks to vote,"

437
00:22:55,192 --> 00:22:56,401
without writing a law saying,

438
00:22:56,485 --> 00:22:58,278
"We don't want
Black folks to vote"?

439
00:22:59,654 --> 00:23:01,782
Mississippi said,
"Oh, we've got this.

440
00:23:01,865 --> 00:23:05,952
"We have figured out how to
get around the 15th Amendment,

441
00:23:06,036 --> 00:23:11,083
while systematically denying
the vote to African Americans."

442
00:23:11,166 --> 00:23:13,877
And that was
the Mississippi Plan of 1890.

443
00:23:19,716 --> 00:23:21,927
What Mississippi
came up with was:

444
00:23:22,010 --> 00:23:25,597
We are going to use the
societally imposed conditions

445
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:27,599
on African Americans

446
00:23:27,682 --> 00:23:32,771
and make those conditions
the access to the ballot box.

447
00:23:33,939 --> 00:23:36,775
What you say is:
Democracy is expensive.

448
00:23:36,858 --> 00:23:38,944
Elections are expensive.

449
00:23:39,820 --> 00:23:41,279
And if you're really invested,

450
00:23:41,363 --> 00:23:43,740
you should be willing
to pay a small fee.

451
00:23:45,367 --> 00:23:47,327
A poll tax.

452
00:23:47,411 --> 00:23:49,371
It's not too much.

453
00:23:49,454 --> 00:23:50,956
It sounds so reasonable.

454
00:23:51,039 --> 00:23:55,669
But when you begin to think
about what that means...

455
00:23:55,752 --> 00:23:59,965
You can pay for food,
or you can vote.

456
00:24:00,048 --> 00:24:03,385
You can pay for some clothes
for your children,

457
00:24:03,468 --> 00:24:05,429
or you can vote.

458
00:24:14,062 --> 00:24:17,107
And then the literacy test.

459
00:24:21,278 --> 00:24:22,904
The literacy tests

460
00:24:22,988 --> 00:24:24,448
are misnamed, in a sense,

461
00:24:24,531 --> 00:24:27,409
because they weren't really
tests of one's literacy.

462
00:24:27,492 --> 00:24:28,952
They were traps.

463
00:24:29,035 --> 00:24:31,246
They were designed
to never let you

464
00:24:31,329 --> 00:24:33,582
be able to answer them
correctly.

465
00:24:35,459 --> 00:24:37,002
I actually took out

466
00:24:37,085 --> 00:24:39,504
one of the old literacy tests
from Alabama.

467
00:24:39,588 --> 00:24:42,299
My class of second-
and third-year law students

468
00:24:42,382 --> 00:24:46,386
could not pass
the literacy test.

469
00:24:46,470 --> 00:24:48,513
There were
literacy tests, poll taxes.

470
00:24:48,597 --> 00:24:49,848
Grandfather clauses,

471
00:24:49,931 --> 00:24:51,725
all-white primaries,
property clauses.

472
00:24:51,808 --> 00:24:53,935
If this one doesn't
get you, this one will.

473
00:24:54,019 --> 00:24:55,979
If this one doesn't get you,
this one will.

474
00:24:58,106 --> 00:25:01,109
There were
this raft of different laws

475
00:25:01,193 --> 00:25:03,403
that were called
the Black Codes.

476
00:25:03,487 --> 00:25:06,490
And those laws criminalized
basic normal behavior.

477
00:25:06,573 --> 00:25:09,910
It was a crime to be
on a city street

478
00:25:09,993 --> 00:25:12,037
without having a place to go.

479
00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:13,955
It was a crime
not to have a job

480
00:25:14,039 --> 00:25:16,458
even if what you were doing
was looking for work.

481
00:25:16,541 --> 00:25:18,502
If you were caught loitering,

482
00:25:18,585 --> 00:25:20,921
meaning you were waiting
for your wife in a store,

483
00:25:21,004 --> 00:25:23,548
that could be a pretext
for arresting you,

484
00:25:23,632 --> 00:25:24,758
incarcerating you

485
00:25:24,841 --> 00:25:26,760
and permanently
disenfranchising you.

486
00:25:34,809 --> 00:25:37,437
That felony disfranchisement

487
00:25:37,521 --> 00:25:41,066
coming out of Florida in 1868...

488
00:25:41,149 --> 00:25:46,404
what that does is it strips you
of your right to vote.

489
00:25:46,488 --> 00:25:51,243
It is a way to-to neutralize
the 15th Amendment.

490
00:26:03,838 --> 00:26:05,882
Virtually overnight,

491
00:26:05,966 --> 00:26:08,009
African Americans
are eliminated

492
00:26:08,093 --> 00:26:10,387
from the electorate
in the South.

493
00:26:10,470 --> 00:26:14,140
So, you go from having
Black governors and senators

494
00:26:14,224 --> 00:26:17,644
to having almost no...
if not any... Black voters

495
00:26:17,727 --> 00:26:19,896
that were able to participate
in elections.

496
00:26:19,980 --> 00:26:22,732
In Mississippi,
during Reconstruction,

497
00:26:22,816 --> 00:26:27,988
African American voter
registration was almost 67%.

498
00:26:29,114 --> 00:26:31,533
By the time
we have fought the Nazis

499
00:26:31,616 --> 00:26:33,285
and we are moving
into the Cold War

500
00:26:33,368 --> 00:26:35,328
where the U.S.
is really holding up

501
00:26:35,412 --> 00:26:37,956
as the leader
of the free world,

502
00:26:38,039 --> 00:26:41,918
only three percent of
age-eligible African Americans

503
00:26:42,002 --> 00:26:44,838
were registered to vote
in the South.

504
00:26:44,921 --> 00:26:47,424
Three percent.

505
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,180
The word says,
"Great is the Lord

506
00:26:54,264 --> 00:26:56,474
and greatly to be praised."

507
00:26:56,558 --> 00:26:59,769
♪ I'm gonna praise him,
I got to get it out... ♪

508
00:27:04,482 --> 00:27:08,111
My name is Desmond Meade.

509
00:27:08,194 --> 00:27:10,905
I grew up in Miami, Florida.

510
00:27:10,989 --> 00:27:13,241
I am what we call
a returning citizen.

511
00:27:14,951 --> 00:27:16,870
Returning citizens are people

512
00:27:16,953 --> 00:27:18,872
with previous
felony convictions.

513
00:27:18,955 --> 00:27:21,708
You know, I used to tell people
that my story

514
00:27:21,791 --> 00:27:25,295
didn't have a happy ending
because I lived in Florida,

515
00:27:25,378 --> 00:27:27,422
where over 1.68 million people

516
00:27:27,505 --> 00:27:31,134
had a lifetime ban from voting
and other things.

517
00:27:31,217 --> 00:27:33,428
After graduating high school,

518
00:27:33,511 --> 00:27:36,222
I went into the service.

519
00:27:36,306 --> 00:27:41,144
When I returned home,
I was addicted to drugs,

520
00:27:41,227 --> 00:27:44,230
and I was in and out of jail,

521
00:27:44,314 --> 00:27:47,442
and I ended up checking myself
into drug treatment.

522
00:27:47,525 --> 00:27:49,861
I experienced a transformation.

523
00:27:49,944 --> 00:27:53,406
What have I done with my life,
uh, to make a difference?

524
00:27:55,492 --> 00:27:57,077
Florida leads the nation

525
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:00,664
in denying the right to vote
to one specific group: felons.

526
00:28:02,791 --> 00:28:06,544
For years,
we have lobbied politicians

527
00:28:06,628 --> 00:28:09,130
to change these old
Jim Crow laws,

528
00:28:09,214 --> 00:28:11,508
and we were not able
to accomplish anything.

529
00:28:11,591 --> 00:28:13,927
If there's a million and a half

530
00:28:14,010 --> 00:28:15,220
convicted felons in Florida

531
00:28:15,303 --> 00:28:19,391
and they're suddenly all
qualified to vote,

532
00:28:19,474 --> 00:28:22,018
that universe of people
are probably gonna be

533
00:28:22,102 --> 00:28:25,230
more inclined to favor
the Democratic Party.

534
00:28:25,313 --> 00:28:27,315
What data is there
to support that?

535
00:28:27,399 --> 00:28:29,067
- None.
- Mm.

536
00:28:29,150 --> 00:28:31,486
So, if the politicians
did not have

537
00:28:31,569 --> 00:28:33,822
the political strength
or courage

538
00:28:33,905 --> 00:28:36,116
to actually change
the policies,

539
00:28:36,199 --> 00:28:38,785
then the next best thing
was to let the citizens,

540
00:28:38,868 --> 00:28:40,870
uh, take it
into their own hands.

541
00:28:40,954 --> 00:28:45,542
Let my people vote!
Let my people vote!

542
00:28:46,459 --> 00:28:49,838
In October of 2014,

543
00:28:49,921 --> 00:28:52,716
we launched
the ballot initiative.

544
00:28:53,758 --> 00:28:55,218
All of the experts thought

545
00:28:55,301 --> 00:28:58,513
that it was impossible
to even get it on the ballot.

546
00:28:58,596 --> 00:29:02,016
But this was an organic
grassroots movement.

547
00:29:02,100 --> 00:29:03,977
We knocked on a lot of doors.

548
00:29:04,060 --> 00:29:05,895
- We're gonna change the history.
- All right.

549
00:29:05,979 --> 00:29:07,230
We made a ton of phone calls.

550
00:29:07,313 --> 00:29:08,815
We're talking to voters
about Amendment 4,

551
00:29:08,898 --> 00:29:09,899
the voting restoration
amendment

552
00:29:09,983 --> 00:29:11,317
on the ballot this November.

553
00:29:11,401 --> 00:29:12,610
Have you heard about it?

554
00:29:12,694 --> 00:29:14,195
And our message
was very simple.

555
00:29:14,279 --> 00:29:16,156
When the debt is paid,
it's paid.

556
00:29:16,239 --> 00:29:19,200
Uh, and that this was
an all-American issue

557
00:29:19,284 --> 00:29:21,536
that impacted people
from all walks of life.

558
00:29:21,619 --> 00:29:24,164
I'm a 20-plus-year
conservative Republican.

559
00:29:24,247 --> 00:29:26,624
I bring that up
not to make an issue of it

560
00:29:26,708 --> 00:29:28,877
but to actually not make
an issue of it.

561
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:30,378
This issue isn't
about politics.

562
00:29:30,462 --> 00:29:31,629
It's about people.

563
00:29:31,713 --> 00:29:33,506
Out of all the civil rights,

564
00:29:33,590 --> 00:29:36,050
nothing speaks more
to citizenship

565
00:29:36,134 --> 00:29:37,761
than being able to vote.

566
00:29:37,844 --> 00:29:40,346
Today is midterm Election Day.

567
00:29:40,430 --> 00:29:42,640
Voting's gonna be in full swing
here in just a few hours.

568
00:29:42,724 --> 00:29:45,268
Voters in Florida are preparing
to vote on a measure

569
00:29:45,351 --> 00:29:46,936
that would restore
voting rights

570
00:29:47,020 --> 00:29:49,272
to 1.4 million people,

571
00:29:49,355 --> 00:29:52,233
one in five African Americans
in Florida

572
00:29:52,317 --> 00:29:55,111
and ten percent of the state's
adult population.

573
00:29:55,195 --> 00:29:57,781
Amendment 4,
if it passes, is expected to

574
00:29:57,864 --> 00:30:00,366
change the shape of Florida's
electorate for decades to come.

575
00:30:00,450 --> 00:30:02,160
Millions of votes
already cast here in Florida,

576
00:30:02,243 --> 00:30:04,412
but millions more
will vote today.

577
00:30:04,496 --> 00:30:06,289
It looks like
Amendment 4 will pass.

578
00:30:06,372 --> 00:30:08,291
Amendment 4
passing by a wide margin.

579
00:30:08,374 --> 00:30:09,918
64% there.

580
00:30:11,461 --> 00:30:12,837
Get the vote!

581
00:30:12,921 --> 00:30:15,799
Get the vote! Get the vote!

582
00:30:15,882 --> 00:30:18,802
I need every returning citizen
here on this stage.

583
00:30:18,885 --> 00:30:20,136
That's right.

584
00:30:20,220 --> 00:30:22,180
When Amendment 4 passed,

585
00:30:22,263 --> 00:30:26,017
there was a feeling
of joy and appreciation

586
00:30:26,100 --> 00:30:27,811
for folks to be able to...

587
00:30:27,894 --> 00:30:29,729
to participate
in our democracy.

588
00:30:29,813 --> 00:30:31,189
We did it!

589
00:30:31,272 --> 00:30:34,818
Oh, my God, I am...
I am feeling, like,

590
00:30:34,901 --> 00:30:37,445
on cloud nine right now.

591
00:30:37,529 --> 00:30:38,947
That population in Florida

592
00:30:39,030 --> 00:30:40,281
and around the country,

593
00:30:40,365 --> 00:30:42,033
they are the legacy
of the Black Codes.

594
00:30:42,116 --> 00:30:44,202
They are the legacy of
the Mississippi Plan.

595
00:30:44,285 --> 00:30:45,912
They are the legacy of attempts

596
00:30:45,995 --> 00:30:48,414
to permanently disenfranchise
African Americans

597
00:30:48,498 --> 00:30:51,000
and to block
their participation in society.

598
00:31:17,026 --> 00:31:19,279
Birth of a Nation... it's based

599
00:31:19,362 --> 00:31:21,364
on a novel called The Clansman,

600
00:31:21,447 --> 00:31:24,117
which is a glorification
of the Ku Klux Klan.

601
00:31:25,118 --> 00:31:26,870
Why is the Ku Klux Klan
glorified?

602
00:31:26,953 --> 00:31:29,372
Because it saved the South
from the horrors

603
00:31:29,455 --> 00:31:33,209
of Black men holding office
and, uh, being corrupt.

604
00:31:36,963 --> 00:31:39,674
You get to the early 1900s,

605
00:31:39,757 --> 00:31:44,512
and you have the reign of
terror from the Ku Klux Klan.

606
00:31:45,722 --> 00:31:49,100
And what you see is
almost a total purge

607
00:31:49,183 --> 00:31:52,186
in lots of the former states
of the Confederacy

608
00:31:52,270 --> 00:31:55,064
of Black political
participation...

609
00:31:56,524 --> 00:31:57,942
...at the butt of a gun,

610
00:31:58,026 --> 00:32:00,403
at the butt of threats
of violence,

611
00:32:00,486 --> 00:32:02,739
through lynching and chaos.

612
00:32:03,781 --> 00:32:05,658
There was terrorist violence

613
00:32:05,742 --> 00:32:08,411
on a massive scale
in the South.

614
00:32:09,329 --> 00:32:12,165
Between 1880 and 1950,

615
00:32:12,248 --> 00:32:14,542
somewhere around 4,000
Americans are lynched...

616
00:32:14,626 --> 00:32:17,503
and almost all of them
African Americans.

617
00:32:19,005 --> 00:32:22,926
So, let me tell you
a story about Maceo Snipes.

618
00:32:23,009 --> 00:32:26,429
Maceo Snipes was
a World War II veteran.

619
00:32:26,512 --> 00:32:28,765
When you have fought fascists

620
00:32:28,848 --> 00:32:31,976
and you have fought
for democracy,

621
00:32:32,060 --> 00:32:34,979
you want some of that democracy
for yourself.

622
00:32:36,481 --> 00:32:38,274
He came home to Georgia,

623
00:32:38,358 --> 00:32:41,569
and Maceo was
determined to vote.

624
00:32:42,654 --> 00:32:44,656
There was an election going on,

625
00:32:44,739 --> 00:32:47,450
and Eugene Talmadge
was running for governor.

626
00:32:49,494 --> 00:32:51,955
The federal government
is working consistently

627
00:32:52,038 --> 00:32:53,873
to tear down states' rights.

628
00:32:53,957 --> 00:32:56,459
And Talmadge was running
on the platform

629
00:32:56,542 --> 00:33:00,630
to, as he said, keep
the Negroes where they belong.

630
00:33:00,713 --> 00:33:03,758
And so Maceo goes down,
and there's a sign

631
00:33:03,841 --> 00:33:06,135
that says something
to the effect of:

632
00:33:06,219 --> 00:33:07,845
"First Negro that votes,

633
00:33:07,929 --> 00:33:10,598
that'll be the last thing
he ever does."

634
00:33:10,682 --> 00:33:13,559
Maceo was like,
"I fought fascists.

635
00:33:13,643 --> 00:33:15,061
What you got?"

636
00:33:15,144 --> 00:33:17,063
And so Maceo went in there,

637
00:33:17,146 --> 00:33:19,315
and he cast his ballot.

638
00:33:20,817 --> 00:33:24,570
He was the only Black person
in Taylor County, Georgia,

639
00:33:24,654 --> 00:33:28,199
that voted in 1946.

640
00:33:28,282 --> 00:33:30,284
Maceo goes home.

641
00:33:30,368 --> 00:33:33,246
Nothing happens for a few days.

642
00:33:33,329 --> 00:33:35,039
And then...

643
00:33:36,541 --> 00:33:38,626
He goes to his door.

644
00:33:38,710 --> 00:33:41,170
White man says, "Could you step
out on the porch?"

645
00:33:41,254 --> 00:33:43,256
Maceo's like, "Sure."

646
00:33:43,339 --> 00:33:45,258
And then he sees
three additional white men.

647
00:33:45,341 --> 00:33:47,343
And then he hears...

648
00:33:47,427 --> 00:33:50,763
And it was a firing squad,

649
00:33:50,847 --> 00:33:55,143
and they laid Maceo out.

650
00:33:56,477 --> 00:33:58,855
The message was really clear.

651
00:33:58,938 --> 00:34:01,566
You vote, you die.

652
00:34:10,950 --> 00:34:14,996
Election Day terrorism
was designed

653
00:34:15,079 --> 00:34:19,000
to provide
the kind of intimidation

654
00:34:19,083 --> 00:34:21,377
that said,
"If all of the pieces

655
00:34:21,461 --> 00:34:24,630
"of the Mississippi Plan
can't stop you,

656
00:34:24,714 --> 00:34:28,426
we've got some bullets
and a rope that will."

657
00:34:28,509 --> 00:34:33,264
And this is why you see
the kind of insurgency

658
00:34:33,347 --> 00:34:35,600
happening in
the Black community

659
00:34:35,683 --> 00:34:38,770
that leads into
the civil rights movement.

660
00:34:38,853 --> 00:34:40,980
This kind of...

661
00:34:41,064 --> 00:34:43,232
"I shall not be moved."

662
00:34:43,316 --> 00:34:49,197
♪ Soon it will be done ♪

663
00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:54,368
♪ Trouble of the world... ♪

664
00:34:54,452 --> 00:34:56,329
My name is Roosevelt Lee.

665
00:34:56,412 --> 00:34:58,998
I went out to Liberty
to try to register,

666
00:34:59,082 --> 00:35:01,417
and the next day,
when I went back to my job,

667
00:35:01,501 --> 00:35:02,668
the man fired me.

668
00:35:05,630 --> 00:35:08,925
After being questioned,
I was carried into a room

669
00:35:09,008 --> 00:35:13,221
where a police officer came in
and got a rope and said,

670
00:35:13,304 --> 00:35:15,681
"Okay, nigger,
get up in here and let's go.

671
00:35:15,765 --> 00:35:17,767
"We're going to have
a hanging here tonight,

672
00:35:17,850 --> 00:35:19,352
and you're going to be first."

673
00:35:19,435 --> 00:35:24,398
♪ No more ♪

674
00:35:26,317 --> 00:35:29,779
♪ Weepin' and wailin' ♪

675
00:35:31,656 --> 00:35:37,203
♪ No more ♪

676
00:35:37,286 --> 00:35:42,416
♪ Weepin' and wailin' ♪

677
00:35:42,500 --> 00:35:45,878
♪ Going home ♪

678
00:35:45,962 --> 00:35:48,714
♪ To live ♪

679
00:35:48,798 --> 00:35:51,300
♪ With my Lord ♪

680
00:35:55,805 --> 00:36:01,185
♪ Soon it will be done ♪

681
00:36:01,269 --> 00:36:03,020
♪ Trouble of the world... ♪

682
00:36:03,104 --> 00:36:05,148
In my life,
I never would've imagined

683
00:36:05,231 --> 00:36:07,066
I would have the honor
to stand here.

684
00:36:07,150 --> 00:36:10,278
And when I got the request,

685
00:36:10,361 --> 00:36:13,447
my very next moment
was to call my mom and my dad.

686
00:36:14,949 --> 00:36:17,493
My parents,
Reverend Robert Abrams

687
00:36:17,577 --> 00:36:19,370
and Reverend Carolyn Abrams.

688
00:36:21,914 --> 00:36:24,584
You see, my father was arrested
at the age of 14

689
00:36:24,667 --> 00:36:27,211
in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

690
00:36:27,295 --> 00:36:31,382
He was arrested for helping to
register Black people to vote.

691
00:36:31,465 --> 00:36:32,758
My mother was doing
the same work.

692
00:36:32,842 --> 00:36:34,677
She was just smart enough
not to get caught, but...

693
00:36:36,053 --> 00:36:38,764
All of that started
here in Selma.

694
00:36:38,848 --> 00:36:44,103
♪ No more... ♪

695
00:36:44,187 --> 00:36:47,356
Selma, Alabama,
is located in Dallas County.

696
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,818
17,000 of the county's
residents are Negroes.

697
00:36:50,902 --> 00:36:55,531
However, only 1.7% of these
are registered voters.

698
00:36:55,615 --> 00:36:58,951
The Negroes of Selma, Alabama,
want to vote.

699
00:36:59,035 --> 00:37:01,662
We're willing
to be beaten for democracy,

700
00:37:01,746 --> 00:37:04,498
and you misuse democracy
in the street.

701
00:37:04,582 --> 00:37:07,210
You beat people bloody
in order that they will not

702
00:37:07,293 --> 00:37:09,003
have the privilege to vote.

703
00:37:09,086 --> 00:37:10,338
You can turn your back now,

704
00:37:10,421 --> 00:37:12,298
and you can keep the club
in your hand,

705
00:37:12,381 --> 00:37:14,425
but you cannot beat down
justice.

706
00:37:14,508 --> 00:37:16,344
And we will register to vote

707
00:37:16,427 --> 00:37:18,012
because, as citizens
of these United States,

708
00:37:18,095 --> 00:37:19,555
we have the right to do it.

709
00:37:19,639 --> 00:37:22,850
You're under arrest
for contempt of court.

710
00:37:30,775 --> 00:37:34,445
Selma really
awakened the nation.

711
00:37:35,363 --> 00:37:38,574
In Selma, Sheriff Jim Clark

712
00:37:38,658 --> 00:37:42,286
was refusing to let them
register to vote.

713
00:37:43,996 --> 00:37:47,083
They wouldn't even pretend
to go through the motions.

714
00:37:47,166 --> 00:37:49,835
I want to start out

715
00:37:49,919 --> 00:37:54,882
by commending you,
the Negro citizens of Selma,

716
00:37:54,966 --> 00:37:57,677
for standing up.

717
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,721
Sooner or later,
Sheriff Clark will understand

718
00:38:00,805 --> 00:38:05,893
that he's dealing with a people
that will not stop

719
00:38:05,977 --> 00:38:09,021
until they have full freedom
and human dignity.

720
00:38:12,024 --> 00:38:15,403
Dr. King and a large
number of Selma Negroes marched

721
00:38:15,486 --> 00:38:17,405
through the city streets
in small groups

722
00:38:17,488 --> 00:38:19,407
to the county courthouse.

723
00:38:21,033 --> 00:38:23,035
One woman, Mrs. Amelia Boynton,

724
00:38:23,119 --> 00:38:26,080
was grabbed by the sheriff
and hustled along the sidewalk

725
00:38:26,163 --> 00:38:28,624
into the custody of deputies.

726
00:38:33,462 --> 00:38:37,341
Dr. King and I,
we had been working together

727
00:38:37,425 --> 00:38:40,052
to get a civil rights bill
passed.

728
00:38:40,136 --> 00:38:44,307
We went back, and we met
with President Johnson,

729
00:38:44,390 --> 00:38:48,060
and he said, "Well, I know
you need voting rights,

730
00:38:48,144 --> 00:38:51,188
"but we just had
a civil rights bill passed.

731
00:38:51,272 --> 00:38:53,232
"I just don't have the power

732
00:38:53,316 --> 00:38:56,861
"to go back to Congress
for another civil rights bill.

733
00:38:56,944 --> 00:39:00,531
I know it's needed, but, uh,
I don't have the power."

734
00:39:00,614 --> 00:39:03,659
And he must have said,
"I don't have the power,"

735
00:39:03,743 --> 00:39:05,703
half a dozen times.

736
00:39:07,580 --> 00:39:12,752
When we left, I asked Dr. King,
"Well, what are you gonna do?"

737
00:39:12,835 --> 00:39:15,546
He said, "We're gonna get
the president some power."

738
00:39:23,554 --> 00:39:25,222
Uh, the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee

739
00:39:25,306 --> 00:39:26,891
has a statement.

740
00:39:26,974 --> 00:39:29,727
We, the Negro citizens
of Dallas County

741
00:39:29,810 --> 00:39:32,313
and other Alabama
Black Belt counties,

742
00:39:32,396 --> 00:39:35,274
are marching today
from Selma to Montgomery.

743
00:39:36,525 --> 00:39:38,819
A couple of hundred
people showed up.

744
00:39:40,279 --> 00:39:43,366
John Lewis led the march.

745
00:39:43,449 --> 00:39:47,078
We're marching today
to dramatize to the nation,

746
00:39:47,161 --> 00:39:48,704
dramatize to the world

747
00:39:48,788 --> 00:39:51,957
the hundreds and thousands
of Negro citizens of Alabama,

748
00:39:52,041 --> 00:39:54,293
but particularly here
in the Black Belt area,

749
00:39:54,377 --> 00:39:56,462
denied the right to vote.

750
00:40:00,383 --> 00:40:03,010
Then they get
to the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

751
00:40:04,220 --> 00:40:06,263
It's real quiet.

752
00:40:06,347 --> 00:40:09,308
They're like,
"Where is everybody?"

753
00:40:15,106 --> 00:40:18,984
The Alabama state patrol
and Sheriff Jim Clark

754
00:40:19,068 --> 00:40:22,571
were on the other side
of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

755
00:40:22,655 --> 00:40:25,116
It'll be detrimental
to your safety

756
00:40:25,199 --> 00:40:27,243
to continue this march,
and I'm saying

757
00:40:27,326 --> 00:40:29,537
that this is
an unlawful assembly.

758
00:40:29,620 --> 00:40:31,664
You are ordered to disperse.

759
00:40:31,747 --> 00:40:34,333
Go home or go to your church.

760
00:40:34,417 --> 00:40:37,586
This march will not continue.

761
00:40:37,670 --> 00:40:40,423
You've got two minutes
to turn around

762
00:40:40,506 --> 00:40:42,800
and go back to your church.

763
00:40:42,883 --> 00:40:45,761
Is that clear to you?

764
00:40:45,845 --> 00:40:48,180
Major, may I have a word?

765
00:40:48,264 --> 00:40:51,225
I've got nothing
further to say to you.

766
00:40:51,308 --> 00:40:56,230
Troopers here,
advance toward the group.

767
00:40:56,313 --> 00:41:00,693
See that they turn around
and disperse.

768
00:41:19,670 --> 00:41:21,964
You see people just stumbling.

769
00:41:22,047 --> 00:41:23,924
You see them being trampled.

770
00:41:24,008 --> 00:41:26,552
And the cameras are rolling.

771
00:41:44,069 --> 00:41:46,947
That Sunday,
everybody was watching

772
00:41:47,031 --> 00:41:49,742
the movie
Judgment at Nuremberg,

773
00:41:49,825 --> 00:41:52,786
which was about Hitler's
slaughter of the Jews.

774
00:41:54,955 --> 00:41:57,541
They cut into
their movie of the week

775
00:41:57,625 --> 00:42:00,753
to show the footage
of Bloody Sunday.

776
00:42:00,836 --> 00:42:04,256
The nation was appalled
because one of the ways

777
00:42:04,340 --> 00:42:07,927
that Jim Crow worked
so smoothly and so effectively

778
00:42:08,010 --> 00:42:09,803
is that you didn't
have to see it.

779
00:42:09,887 --> 00:42:14,391
But when you see the violence
raining down on people

780
00:42:14,475 --> 00:42:18,020
who are just fighting
for the right to vote,

781
00:42:18,103 --> 00:42:20,314
it tells you that something
is systemically,

782
00:42:20,397 --> 00:42:23,234
fundamentally wrong
in this democracy.

783
00:42:24,276 --> 00:42:26,904
It-it was just...

784
00:42:26,987 --> 00:42:31,492
it was ruthless
and brutal and...

785
00:42:31,575 --> 00:42:34,078
and criminal.

786
00:42:34,161 --> 00:42:36,997
But it was what...

787
00:42:38,958 --> 00:42:43,087
It was what changed the South
on voting rights.

788
00:42:46,590 --> 00:42:48,425
A nationwide movement

789
00:42:48,509 --> 00:42:51,053
for voting rights
erupted that week.

790
00:42:51,136 --> 00:42:52,846
All over the country,
there were protests,

791
00:42:52,930 --> 00:42:54,348
there were sit-ins.

792
00:42:56,850 --> 00:42:58,435
My father saw it

793
00:42:58,519 --> 00:43:02,898
as a pivotal moment
to seize upon America's angst

794
00:43:02,982 --> 00:43:04,525
so that Americans
would come and say,

795
00:43:04,608 --> 00:43:08,070
"Yes, the cause is just.
The time is now."

796
00:43:15,786 --> 00:43:18,163
Many of
the issues of civil rights

797
00:43:18,247 --> 00:43:21,875
are very complex
and most difficult.

798
00:43:21,959 --> 00:43:27,798
But about this, there can
and should be no argument.

799
00:43:27,881 --> 00:43:31,302
Every American citizen

800
00:43:31,385 --> 00:43:35,306
must have
an equal right to vote.

801
00:43:38,642 --> 00:43:42,187
What happened in Selma is
part of a far larger movement

802
00:43:42,271 --> 00:43:44,982
which reaches
into every section

803
00:43:45,065 --> 00:43:46,942
and state of America.

804
00:43:47,026 --> 00:43:49,695
Because it's not just Negroes,

805
00:43:49,778 --> 00:43:55,367
but really, it's all of us
who must overcome

806
00:43:55,451 --> 00:43:59,580
the crippling legacy
of bigotry

807
00:43:59,663 --> 00:44:01,999
and injustice.

808
00:44:02,082 --> 00:44:05,044
And we shall overcome.

809
00:44:17,806 --> 00:44:19,850
He ended his speech with:

810
00:44:19,933 --> 00:44:22,686
"And we shall overcome."

811
00:44:22,770 --> 00:44:25,230
That's the only time
I saw Martin Luther King,

812
00:44:25,314 --> 00:44:27,232
uh, shed a tear.

813
00:44:28,859 --> 00:44:31,987
We gave him the power.

814
00:44:32,780 --> 00:44:36,367
All of us working together

815
00:44:36,450 --> 00:44:38,869
got the Voting Rights Act
passed.

816
00:44:38,952 --> 00:44:41,830
Lyndon Johnson understood that,

817
00:44:41,914 --> 00:44:46,085
while he had been an impediment
to civil rights for decades,

818
00:44:46,168 --> 00:44:49,505
the time had changed and
it was time for him to change.

819
00:44:49,588 --> 00:44:51,298
But more importantly,
he understood that if

820
00:44:51,382 --> 00:44:55,260
the power of the right to vote
was truly made available,

821
00:44:55,344 --> 00:44:57,096
it would change the future
of this nation.

822
00:45:25,165 --> 00:45:28,377
I'm the product
of the Voting Rights Act.

823
00:45:29,753 --> 00:45:31,338
An act that was bought
and paid for

824
00:45:31,422 --> 00:45:33,882
on Edmund Pettus Bridge.

825
00:45:33,966 --> 00:45:35,467
With foot soldiers who believed

826
00:45:35,551 --> 00:45:37,761
that they had
the right to be there.

827
00:45:37,845 --> 00:45:40,264
Because when you stood up
and went across that bridge,

828
00:45:40,347 --> 00:45:42,474
those were the wings
of the eagles

829
00:45:42,558 --> 00:45:44,393
- that Isaiah talked about.
- Yes.

830
00:45:44,476 --> 00:45:46,979
It may have looked like feet
marching across the bridge,

831
00:45:47,062 --> 00:45:48,522
but that was flight.

832
00:45:53,402 --> 00:45:56,905
Days after the
Voting Rights Act was passed,

833
00:45:56,989 --> 00:45:59,032
there were federal officials
in the South

834
00:45:59,116 --> 00:46:02,369
registering African Americans
to vote for the first time

835
00:46:02,453 --> 00:46:03,954
in counties where Black people

836
00:46:04,037 --> 00:46:06,290
hadn't been able to register
for decades.

837
00:46:06,373 --> 00:46:08,625
This was truly revolutionary.

838
00:46:12,337 --> 00:46:17,301
By 1967, two years
after the Voting Rights Act,

839
00:46:17,384 --> 00:46:21,555
almost 60% of Black adults
in Mississippi

840
00:46:21,638 --> 00:46:23,807
registered to vote.

841
00:46:25,017 --> 00:46:26,810
Game changer.

842
00:46:45,746 --> 00:46:47,581
September of 2018,

843
00:46:47,664 --> 00:46:50,334
I went home to visit
my grandmother.

844
00:46:56,715 --> 00:47:01,053
And Grandma had a recliner
that sat right next to her bed.

845
00:47:03,263 --> 00:47:05,516
When you go to visit
my grandma, you sat down

846
00:47:05,599 --> 00:47:07,226
because you did not want
to interrupt

847
00:47:07,309 --> 00:47:09,520
whatever it was
she was watching.

848
00:47:11,230 --> 00:47:14,274
And so, I sat on the bedside
waiting for her attention,

849
00:47:14,358 --> 00:47:18,403
and, uh, she turned to me.

850
00:47:18,487 --> 00:47:20,447
And unprompted, my grandmother
reached for my hand,

851
00:47:20,531 --> 00:47:24,201
and she started telling me
about the first time she voted.

852
00:47:25,619 --> 00:47:26,954
It was three years after

853
00:47:27,037 --> 00:47:29,498
the adoption
of the Voting Rights Act.

854
00:47:29,581 --> 00:47:31,917
But it was the first time
for most African Americans

855
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:33,669
that they really would
have a chance

856
00:47:33,752 --> 00:47:35,337
to participate in an election.

857
00:47:37,339 --> 00:47:38,632
And this was during a time

858
00:47:38,715 --> 00:47:40,175
where you put on
your Sunday best

859
00:47:40,259 --> 00:47:43,470
and you would make an event
out of going to vote.

860
00:47:44,805 --> 00:47:46,974
My grandfather called for her
from the front room.

861
00:47:47,057 --> 00:47:48,141
Her name was Wilter.

862
00:47:48,225 --> 00:47:49,476
And he's like,
"Wilter, come on!"

863
00:47:49,560 --> 00:47:51,061
She didn't respond.

864
00:47:51,144 --> 00:47:52,521
Her nickname was Bill.

865
00:47:52,604 --> 00:47:55,065
And so then he yelled out,
"Bill, it's time to go."

866
00:47:55,148 --> 00:47:58,569
And my grandmother said...
she still didn't say anything.

867
00:47:58,652 --> 00:48:02,865
So he came back to find out
why she hadn't responded.

868
00:48:02,948 --> 00:48:07,077
And she was frozen.
She was afraid to go.

869
00:48:08,787 --> 00:48:10,539
I remember her
squeezing my hand

870
00:48:10,622 --> 00:48:14,251
and the feel
of that paper-thin skin

871
00:48:14,334 --> 00:48:16,253
and the fragile bones

872
00:48:16,336 --> 00:48:18,297
but this grip that she had
on my hand

873
00:48:18,380 --> 00:48:21,300
where she said that it wasn't
that she didn't want to vote;

874
00:48:21,383 --> 00:48:22,843
she was afraid of it.

875
00:48:24,970 --> 00:48:27,598
She was afraid
of the billy clubs

876
00:48:27,681 --> 00:48:30,893
and the hoses and the dogs,
and she did not believe

877
00:48:30,976 --> 00:48:33,312
that this time would be
any different.

878
00:48:33,395 --> 00:48:36,732
She didn't believe
that the power of democracy

879
00:48:36,815 --> 00:48:38,734
was finally hers.

880
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:43,363
And my grandfather told her
that she had to get up,

881
00:48:43,447 --> 00:48:45,282
that her children
had been in trouble

882
00:48:45,365 --> 00:48:46,867
trying to guarantee this right

883
00:48:46,950 --> 00:48:49,369
and that she owed it to them,
if not to herself,

884
00:48:49,453 --> 00:48:50,913
to get up and vote.

885
00:48:50,996 --> 00:48:52,623
And she said
she was still terrified,

886
00:48:52,706 --> 00:48:55,292
she was still deeply afraid
of this moment,

887
00:48:55,375 --> 00:48:57,336
but she was also ashamed
of herself.

888
00:48:57,419 --> 00:49:00,589
She was ashamed that she didn't
want to reach for this power.

889
00:49:04,468 --> 00:49:06,470
She got up,
she finished getting dressed,

890
00:49:06,553 --> 00:49:08,722
and they went to vote.

891
00:49:12,017 --> 00:49:13,810
And as squeezed my hand,
she said, "But, Stacey,

892
00:49:13,894 --> 00:49:15,520
I've never missed
another election."

893
00:49:31,745 --> 00:49:33,497
Mississippi and the other

894
00:49:33,580 --> 00:49:38,293
Southern states are engaged
in a life-and-death fight

895
00:49:38,377 --> 00:49:40,504
with the federal government.

896
00:49:40,587 --> 00:49:43,382
What is this fight all about?

897
00:49:43,465 --> 00:49:47,219
The Voting Rights Act of 1965.

898
00:49:47,302 --> 00:49:51,139
Insofar as the Negro
is concerned,

899
00:49:51,223 --> 00:49:56,103
it will suspend
all literacy requirements

900
00:49:56,186 --> 00:49:58,313
of the Mississippi law.

901
00:49:58,397 --> 00:50:00,691
Georgia has no problem

902
00:50:00,774 --> 00:50:03,402
with reference
to voter registration.

903
00:50:03,485 --> 00:50:07,197
We do not need federal
registrars in this state.

904
00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:10,993
I am unalterably opposed
and will fight to the end

905
00:50:11,076 --> 00:50:13,453
any attempts to reshape
or mold our state

906
00:50:13,537 --> 00:50:15,831
to conform
to the prescription written

907
00:50:15,914 --> 00:50:19,001
by dictatorial left-wing
integrationist social planners

908
00:50:19,084 --> 00:50:21,753
daydreaming on the bank
of the Potomac.

909
00:50:21,837 --> 00:50:23,714
The Southern states challenged

910
00:50:23,797 --> 00:50:25,799
the Voting Rights Act
immediately

911
00:50:25,882 --> 00:50:28,260
in the courts
as unconstitutional.

912
00:50:28,343 --> 00:50:29,553
But they fail.

913
00:50:29,636 --> 00:50:32,347
The Supreme Court
upholds the law eight-to-one.

914
00:50:37,310 --> 00:50:39,312
If you frame the argument,

915
00:50:39,396 --> 00:50:40,772
"Who doesn't believe
that people

916
00:50:40,856 --> 00:50:42,399
should be allowed to vote?"

917
00:50:42,482 --> 00:50:45,235
while there will be some people
that will raise their hand,

918
00:50:45,318 --> 00:50:46,862
most Americans believe

919
00:50:46,945 --> 00:50:49,406
that citizens should be
allowed to vote.

920
00:50:51,992 --> 00:50:54,786
The bill that I will sign today

921
00:50:54,870 --> 00:50:57,330
extends the temporary
provisions of the act

922
00:50:57,414 --> 00:51:01,626
for seven more years
and broadens the provisions

923
00:51:01,710 --> 00:51:05,756
to bar discrimination against
Spanish-speaking Americans,

924
00:51:05,839 --> 00:51:09,051
American Indians,
Alaskan Natives

925
00:51:09,134 --> 00:51:11,803
and Asian Americans.

926
00:51:11,887 --> 00:51:14,264
The Voting Rights Act began

927
00:51:14,347 --> 00:51:16,224
with the former
Confederate states,

928
00:51:16,308 --> 00:51:18,727
but this was a law
that understood

929
00:51:18,810 --> 00:51:21,855
that discrimination
could crop up anywhere.

930
00:51:21,938 --> 00:51:23,815
The state of Arizona
was such a bad actor

931
00:51:23,899 --> 00:51:26,401
that in 1975
the U.S. Justice Department

932
00:51:26,485 --> 00:51:30,530
added Arizona to the process
because of their long history

933
00:51:30,614 --> 00:51:33,575
of discrimination against
Latinos and Native Americans.

934
00:51:37,162 --> 00:51:40,582
Hispanics were facing
some of the same kind of things

935
00:51:40,665 --> 00:51:43,919
in Arizona, in Texas,
across the Southwest,

936
00:51:44,002 --> 00:51:47,506
that African Americans faced
in the segregated South.

937
00:51:49,925 --> 00:51:54,012
Things like literacy tests,
voter intimidation.

938
00:51:54,888 --> 00:51:57,099
They said, "We need protection

939
00:51:57,182 --> 00:51:59,810
in the Voting Rights Act
as well."

940
00:52:00,685 --> 00:52:02,270
Maricopa County is the largest

941
00:52:02,354 --> 00:52:05,148
and most important county
in Arizona.

942
00:52:06,358 --> 00:52:09,528
From 1960 to 1964,

943
00:52:09,611 --> 00:52:14,699
William Rehnquist was in charge
of ballot security operations

944
00:52:14,783 --> 00:52:17,452
for the Republican Party
of Maricopa County.

945
00:52:17,536 --> 00:52:20,080
This was called
Operation Eagle Eye.

946
00:52:21,248 --> 00:52:23,416
And what Rehnquist
and others did

947
00:52:23,500 --> 00:52:26,878
was they went
to Democratic parts of Phoenix

948
00:52:26,962 --> 00:52:30,257
and they asked Latino
and African American voters

949
00:52:30,340 --> 00:52:32,342
if they could read
the Constitution.

950
00:52:32,425 --> 00:52:35,595
So, this was
a de facto literacy test.

951
00:52:35,679 --> 00:52:37,305
And if people could not read it

952
00:52:37,389 --> 00:52:39,724
to the satisfaction
of Rehnquist and others,

953
00:52:39,808 --> 00:52:42,644
Rehnquist challenged
their eligibility to vote.

954
00:52:44,938 --> 00:52:46,356
William Rehnquist, the future

955
00:52:46,439 --> 00:52:48,567
chief justice
of the Supreme Court,

956
00:52:48,650 --> 00:52:51,778
was on the front lines
of voter suppression

957
00:52:51,862 --> 00:52:56,658
in Maricopa County, Arizona,
all the way back in the 1960s.

958
00:52:59,911 --> 00:53:03,290
America's most
unwelcoming prison regime

959
00:53:03,373 --> 00:53:05,667
likes to advertise
it always has vacancies.

960
00:53:05,750 --> 00:53:09,963
It shows I will
always have room for illegals.

961
00:53:10,046 --> 00:53:11,965
The man who calls himself

962
00:53:12,048 --> 00:53:13,425
America's toughest sheriff

963
00:53:13,508 --> 00:53:16,219
makes his prison
as unpleasant as possible.

964
00:53:16,303 --> 00:53:18,597
Arpaio became

965
00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:22,434
the face of terror
for our community.

966
00:53:24,519 --> 00:53:27,856
We would see posses
going to neighborhoods

967
00:53:27,939 --> 00:53:29,608
to do roundups.

968
00:53:29,691 --> 00:53:34,779
There were checkpoints
to ask people for their papers.

969
00:53:36,281 --> 00:53:39,284
It created a righteous anger,
saying that we deserve more

970
00:53:39,367 --> 00:53:44,122
and we do not deserve
to live under this.

971
00:53:45,457 --> 00:53:48,376
We gotta tell the whole world!

972
00:53:48,460 --> 00:53:50,670
This is ACE territory!

973
00:53:50,754 --> 00:53:52,464
I said, my people!

974
00:53:52,547 --> 00:53:53,632
Yeah!

975
00:53:53,715 --> 00:53:55,759
- We got a story!
- Yeah!

976
00:53:55,842 --> 00:53:58,595
We gotta tell the whole world!

977
00:53:58,678 --> 00:54:00,972
This is ACE territory!

978
00:54:01,056 --> 00:54:03,183
All right.
How's everybody doing?

979
00:54:03,266 --> 00:54:04,559
- Good.
- Good?

980
00:54:04,643 --> 00:54:06,353
How's everybody doing, y'all?

981
00:54:06,436 --> 00:54:08,521
- Good.
- All right, dope.

982
00:54:08,605 --> 00:54:12,025
About almost three years ago,
it was my first day at LUCHA.

983
00:54:12,108 --> 00:54:13,652
And Stephanie was up here
at the front,

984
00:54:13,735 --> 00:54:14,819
and she was talking about

985
00:54:14,903 --> 00:54:16,529
how we're gonna register
a lot of people to vote.

986
00:54:16,613 --> 00:54:18,365
And I remember her giving me
the clipboard, right?

987
00:54:18,448 --> 00:54:20,742
And she was like, "All right,
we're gonna go to Walmart."

988
00:54:20,825 --> 00:54:23,370
And I was so scared.

989
00:54:23,453 --> 00:54:25,163
♪ I'm still hopin'
for the tours wide open... ♪

990
00:54:25,247 --> 00:54:27,374
Our volunteers are
standing on the shoulders

991
00:54:27,457 --> 00:54:30,919
of folks that have paved
the way for us to be able

992
00:54:31,002 --> 00:54:34,631
to cast that ballot
and become part of

993
00:54:34,714 --> 00:54:39,594
a power community that is now
impacting policies.

994
00:54:39,678 --> 00:54:41,638
Hi.

995
00:54:41,721 --> 00:54:43,515
Are you a registered voter?

996
00:54:43,598 --> 00:54:45,225
No? How come?

997
00:54:45,308 --> 00:54:46,851
Are you a citizen?

998
00:54:46,935 --> 00:54:48,228
Hola.

999
00:54:53,483 --> 00:54:56,069
There is always a debate on:

1000
00:54:56,152 --> 00:54:58,905
Why aren't our communities
participating?

1001
00:54:58,989 --> 00:55:01,574
- I'm already registered.
- Oh, you are? What about y'all?

1002
00:55:01,658 --> 00:55:02,909
No, I'm not.

1003
00:55:02,993 --> 00:55:04,703
No? How come?

1004
00:55:04,786 --> 00:55:06,121
I don't know. I don't...

1005
00:55:06,204 --> 00:55:08,665
I don't trust
poli... politicians.

1006
00:55:08,748 --> 00:55:10,041
No, you're right.

1007
00:55:10,125 --> 00:55:11,835
And so it's like,
I'm out here doing my thing.

1008
00:55:11,918 --> 00:55:13,420
No, heck yeah. I feel like...

1009
00:55:13,503 --> 00:55:15,046
I-I mean, that's how
I thought, too, right?

1010
00:55:15,130 --> 00:55:18,216
The most important part
of voter registration

1011
00:55:18,300 --> 00:55:20,343
is that human connection

1012
00:55:20,427 --> 00:55:24,347
and being able to understand
why that person

1013
00:55:24,431 --> 00:55:26,182
does not trust.

1014
00:55:30,145 --> 00:55:34,190
Intimidation from
the government is real.

1015
00:55:34,274 --> 00:55:36,693
It is powerful.

1016
00:55:36,776 --> 00:55:39,362
And it is because of
the changing demographics

1017
00:55:39,446 --> 00:55:40,780
in the nation.

1018
00:55:40,864 --> 00:55:46,328
It is the fear of what
this larger vote can mean.

1019
00:55:54,210 --> 00:55:58,006
♪ It's a beautiful day ♪

1020
00:55:58,089 --> 00:56:02,093
♪ Don't let it get away ♪

1021
00:56:02,177 --> 00:56:06,056
♪ Beautiful day ♪

1022
00:56:09,851 --> 00:56:11,728
♪ Touch me... ♪

1023
00:56:11,811 --> 00:56:14,647
If there is anyone out there

1024
00:56:14,731 --> 00:56:18,360
who still doubts
that America is a place

1025
00:56:18,443 --> 00:56:21,738
where all things are possible,

1026
00:56:21,821 --> 00:56:23,865
who still wonders

1027
00:56:23,948 --> 00:56:28,453
if the dream of our founders
is alive in our time,

1028
00:56:28,536 --> 00:56:32,874
who still questions
the power of our democracy,

1029
00:56:32,957 --> 00:56:36,044
tonight is your answer.

1030
00:56:43,343 --> 00:56:45,470
Opponents of
the Voting Rights Act

1031
00:56:45,553 --> 00:56:47,597
seized on
Barack Obama's election

1032
00:56:47,680 --> 00:56:49,391
as a reason why
the Voting Rights Act

1033
00:56:49,474 --> 00:56:51,518
was no longer necessary.

1034
00:56:52,852 --> 00:56:56,898
At the very moment that you see
the ultimate progress,

1035
00:56:56,981 --> 00:57:00,318
you see conservatives
embracing that progress

1036
00:57:00,402 --> 00:57:02,779
as a reason to try
to get rid of the law

1037
00:57:02,862 --> 00:57:05,323
that made Obama's election
possible.

1038
00:57:06,783 --> 00:57:09,744
Barack Obama scared
the bejeebers out of them.

1039
00:57:11,246 --> 00:57:16,209
He brought 15 million
new voters to the polls.

1040
00:57:18,253 --> 00:57:21,297
This is what
we should be celebrating:

1041
00:57:21,381 --> 00:57:24,759
bringing 15 million new people

1042
00:57:24,843 --> 00:57:28,763
into this incredible
civic society,

1043
00:57:28,847 --> 00:57:30,473
engaged in this democracy,

1044
00:57:30,557 --> 00:57:33,476
believing that they have
a stake in this democracy

1045
00:57:33,560 --> 00:57:36,563
and getting out to vote.

1046
00:57:36,646 --> 00:57:40,608
Instead, that Obama coalition

1047
00:57:40,692 --> 00:57:44,821
becomes the hit list
for voter suppression.

1048
00:57:44,904 --> 00:57:48,450
How do we stop
African Americans,

1049
00:57:48,533 --> 00:57:51,202
Hispanics, Asian Americans,

1050
00:57:51,286 --> 00:57:55,415
the young and the poor
from voting?

1051
00:57:56,875 --> 00:58:01,921
The Supreme Court decision,
Shelby County v. Holder,

1052
00:58:02,005 --> 00:58:04,257
allowed that to happen.

1053
00:58:11,014 --> 00:58:13,683
Shelby County, Alabama...

1054
00:58:13,766 --> 00:58:15,852
there was an election there

1055
00:58:15,935 --> 00:58:18,521
in which the districts
were redrawn...

1056
00:58:21,774 --> 00:58:25,445
...so that the only
African American

1057
00:58:25,528 --> 00:58:28,823
city council member
lost his race.

1058
00:58:28,907 --> 00:58:31,034
Voter suppression
and gerrymandering

1059
00:58:31,117 --> 00:58:33,745
are two sides of the same coin:

1060
00:58:33,828 --> 00:58:36,456
efforts by politicians in power

1061
00:58:36,539 --> 00:58:38,458
to try to manipulate
the process

1062
00:58:38,541 --> 00:58:41,461
to benefit themselves
at the expense of others.

1063
00:58:41,544 --> 00:58:43,213
Gerrymandering is
a real problem.

1064
00:58:43,296 --> 00:58:45,757
It's the practice
of drawing voting districts

1065
00:58:45,840 --> 00:58:47,634
in a way that creates
unfair advantages

1066
00:58:47,717 --> 00:58:49,594
for whoever happens to be
drawing the lines.

1067
00:58:49,677 --> 00:58:52,055
In the age of computers,

1068
00:58:52,138 --> 00:58:54,098
you can gerrymander
with scientific precision.

1069
00:58:54,182 --> 00:58:55,892
You can run in and out
of alleys

1070
00:58:55,975 --> 00:58:57,393
and up and down streets

1071
00:58:57,477 --> 00:59:00,396
and carefully include
and exclude whichever voters

1072
00:59:00,480 --> 00:59:03,107
you want in one district
and not in another.

1073
00:59:03,191 --> 00:59:05,610
Shouldn't all of this
be illegal?

1074
00:59:05,693 --> 00:59:06,986
Well, that's complicated.

1075
00:59:07,070 --> 00:59:08,446
Because if you are
gerrymandering

1076
00:59:08,530 --> 00:59:10,156
to disadvantage minorities,

1077
00:59:10,240 --> 00:59:13,576
yes, that is illegal
under the Voting Rights Act,

1078
00:59:13,660 --> 00:59:15,828
but if you are gerrymandering
to disadvantage

1079
00:59:15,912 --> 00:59:17,664
voters of an opposing party,

1080
00:59:17,747 --> 00:59:19,958
that has generally
been allowed.

1081
00:59:28,800 --> 00:59:34,389
Shelby County
willfully violated federal law.

1082
00:59:34,472 --> 00:59:36,933
They didn't bother to go up
to the Department of Justice

1083
00:59:37,016 --> 00:59:38,643
to check on whether it was okay

1084
00:59:38,726 --> 00:59:41,354
as they were changing
the voting boundaries

1085
00:59:41,437 --> 00:59:43,648
as the Voting Rights Act
required.

1086
00:59:43,731 --> 00:59:47,235
When they got called on it,
when they got sued,

1087
00:59:47,318 --> 00:59:49,445
they said,
"We didn't do anything wrong.

1088
00:59:49,529 --> 00:59:51,406
The era of racism is over."

1089
00:59:53,908 --> 00:59:56,578
What had been bipartisan before

1090
00:59:56,661 --> 01:00:02,125
became extremely partisan after
the election of Barack Obama.

1091
01:00:02,208 --> 01:00:06,462
You know, people tend to forget
that Republicans supported it.

1092
01:00:06,546 --> 01:00:08,756
Every reauthorization
of the Voting Rights Act

1093
01:00:08,840 --> 01:00:10,800
was signed by
a Republican president.

1094
01:00:10,883 --> 01:00:12,760
I think that democracy,
if it's to work,

1095
01:00:12,844 --> 01:00:14,929
then everybody that's eligible
to be a voter

1096
01:00:15,013 --> 01:00:17,056
should be registered,
and they should vote.

1097
01:00:17,140 --> 01:00:20,184
I am proud to sign
the Voting Rights Act

1098
01:00:20,268 --> 01:00:24,272
Reauthorization
and Amendments Act of 2006.

1099
01:00:24,355 --> 01:00:26,232
Ronald Reagan called it

1100
01:00:26,316 --> 01:00:29,068
the crown jewel
of American democracy,

1101
01:00:29,152 --> 01:00:31,904
but with every subsequent
reauthorization,

1102
01:00:31,988 --> 01:00:34,198
there's a legal challenge
brought.

1103
01:00:40,163 --> 01:00:42,915
It's a
seemingly coordinated strategy

1104
01:00:42,999 --> 01:00:45,585
that we have seen waged
by opponents

1105
01:00:45,668 --> 01:00:49,380
to rip out the heart
of the Voting Rights Act.

1106
01:00:49,464 --> 01:00:51,007
It was almost a strategy of,

1107
01:00:51,090 --> 01:00:53,343
"Let's throw spaghetti
against the wall

1108
01:00:53,426 --> 01:00:55,345
and see which one sticks."

1109
01:00:58,973 --> 01:01:01,809
The Shelby County case
is the one

1110
01:01:01,893 --> 01:01:05,271
that survived the lower courts

1111
01:01:05,355 --> 01:01:10,360
and winded its way
up to the Supreme Court.

1112
01:01:11,944 --> 01:01:13,655
The Supreme Court
hears a challenge

1113
01:01:13,738 --> 01:01:16,824
to the Voting Rights Act
of 1965.

1114
01:01:16,908 --> 01:01:17,992
Its detractors say

1115
01:01:18,076 --> 01:01:20,203
the Voting Rights Act
is out of date.

1116
01:01:20,286 --> 01:01:23,581
Its defenders consider it
a needed bulwark for justice.

1117
01:01:23,665 --> 01:01:25,792
The Voting Rights
Act requires nine states

1118
01:01:25,875 --> 01:01:29,128
to get federal approval of
changes to their election laws.

1119
01:01:29,212 --> 01:01:31,047
From a lawyer's point of view,

1120
01:01:31,130 --> 01:01:35,218
this is a valid legal case and
it could be honorably argued.

1121
01:01:35,301 --> 01:01:39,263
And that's the business
we're in, so we took the case.

1122
01:01:39,347 --> 01:01:40,848
We'll hear argument first

1123
01:01:40,932 --> 01:01:43,643
this morning in case
Shelby County v. Holder.

1124
01:01:43,726 --> 01:01:45,311
Mr. Rein?

1125
01:01:45,395 --> 01:01:47,980
Mr. Chief Justice,
and may it please the court...

1126
01:01:48,064 --> 01:01:49,607
We argued that
the Voting Rights Act

1127
01:01:49,691 --> 01:01:52,485
was probably one of
the deepest intrusions

1128
01:01:52,568 --> 01:01:54,696
of the federal government
into areas

1129
01:01:54,779 --> 01:01:57,198
that states
traditionally administered.

1130
01:01:57,281 --> 01:01:59,826
Think that that really
doesn't mask the need

1131
01:01:59,909 --> 01:02:02,829
for equal treatment
of the sovereign states.

1132
01:02:02,912 --> 01:02:04,914
I'm gonna have
a hard time with that.

1133
01:02:04,997 --> 01:02:06,624
You can't treat states
the same,

1134
01:02:06,708 --> 01:02:08,084
because their problems
are different,

1135
01:02:08,167 --> 01:02:09,460
their populations
are different,

1136
01:02:09,544 --> 01:02:10,712
their needs are different.

1137
01:02:10,795 --> 01:02:11,879
Everything's different.

1138
01:02:11,963 --> 01:02:13,464
All of the noncovered states

1139
01:02:13,548 --> 01:02:16,676
are worse in that regard
than the nine covered states.

1140
01:02:16,759 --> 01:02:18,511
- Is that correct?
- J-Justice Scalia...

1141
01:02:18,594 --> 01:02:20,138
Every-every one
of them is worse?

1142
01:02:20,221 --> 01:02:21,806
Justice Scalia,
it's-it's a fair question.

1143
01:02:21,889 --> 01:02:23,474
- It...
- Not just a fair one.

1144
01:02:23,558 --> 01:02:25,059
It's the crucial question.

1145
01:02:25,143 --> 01:02:26,853
The South has changed
and made progress,

1146
01:02:26,936 --> 01:02:29,147
but some things remain
stubbornly the same,

1147
01:02:29,230 --> 01:02:31,065
and the trained effort

1148
01:02:31,149 --> 01:02:33,776
to deny African American voters
the franchise

1149
01:02:33,860 --> 01:02:37,071
is part of Alabama's history
to this very day.

1150
01:02:37,155 --> 01:02:39,365
Have there been
episodes... egregious episodes...

1151
01:02:39,449 --> 01:02:41,200
of the kind
you're talking about

1152
01:02:41,284 --> 01:02:42,869
in states that are not covered?

1153
01:02:42,952 --> 01:02:44,662
Absolutely,
Chief Justice Roberts.

1154
01:02:44,746 --> 01:02:47,290
Well, then it doesn't
seem to help you make the point

1155
01:02:47,373 --> 01:02:50,209
that the differential treatment
continues to be justified.

1156
01:02:50,293 --> 01:02:53,129
John Roberts had it out
for the Voting Rights Act

1157
01:02:53,212 --> 01:02:55,840
as far back as 1982.

1158
01:02:55,923 --> 01:02:59,761
Early in his political career,
it was John Roberts's job

1159
01:02:59,844 --> 01:03:01,971
to try to prevent the Congress

1160
01:03:02,054 --> 01:03:04,599
from reauthorizing
the Voting Rights Act.

1161
01:03:05,516 --> 01:03:06,726
John Roberts,

1162
01:03:06,809 --> 01:03:09,645
his mentor was
William Rehnquist.

1163
01:03:09,729 --> 01:03:12,899
This is why this lineage
is so important.

1164
01:03:12,982 --> 01:03:16,569
Because he hated
the Voting Rights Act.

1165
01:03:17,862 --> 01:03:20,239
I knew that
this was an important act.

1166
01:03:20,323 --> 01:03:22,366
I knew that it was doing
important work,

1167
01:03:22,450 --> 01:03:24,285
and I knew that
it would be a disaster

1168
01:03:24,368 --> 01:03:26,537
for the court
to strike it down.

1169
01:03:30,750 --> 01:03:33,753
A controversial ruling today
by the Supreme Court.

1170
01:03:33,836 --> 01:03:35,671
Five-to-four,
the U.S. Supreme Court

1171
01:03:35,755 --> 01:03:39,008
took the teeth out of a law
enacted nearly 50 years ago.

1172
01:03:39,091 --> 01:03:42,178
It invalidated a key part
of the Voting Rights Act.

1173
01:03:42,261 --> 01:03:43,763
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,

1174
01:03:43,846 --> 01:03:46,849
joined by the three other
liberal justices, said...

1175
01:04:01,906 --> 01:04:05,034
I am deeply disappointed...
deeply disappointed

1176
01:04:05,117 --> 01:04:07,912
with the court's decision
in this matter.

1177
01:04:07,995 --> 01:04:09,205
This decision represents

1178
01:04:09,288 --> 01:04:11,332
a serious setback
for voting rights

1179
01:04:11,415 --> 01:04:14,210
and has the potential
to negatively affect

1180
01:04:14,293 --> 01:04:16,838
millions of Americans
across the country.

1181
01:04:16,921 --> 01:04:18,464
I don't know if
it's appropriate to say...

1182
01:04:18,548 --> 01:04:20,174
I was pissed off
by what the, uh...

1183
01:04:20,258 --> 01:04:21,384
by what the court did.

1184
01:04:21,467 --> 01:04:23,761
- Thank you.
- It really struck home

1185
01:04:23,845 --> 01:04:25,763
that this was
a political decision

1186
01:04:25,847 --> 01:04:27,640
that the court was making.

1187
01:04:27,723 --> 01:04:30,184
Justice Ginsburg was correct.

1188
01:04:30,268 --> 01:04:31,686
If you have an umbrella

1189
01:04:31,769 --> 01:04:34,188
that keeps you dry in
the middle of a thunderstorm,

1190
01:04:34,272 --> 01:04:35,898
the fact that you are dry
doesn't mean

1191
01:04:35,982 --> 01:04:37,525
that you don't need
the umbrella.

1192
01:04:37,608 --> 01:04:39,777
Every single one
of those states

1193
01:04:39,861 --> 01:04:43,656
that was covered previously by
the Voting Rights Act was told,

1194
01:04:43,739 --> 01:04:46,075
"Never mind. We think
you're good now. Go forth."

1195
01:04:46,158 --> 01:04:49,620
The floodgates
literally opened in 2013

1196
01:04:49,704 --> 01:04:52,999
when the Supreme Court
issued its ruling.

1197
01:04:53,082 --> 01:04:55,042
The ink on Tuesday's ruling
wasn't even dry

1198
01:04:55,126 --> 01:04:57,295
when Texas's Republican
attorney general declared

1199
01:04:57,378 --> 01:04:59,672
that his state's controversial
voter I.D. law

1200
01:04:59,755 --> 01:05:02,508
will take effect, quote,
"immediately."

1201
01:05:04,552 --> 01:05:07,638
Just hours after
the decision came down,

1202
01:05:07,722 --> 01:05:10,725
states began to implement
voter suppression laws

1203
01:05:10,808 --> 01:05:12,476
all across the country.

1204
01:05:14,604 --> 01:05:17,899
Texas took
the lead on this one.

1205
01:05:17,982 --> 01:05:21,193
It spread like wildfire.

1206
01:05:21,277 --> 01:05:23,362
So, you're seeing them
in Pennsylvania.

1207
01:05:23,446 --> 01:05:25,990
You're seeing them in Kansas.

1208
01:05:26,073 --> 01:05:28,910
You're seeing them
in Wisconsin.

1209
01:05:28,993 --> 01:05:30,828
You're seeing them in Ohio.

1210
01:05:30,912 --> 01:05:33,205
Nine more states
are enforcing new laws

1211
01:05:33,289 --> 01:05:36,542
requiring eligible voters
to present a government-issued

1212
01:05:36,626 --> 01:05:38,169
photo I.D. at the polls.

1213
01:05:38,252 --> 01:05:40,421
Overwhelming majority

1214
01:05:40,504 --> 01:05:44,467
of Americans, regardless
of their political views

1215
01:05:44,550 --> 01:05:46,594
and regardless of their race
or ethnicity,

1216
01:05:46,677 --> 01:05:48,220
support voter I.D. laws.

1217
01:05:48,304 --> 01:05:50,181
This is not Jim Crow.

1218
01:05:50,264 --> 01:05:52,266
This is not a police dog.

1219
01:05:52,350 --> 01:05:53,976
This is not a fire hose.

1220
01:05:54,060 --> 01:05:56,395
When you restrict access
to the right to vote

1221
01:05:56,479 --> 01:06:00,775
by creating a narrow set
of I.D.'s that can be used,

1222
01:06:00,858 --> 01:06:03,736
it's creating blocks to people
being able to participate.

1223
01:06:03,819 --> 01:06:06,781
They try to make it
seem rational

1224
01:06:06,864 --> 01:06:10,576
and facially neutral,
racially neutral, but it's not.

1225
01:06:10,660 --> 01:06:13,704
We had voters who were born
in the Jim Crow South

1226
01:06:13,788 --> 01:06:15,790
who had no birth certificates

1227
01:06:15,873 --> 01:06:18,376
because white hospitals
would not allow them

1228
01:06:18,459 --> 01:06:20,836
to give birth
in their facilities.

1229
01:06:20,920 --> 01:06:23,673
I had my Social Security card,
my To Go Pass.

1230
01:06:23,756 --> 01:06:27,385
I had my UnitedHealthcare.

1231
01:06:27,468 --> 01:06:29,679
I had my
red, white and blue card.

1232
01:06:29,762 --> 01:06:31,847
And I had my Ford card.

1233
01:06:31,931 --> 01:06:34,892
And that still wasn't enough
to vote.

1234
01:06:34,976 --> 01:06:39,063
About 21 million Americans
don't have strict forms

1235
01:06:39,146 --> 01:06:41,190
of government-issued I.D.

1236
01:06:41,273 --> 01:06:45,361
That works out to about
ten percent of the electorate.

1237
01:06:58,666 --> 01:07:00,126
You know, you look at Texas.

1238
01:07:00,209 --> 01:07:02,169
If you have a state-issued
photo I.D.

1239
01:07:02,253 --> 01:07:04,463
that says you're allowed
to carry a concealed weapon,

1240
01:07:04,547 --> 01:07:06,882
that's sufficient
to allow you to vote.

1241
01:07:06,966 --> 01:07:09,176
If, however, you have
a state-issued photo I.D.

1242
01:07:09,260 --> 01:07:11,554
that says you're a student
at the University of Texas,

1243
01:07:11,637 --> 01:07:13,347
that's insufficient.

1244
01:07:14,557 --> 01:07:16,267
Young people in America,

1245
01:07:16,350 --> 01:07:18,894
they could have the most power

1246
01:07:18,978 --> 01:07:22,440
of any electoral bloc
in the country.

1247
01:07:31,699 --> 01:07:34,368
If you take out
one or two campuses,

1248
01:07:34,452 --> 01:07:36,328
you can swing an election.

1249
01:07:36,412 --> 01:07:38,622
So, that's exactly what
New Hampshire Republicans

1250
01:07:38,706 --> 01:07:40,291
decided to do.

1251
01:07:40,374 --> 01:07:43,794
Studies will show that
if you can get young adults

1252
01:07:43,878 --> 01:07:46,297
to vote between
the ages of 18 and 24,

1253
01:07:46,380 --> 01:07:47,757
they're more likely to vote

1254
01:07:47,840 --> 01:07:50,051
going further
into their adulthood.

1255
01:07:53,304 --> 01:07:57,558
Once you strip someone their
access of being able to vote,

1256
01:07:57,641 --> 01:08:02,313
it takes away their role
within our democracy.

1257
01:08:03,773 --> 01:08:06,067
Voter suppression
has often targeted communities

1258
01:08:06,150 --> 01:08:07,735
that are seen as nonnormative.

1259
01:08:07,818 --> 01:08:10,696
And we saw this come into
sharp relief in North Dakota,

1260
01:08:10,780 --> 01:08:15,326
where a law that required
a residential address

1261
01:08:15,409 --> 01:08:18,496
on driver's licenses
seemed benign.

1262
01:08:18,579 --> 01:08:20,790
But the reality was that,
for those communities,

1263
01:08:20,873 --> 01:08:22,792
getting a residential address
on a reservation

1264
01:08:22,875 --> 01:08:24,752
required that the state
or local government

1265
01:08:24,835 --> 01:08:27,546
grant that to you,
and it didn't happen.

1266
01:08:30,925 --> 01:08:34,345
A majority of Indian country

1267
01:08:34,428 --> 01:08:36,972
does not have
physical addresses.

1268
01:08:37,056 --> 01:08:39,558
They use post office boxes.

1269
01:08:48,609 --> 01:08:53,155
It became very evident
that the law was created

1270
01:08:53,239 --> 01:08:56,575
to suppress
the Native American vote.

1271
01:08:56,659 --> 01:09:00,371
The only way
to get recognition is to vote.

1272
01:09:00,454 --> 01:09:04,500
And that's what it is...
a matter of survival.

1273
01:09:07,419 --> 01:09:10,673
In Wisconsin, they put
a new voter I.D. law in effect

1274
01:09:10,756 --> 01:09:13,092
in the run-up
to the 2016 election.

1275
01:09:13,175 --> 01:09:15,845
Lot of Republicans, since 1984,
in the presidential races,

1276
01:09:15,928 --> 01:09:17,805
have not been able to win
in Wisconsin.

1277
01:09:17,888 --> 01:09:20,182
Why would it be any different
for a Ted Cruz

1278
01:09:20,266 --> 01:09:21,809
or a Donald Trump?

1279
01:09:21,892 --> 01:09:23,894
Well, I think Hillary Clinton
is about the weakest candidate

1280
01:09:23,978 --> 01:09:26,647
the Democrats have ever put up,
and now we have photo I.D.,

1281
01:09:26,730 --> 01:09:28,524
and I think photo I.D.
is gonna make

1282
01:09:28,607 --> 01:09:30,192
a little bit
of a difference as well.

1283
01:09:30,276 --> 01:09:34,989
Up to 23,000 people

1284
01:09:35,072 --> 01:09:37,908
were blocked or deterred
from voting,

1285
01:09:37,992 --> 01:09:40,953
and Donald Trump only won
the state of Wisconsin

1286
01:09:41,036 --> 01:09:43,914
by just over 22,000 votes.

1287
01:09:43,998 --> 01:09:47,918
So, this one restriction
in Wisconsin alone

1288
01:09:48,002 --> 01:09:50,337
had a huge impact
on Donald Trump

1289
01:09:50,421 --> 01:09:53,174
becoming the next president
of the United States.

1290
01:09:58,012 --> 01:10:01,098
Ohio has become, sadly,
the leader in creating

1291
01:10:01,182 --> 01:10:03,559
certain types
of-of voter suppression

1292
01:10:03,642 --> 01:10:05,436
that other states
have followed.

1293
01:10:05,519 --> 01:10:08,731
And there's no bigger example
of that than purging.

1294
01:10:12,651 --> 01:10:15,905
There is certainly need
to update your voting rolls.

1295
01:10:15,988 --> 01:10:18,407
People pass away.
People move.

1296
01:10:18,490 --> 01:10:21,535
There also are some states that
are really smart about this.

1297
01:10:21,619 --> 01:10:23,787
Things like automatic
voter registration.

1298
01:10:23,871 --> 01:10:25,497
But Ohio does
the exact opposite.

1299
01:10:25,581 --> 01:10:27,333
Ohio's had a purging process

1300
01:10:27,416 --> 01:10:30,920
where, if you don't vote
in several elections

1301
01:10:31,003 --> 01:10:33,005
and you don't respond
to a postcard,

1302
01:10:33,088 --> 01:10:34,882
you're knocked off the rolls.

1303
01:10:34,965 --> 01:10:37,051
When it comes
to the right to vote,

1304
01:10:37,134 --> 01:10:39,678
Ohio is
a "use it or lose it" state.

1305
01:10:39,762 --> 01:10:41,847
In a split
five-to-four decision,

1306
01:10:41,931 --> 01:10:44,225
the Supreme Court ruled
that in Ohio

1307
01:10:44,308 --> 01:10:46,393
you can be dropped
from the voter rolls

1308
01:10:46,477 --> 01:10:49,438
if you do not vote
for about six years

1309
01:10:49,521 --> 01:10:51,482
and do not respond to a card

1310
01:10:51,565 --> 01:10:53,108
the state sends you
in the mail.

1311
01:10:53,192 --> 01:10:55,236
They send you
a postcard to your house.

1312
01:10:55,319 --> 01:10:58,322
It really does look
like a piece of junk mail.

1313
01:10:58,405 --> 01:11:01,325
If you don't send it back,
they assume you're not there.

1314
01:11:01,408 --> 01:11:02,576
Then they purge you
from the roll.

1315
01:11:02,660 --> 01:11:04,161
They say, "Oh, this person
didn't send it back.

1316
01:11:04,245 --> 01:11:05,454
We're gonna drop them."

1317
01:11:05,537 --> 01:11:07,581
They're not notified
that they have been purged,

1318
01:11:07,665 --> 01:11:08,749
and that-that's a problem.

1319
01:11:08,832 --> 01:11:11,543
In a state
of less than 12 million,

1320
01:11:11,627 --> 01:11:13,879
two million have been purged.

1321
01:11:13,963 --> 01:11:15,589
A lot of people are
on that list

1322
01:11:15,673 --> 01:11:17,549
'cause they move every year;
they're poor.

1323
01:11:17,633 --> 01:11:20,844
They're going from one place
to the next to the next.

1324
01:11:20,928 --> 01:11:22,805
But also, it turns out

1325
01:11:22,888 --> 01:11:24,306
there are thousands
and thousands

1326
01:11:24,390 --> 01:11:27,309
of people on this list
who had voted recently,

1327
01:11:27,393 --> 01:11:30,187
who were not supposed to be
on the purge list.

1328
01:11:30,271 --> 01:11:35,693
20% of those people were on
in error... government error.

1329
01:11:35,776 --> 01:11:37,403
And in the United States,

1330
01:11:37,486 --> 01:11:39,863
the right to vote is
the only right you can lose

1331
01:11:39,947 --> 01:11:41,240
for not using it.

1332
01:11:41,323 --> 01:11:43,617
You can decide not to go
hunting on a Saturday,

1333
01:11:43,701 --> 01:11:45,786
and you don't lose
your 2nd Amendment rights.

1334
01:11:45,869 --> 01:11:48,497
But in nine states,
it is the law of the land

1335
01:11:48,580 --> 01:11:50,040
that you can lose
your right to vote

1336
01:11:50,124 --> 01:11:51,375
simply for not using it.

1337
01:11:54,878 --> 01:11:56,714
After the Shelby decision,

1338
01:11:56,797 --> 01:12:00,968
we saw over 1,600 precincts
close in the states

1339
01:12:01,051 --> 01:12:03,721
that were once covered
by the Voting Rights Act.

1340
01:12:03,804 --> 01:12:05,681
And when you shut down
a polling place

1341
01:12:05,764 --> 01:12:07,474
where someone
can go a mile to vote,

1342
01:12:07,558 --> 01:12:09,184
and suddenly
they have to go ten miles

1343
01:12:09,268 --> 01:12:12,104
and they don't have a car,
they will not vote.

1344
01:12:13,814 --> 01:12:16,734
Under Brian Kemp,
214 polling places

1345
01:12:16,817 --> 01:12:19,278
shut down in the state
of Georgia.

1346
01:12:19,361 --> 01:12:22,156
He used the gutting
of the Voting Rights Act

1347
01:12:22,239 --> 01:12:23,907
almost immediately.

1348
01:12:24,825 --> 01:12:26,785
Jim Crow 2.0.

1349
01:12:26,869 --> 01:12:28,579
That's what we're seeing.

1350
01:12:28,662 --> 01:12:32,708
When you look at Georgia
in 2018,

1351
01:12:32,791 --> 01:12:36,045
it is the rise
of Jim Crow again.

1352
01:12:41,884 --> 01:12:43,552
The Shelby decision,

1353
01:12:43,635 --> 01:12:45,596
what it did was
give carte blanche

1354
01:12:45,679 --> 01:12:47,598
to states like Georgia

1355
01:12:47,681 --> 01:12:51,435
to restore
every racist trope they had.

1356
01:12:51,518 --> 01:12:53,729
Had I run for governor in 2012,

1357
01:12:53,812 --> 01:12:56,440
it would have empirically been
an easier election.

1358
01:12:58,859 --> 01:13:01,278
By the time I was running
for governor,

1359
01:13:01,362 --> 01:13:03,781
I had had eight years
of watching

1360
01:13:03,864 --> 01:13:06,575
the Secretary of State
Brian Kemp

1361
01:13:06,658 --> 01:13:10,412
build a national reputation
for voter suppression.

1362
01:13:10,496 --> 01:13:12,414
We anticipated
that voter suppression

1363
01:13:12,498 --> 01:13:14,792
was part of
Brian Kemp's behavior.

1364
01:13:14,875 --> 01:13:16,710
What we couldn't anticipate
was that

1365
01:13:16,794 --> 01:13:19,171
I was going to be in a fight

1366
01:13:19,254 --> 01:13:22,341
with the very person
who controlled the system.

1367
01:13:25,010 --> 01:13:26,595
I got a big truck

1368
01:13:26,678 --> 01:13:29,139
just in case I need to round up
criminal illegals

1369
01:13:29,223 --> 01:13:30,432
and take 'em home myself.

1370
01:13:30,516 --> 01:13:33,936
Yep, I just said that.

1371
01:13:34,019 --> 01:13:35,229
Yeah, he just said that,

1372
01:13:35,312 --> 01:13:37,398
and he's joining us now,
the candidate who calls himself

1373
01:13:37,481 --> 01:13:40,192
"a politically incorrect
conservative,"

1374
01:13:40,275 --> 01:13:42,361
current Georgia
Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

1375
01:13:42,444 --> 01:13:44,029
Good morning, sir.

1376
01:13:44,113 --> 01:13:46,073
Morning, guys.
Great to be on with you.

1377
01:13:48,700 --> 01:13:52,746
Brian Kemp had
the ability to not only be

1378
01:13:52,830 --> 01:13:54,289
the candidate in the race,

1379
01:13:54,373 --> 01:13:56,583
but he was also running
the election.

1380
01:13:56,667 --> 01:14:00,337
He was the constitutionally
authorized election supervisor.

1381
01:14:00,421 --> 01:14:04,007
That would have been illegal
in virtually every other

1382
01:14:04,091 --> 01:14:07,803
advanced democracy
in the entire world.

1383
01:14:09,596 --> 01:14:13,434
We sued Brian Kemp
multiple times

1384
01:14:13,517 --> 01:14:17,896
over his efforts to lock people
out of the ballot box.

1385
01:14:17,980 --> 01:14:21,275
One of his most
nefarious schemes

1386
01:14:21,358 --> 01:14:23,402
was called "exact match."

1387
01:14:23,485 --> 01:14:25,320
More than 53,000
Georgia residents

1388
01:14:25,404 --> 01:14:27,656
have had their registrations
put on hold

1389
01:14:27,739 --> 01:14:30,200
thanks to a policy that
requires their applications

1390
01:14:30,284 --> 01:14:33,370
to precisely match information
from other state agencies.

1391
01:14:33,454 --> 01:14:36,623
Georgia's population
is approximately 32% Black,

1392
01:14:36,707 --> 01:14:38,959
but the list
of voter registrations on hold

1393
01:14:39,042 --> 01:14:41,170
is nearly 70% Black.

1394
01:14:42,713 --> 01:14:45,716
Well, well, well.

1395
01:14:45,799 --> 01:14:49,052
My old friend racism.

1396
01:14:49,136 --> 01:14:51,388
I've been expecting you.

1397
01:14:52,723 --> 01:14:54,725
The ACLU filed a lawsuit

1398
01:14:54,808 --> 01:14:58,270
because absentee ballots
were being rejected

1399
01:14:58,353 --> 01:15:00,397
because the signature
on the absentee ballot

1400
01:15:00,481 --> 01:15:04,026
purportedly did not match
the signature that was on file.

1401
01:15:04,109 --> 01:15:06,195
The problem is
signatures change.

1402
01:15:06,278 --> 01:15:08,697
It's one of the worst metrics
to use.

1403
01:15:08,780 --> 01:15:10,574
A lot of people
for whom English

1404
01:15:10,657 --> 01:15:12,576
was not their first language

1405
01:15:12,659 --> 01:15:14,828
will have
an inconsistent signature

1406
01:15:14,912 --> 01:15:18,832
because they have to write
and sign their American name.

1407
01:15:18,916 --> 01:15:22,252
Asian voters,
when they immigrated here,

1408
01:15:22,336 --> 01:15:24,713
they adopted an American name.

1409
01:15:24,796 --> 01:15:28,967
My grandmother had
an American signature,

1410
01:15:29,051 --> 01:15:34,139
and she has not been able
to sign that name consistently.

1411
01:15:34,223 --> 01:15:37,351
The argument for many
of these voter suppression laws

1412
01:15:37,434 --> 01:15:39,311
is this very fallacious
argument

1413
01:15:39,394 --> 01:15:41,605
that it's necessary
to stop voter fraud.

1414
01:15:41,688 --> 01:15:44,107
The voter fraud is real.
It must be stopped.

1415
01:15:44,191 --> 01:15:46,193
We need every tool
to go after it.

1416
01:15:46,276 --> 01:15:48,946
Voter I.D. laws
stop voter fraud.

1417
01:15:49,029 --> 01:15:51,365
I've dedicated my career
to fighting voter fraud

1418
01:15:51,448 --> 01:15:53,742
by doing things
like having photo I.D.

1419
01:15:53,825 --> 01:15:56,828
Every time voter fraud occurs,
it cancels out the vote

1420
01:15:56,912 --> 01:16:00,874
of a lawful citizen
and undermines democracy.

1421
01:16:00,958 --> 01:16:02,793
We can't let that happen.

1422
01:16:02,876 --> 01:16:04,920
When Donald Trump lost
the popular vote,

1423
01:16:05,003 --> 01:16:06,964
he lost it
by 2.9 million votes,

1424
01:16:07,047 --> 01:16:09,883
and he said three million
people voted illegally.

1425
01:16:09,967 --> 01:16:12,803
And there was no evidence
to back this up,

1426
01:16:12,886 --> 01:16:15,514
but this was
a dramatic assertion

1427
01:16:15,597 --> 01:16:19,226
of voter fraud on
a really unprecedented scale.

1428
01:16:25,065 --> 01:16:28,151
Trump employed this rhetoric
to create his own,

1429
01:16:28,235 --> 01:16:31,029
quote, unquote, "Commission
on Election Integrity."

1430
01:16:33,991 --> 01:16:37,661
There was really an all-star
cast of some of the biggest

1431
01:16:37,744 --> 01:16:40,706
vote suppressors
in the Republican Party today.

1432
01:16:40,789 --> 01:16:44,042
People like Hans von Spakovsky
of the Heritage Foundation

1433
01:16:44,126 --> 01:16:47,170
that had built the case
for voter I.D. laws

1434
01:16:47,254 --> 01:16:49,548
and similar restrictions
on voting.

1435
01:16:50,882 --> 01:16:53,218
The president's
Advisory Commission

1436
01:16:53,302 --> 01:16:57,264
wanted to get
the voter registration list

1437
01:16:57,347 --> 01:17:00,100
from all the states so they
could start doing comparisons

1438
01:17:00,183 --> 01:17:02,436
and find people
who were still on the list

1439
01:17:02,519 --> 01:17:04,730
who were deceased,
to find individuals

1440
01:17:04,813 --> 01:17:07,232
who were, uh, voting
in more than one state.

1441
01:17:07,316 --> 01:17:09,651
Yesterday, the vice chair
of that commission

1442
01:17:09,735 --> 01:17:13,530
sent a letter to all 50 states,
asking for voter data

1443
01:17:13,614 --> 01:17:16,867
that includes
addresses, party I.D.,

1444
01:17:16,950 --> 01:17:20,370
voter history and
Social Security information.

1445
01:17:20,454 --> 01:17:23,874
This was like
a Big Brother data request.

1446
01:17:23,957 --> 01:17:28,045
There was no evidence that
the administration would insure

1447
01:17:28,128 --> 01:17:31,465
the privacy and security
of this data.

1448
01:17:31,548 --> 01:17:35,260
And moreover, why did they need
to know party affiliation?

1449
01:17:35,344 --> 01:17:36,970
Many states resisted that.

1450
01:17:37,054 --> 01:17:39,222
They refused to provide
that data.

1451
01:17:39,306 --> 01:17:41,475
Opposition
to this is bipartisan,

1452
01:17:41,558 --> 01:17:42,643
to some degree.

1453
01:17:42,726 --> 01:17:44,353
Mississippi's
Secretary of State,

1454
01:17:44,436 --> 01:17:48,273
a Republican, has called it
a violation of voters' privacy

1455
01:17:48,357 --> 01:17:50,484
and said that
the commission can, quote,

1456
01:17:50,567 --> 01:17:53,487
"go jump in
the Gulf of Mexico."

1457
01:17:53,570 --> 01:17:55,656
The Commission
on Election Integrity

1458
01:17:55,739 --> 01:17:57,115
that Donald Trump formed

1459
01:17:57,199 --> 01:17:59,242
was a complete
and utter disaster.

1460
01:17:59,326 --> 01:18:02,329
It disbanded
without issuing any findings,

1461
01:18:02,412 --> 01:18:05,374
and it found no evidence
of voter fraud

1462
01:18:05,457 --> 01:18:08,126
during its entire
investigative process.

1463
01:18:14,841 --> 01:18:17,552
We have a database
at the Heritage Foundation

1464
01:18:17,636 --> 01:18:19,054
that we're constantly
adding to.

1465
01:18:19,137 --> 01:18:22,182
It has a sampling
of proven voter fraud cases,

1466
01:18:22,265 --> 01:18:24,059
uh, from across the country.

1467
01:18:24,142 --> 01:18:27,979
Um, it's got
almost 1,300 cases in it.

1468
01:18:28,063 --> 01:18:29,356
Here's what they truly found,

1469
01:18:29,439 --> 01:18:31,108
and let's put it up again
for people.

1470
01:18:31,191 --> 01:18:34,695
146 million total
registered voters.

1471
01:18:34,778 --> 01:18:40,242
Out of those, there were 2,068
alleged voter fraud cases.

1472
01:18:40,325 --> 01:18:42,202
Okay? So it does happen,

1473
01:18:42,285 --> 01:18:44,830
but it doesn't happen
on a national scale...

1474
01:18:44,913 --> 01:18:45,997
Doesn't affect the outcome.

1475
01:18:46,081 --> 01:18:47,374
...that would affect
the outcome.

1476
01:18:47,457 --> 01:18:48,959
So, then you ask yourself,

1477
01:18:49,042 --> 01:18:50,961
why do we have
this architecture

1478
01:18:51,044 --> 01:18:53,004
of all of these obstacles?

1479
01:18:53,088 --> 01:18:56,007
Voter I.D., gerrymandering,

1480
01:18:56,091 --> 01:18:59,219
purging, poll closures.

1481
01:18:59,302 --> 01:19:01,513
Why do we have all of this

1482
01:19:01,596 --> 01:19:05,726
if voter fraud
is virtually nonexistent?

1483
01:19:05,809 --> 01:19:10,188
When you ask that question
that way,

1484
01:19:10,272 --> 01:19:13,442
then it leads you down a path

1485
01:19:13,525 --> 01:19:15,944
where America
must look at itself again

1486
01:19:16,027 --> 01:19:17,779
the way that
it looked at itself

1487
01:19:17,863 --> 01:19:21,616
when it saw the cataclysm
on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

1488
01:19:39,801 --> 01:19:41,678
Running for governor

1489
01:19:41,762 --> 01:19:44,931
was about changing
what it meant

1490
01:19:45,015 --> 01:19:47,267
to be a leader in Georgia.

1491
01:19:49,102 --> 01:19:50,729
And there's nothing
more transformative

1492
01:19:50,812 --> 01:19:53,857
in the Deep South
than a Black woman from poverty

1493
01:19:53,940 --> 01:19:56,109
having opportunity.

1494
01:20:00,405 --> 01:20:02,574
It hadn't been done before,
so I thought

1495
01:20:02,657 --> 01:20:04,534
I would take advantage
of the freedom

1496
01:20:04,618 --> 01:20:07,078
to try the things
no one else tried.

1497
01:20:08,580 --> 01:20:10,624
We know that voter turnout

1498
01:20:10,707 --> 01:20:14,127
is the best remedy
to voter suppression.

1499
01:20:14,211 --> 01:20:16,963
We decided to go after everyone
who could vote.

1500
01:20:17,047 --> 01:20:18,548
Y'all already been out to vote?

1501
01:20:18,632 --> 01:20:20,801
We need everybody out there
in droves.

1502
01:20:20,884 --> 01:20:21,927
I'll make sure they vote.

1503
01:20:22,010 --> 01:20:23,094
Matter of fact,
they ain't gonna

1504
01:20:23,178 --> 01:20:24,262
work tomorrow
if they don't vote.

1505
01:20:24,346 --> 01:20:25,514
- Ooh, give me some!
- There you go.

1506
01:20:25,597 --> 01:20:26,932
That's what you got to do.

1507
01:20:27,015 --> 01:20:28,391
- You got to put it out there like that.
- That's right.

1508
01:20:28,475 --> 01:20:31,853
I've been out here
talking to people who are...

1509
01:20:31,937 --> 01:20:33,146
"Yeah, I've never
voted before."

1510
01:20:33,230 --> 01:20:35,065
"Oh, I've never had someone
come to my door before."

1511
01:20:35,148 --> 01:20:38,985
Too often, politicians only go
to the people they know,

1512
01:20:39,069 --> 01:20:43,031
and they only engage the people
they can rely on.

1513
01:20:43,114 --> 01:20:44,783
But go out there, man.
We're trying to make history.

1514
01:20:44,866 --> 01:20:46,618
- You know what I'm saying?
- Yeah, I'm gonna vote.

1515
01:20:46,701 --> 01:20:48,203
All right,
that's what I want to hear.

1516
01:20:48,286 --> 01:20:49,538
Which means you don't adapt

1517
01:20:49,621 --> 01:20:50,914
to the changing needs
of community.

1518
01:20:50,997 --> 01:20:52,707
Thank you so much
for your time.

1519
01:20:53,792 --> 01:20:56,169
Among democratic countries,

1520
01:20:56,253 --> 01:20:58,964
the United States stands out

1521
01:20:59,047 --> 01:21:03,009
for having very low
voter turnout.

1522
01:21:03,093 --> 01:21:06,972
Politicians produced the system

1523
01:21:07,055 --> 01:21:11,059
because elections
are easier to manage

1524
01:21:11,142 --> 01:21:13,687
if the electorate is smaller.

1525
01:21:15,313 --> 01:21:17,732
Hello, Georgia!

1526
01:21:19,901 --> 01:21:21,987
I was asking everybody,
"You know Stacey Abrams?

1527
01:21:22,070 --> 01:21:23,655
"You know Stacey Abrams?

1528
01:21:23,738 --> 01:21:24,990
You know Stacey Abrams?"

1529
01:21:25,073 --> 01:21:26,825
Finally, somebody said,
"I know Stacey Abrams."

1530
01:21:26,908 --> 01:21:28,827
And they said,
"I have her cell number."

1531
01:21:28,910 --> 01:21:30,453
I go, "Give it to me."

1532
01:21:31,872 --> 01:21:33,498
"I will call her up right now."

1533
01:21:33,582 --> 01:21:37,085
So I called Stacey Abrams,
and I said,

1534
01:21:37,168 --> 01:21:39,671
"Stacey, this is Oprah."

1535
01:21:42,340 --> 01:21:43,925
You know what she said?

1536
01:21:44,009 --> 01:21:46,761
She said, "Girl, let me pull
over to the side of the road."

1537
01:21:48,388 --> 01:21:50,765
Ladies and gentlemen,
Stacey Abrams!

1538
01:21:54,019 --> 01:21:56,563
Stacey! Stacey! Stacey!

1539
01:21:56,646 --> 01:21:58,857
My name is Stacey Abrams,
and I am running to be

1540
01:21:58,940 --> 01:22:00,901
the next governor
of the great state of Georgia.

1541
01:22:02,360 --> 01:22:04,112
We talked to people.

1542
01:22:04,195 --> 01:22:05,655
We met them at their doors.

1543
01:22:05,739 --> 01:22:07,741
We met them at their churches,
their mosques,

1544
01:22:07,824 --> 01:22:10,035
their temples, their shrines,
their synagogues.

1545
01:22:10,118 --> 01:22:13,830
I went to Dragon Con
and ONE Musicfest.

1546
01:22:13,914 --> 01:22:16,124
I also talked about
real issues.

1547
01:22:16,207 --> 01:22:18,126
I talked about my brother
and his fight

1548
01:22:18,209 --> 01:22:20,170
with drug addiction
and incarceration.

1549
01:22:20,253 --> 01:22:21,546
There are thousands of Walters

1550
01:22:21,630 --> 01:22:23,006
throughout the state
of Georgia...

1551
01:22:23,089 --> 01:22:24,341
- Yeah!
- ...who only get

1552
01:22:24,424 --> 01:22:26,217
the help they need
when they go to prison.

1553
01:22:26,301 --> 01:22:27,802
- Yeah!
- I'm running for governor

1554
01:22:27,886 --> 01:22:29,054
because I don't believe
Georgia's

1555
01:22:29,137 --> 01:22:30,388
just a state of retribution.

1556
01:22:30,472 --> 01:22:32,349
I want to see
a state of redemption!

1557
01:22:32,432 --> 01:22:33,850
Yeah!

1558
01:22:33,934 --> 01:22:36,102
Let's get it done!

1559
01:22:36,186 --> 01:22:38,980
Let's get it done!
Let's get it done!

1560
01:22:39,064 --> 01:22:42,275
But I also had solutions,
and I talked about the things

1561
01:22:42,359 --> 01:22:44,361
that people care about
every single day.

1562
01:22:44,444 --> 01:22:46,696
Georgia, we need you
to show up and show out.

1563
01:22:47,989 --> 01:22:51,368
- ...Stacey Abrams...
- ...Stacey Abrams...

1564
01:22:51,451 --> 01:22:53,995
We wanted everybody
who could vote to vote

1565
01:22:54,079 --> 01:22:55,163
and to vote for me.

1566
01:22:56,331 --> 01:22:59,709
It is in our hands

1567
01:22:59,793 --> 01:23:02,545
to make Stacey Abrams
the next governor

1568
01:23:02,629 --> 01:23:04,881
of the state of Georgia!

1569
01:23:04,965 --> 01:23:08,259
And give it up
for your next governor,

1570
01:23:08,343 --> 01:23:10,011
Stacey Abrams.

1571
01:23:10,095 --> 01:23:12,305
Stacey! Stacey!

1572
01:23:12,389 --> 01:23:16,184
Stacey! Stacey! Stacey! Stacey!

1573
01:23:16,267 --> 01:23:18,687
Thank you, Georgia.

1574
01:23:21,856 --> 01:23:24,359
One of our missions
in our campaign

1575
01:23:24,442 --> 01:23:27,737
was to focus attention
on early voting.

1576
01:23:27,821 --> 01:23:30,782
And so, by way of example,
I went to vote early.

1577
01:23:30,865 --> 01:23:35,245
I came to my precinct
armed with my I.D.,

1578
01:23:35,328 --> 01:23:37,205
ready to cast my ballot.

1579
01:23:37,288 --> 01:23:39,541
I also had a bunch
of television cameras with me

1580
01:23:39,624 --> 01:23:41,960
because we wanted to publicize
how important this was.

1581
01:23:43,461 --> 01:23:46,047
I hand my information over,
and the young woman,

1582
01:23:46,131 --> 01:23:49,175
with great trepidation,
tells me that I cannot vote

1583
01:23:49,259 --> 01:23:52,095
because I've applied
for an absentee ballot.

1584
01:23:53,513 --> 01:23:56,808
And I lean in quietly,
and I say, "No, I didn't."

1585
01:23:56,891 --> 01:23:59,811
I've voted in the state
of Georgia since 1992.

1586
01:23:59,894 --> 01:24:02,981
I've never applied
for an absentee ballot.

1587
01:24:03,064 --> 01:24:05,692
She desperately wants
to be helpful,

1588
01:24:05,775 --> 01:24:07,235
but something had happened,

1589
01:24:07,318 --> 01:24:08,862
and she did not
have good information.

1590
01:24:08,945 --> 01:24:10,655
Her manager came over,
we talked,

1591
01:24:10,739 --> 01:24:13,742
and we were able to figure out
what needed to be done.

1592
01:24:18,371 --> 01:24:20,290
What worries me

1593
01:24:20,373 --> 01:24:23,334
are the thousands of people
in Georgia who tried to vote

1594
01:24:23,418 --> 01:24:28,381
that didn't have CNN and MSNBC
standing over their shoulders

1595
01:24:28,465 --> 01:24:31,468
who were told no and who
believed that no was the answer

1596
01:24:31,551 --> 01:24:33,887
because they didn't have
the authority

1597
01:24:33,970 --> 01:24:36,264
or the knowledge
to demand better.

1598
01:24:36,347 --> 01:24:38,600
We really knew by the last week
of early vote

1599
01:24:38,683 --> 01:24:41,603
that we were seeing
extraordinary turnout,

1600
01:24:41,686 --> 01:24:43,938
um, beyond our projections,

1601
01:24:44,022 --> 01:24:47,400
and we also knew that
we were seeing an extraordinary

1602
01:24:47,484 --> 01:24:48,985
inability of
the election system

1603
01:24:49,069 --> 01:24:50,904
to process the folks.

1604
01:24:50,987 --> 01:24:54,032
It was the very big
warning bell that

1605
01:24:54,115 --> 01:24:56,659
Election Day was
gonna be a problem.

1606
01:25:05,126 --> 01:25:07,295
We were with
Brian Kemp and his family

1607
01:25:07,378 --> 01:25:08,546
as they showed up to vote.

1608
01:25:08,630 --> 01:25:10,173
It said this was
an invalid card.

1609
01:25:10,256 --> 01:25:12,592
- Okay. You go back in there. I'll redo it for you.
- Yeah.

1610
01:25:12,675 --> 01:25:14,677
And Kemp had
some voting issues.

1611
01:25:14,761 --> 01:25:17,347
His voter card said "invalid."

1612
01:25:19,724 --> 01:25:21,059
You just went and cast
your ballot there.

1613
01:25:21,142 --> 01:25:22,727
- Yeah.
- During your tenure as Secretary of State here,

1614
01:25:22,811 --> 01:25:23,937
you've made it harder for

1615
01:25:24,020 --> 01:25:25,313
tens of thousands of people
in Georgia...

1616
01:25:25,396 --> 01:25:26,606
I would disagree
with that question completely.

1617
01:25:26,689 --> 01:25:27,982
...to cast their ballots
across the state.

1618
01:25:28,066 --> 01:25:29,359
Because you have
no factual basis

1619
01:25:29,442 --> 01:25:31,194
on making it harder
for people to vote.

1620
01:25:31,277 --> 01:25:34,114
It has never been easier
for people to vote in the...

1621
01:25:34,197 --> 01:25:36,199
in the state of Georgia
than it is right now.

1622
01:25:36,282 --> 01:25:37,951
One of the races

1623
01:25:38,034 --> 01:25:39,661
that we've been
watching really closely

1624
01:25:39,744 --> 01:25:43,665
is the governor's race
in the state of Georgia.

1625
01:25:43,748 --> 01:25:45,166
From Midtown to Marietta,

1626
01:25:45,250 --> 01:25:49,546
we're seeing long lines at
polling places across the area.

1627
01:25:49,629 --> 01:25:52,966
This morning, we got here at...
when the polls opened at 7:00.

1628
01:25:53,049 --> 01:25:56,010
We were told that the machines
weren't working.

1629
01:25:56,094 --> 01:26:00,223
Finally, at 11:00, they got
machines that were working,

1630
01:26:00,306 --> 01:26:02,517
so we've been in line
for five hours.

1631
01:26:02,600 --> 01:26:04,269
How long have you waited

1632
01:26:04,352 --> 01:26:06,729
- in line here this morning?
- About three and a half hours.

1633
01:26:06,813 --> 01:26:08,606
- You gonna go home? Come back?
- I'm-I'm hurting.

1634
01:26:08,690 --> 01:26:10,859
I-I'll be back.
I got to go take some medicine.

1635
01:26:10,942 --> 01:26:12,318
These lines are insane.

1636
01:26:12,402 --> 01:26:14,571
We had a big fucking problem.

1637
01:26:14,654 --> 01:26:17,073
Um, people are leaving lines
all over.

1638
01:26:17,157 --> 01:26:18,408
I'm getting the reports.

1639
01:26:18,491 --> 01:26:20,869
My parents are U.S. citizens.

1640
01:26:20,952 --> 01:26:22,203
They've voted in the past,
but today,

1641
01:26:22,287 --> 01:26:23,746
when they showed up to vote,
they were told

1642
01:26:23,830 --> 01:26:25,456
that they were purged
from the voter rolls.

1643
01:26:25,540 --> 01:26:28,042
We'd received
thousands of calls

1644
01:26:28,126 --> 01:26:30,044
to our
Voter Protection Hotline.

1645
01:26:30,128 --> 01:26:31,379
Conversations about people

1646
01:26:31,462 --> 01:26:33,131
being turned away
from the polls.

1647
01:26:33,214 --> 01:26:35,300
I can't find this one.

1648
01:26:35,383 --> 01:26:37,302
- This is where you would normally vote?
- Yes.

1649
01:26:37,385 --> 01:26:38,761
The name didn't come up,
in your case.

1650
01:26:38,845 --> 01:26:40,180
It didn't come up
even when I search.

1651
01:26:40,263 --> 01:26:43,391
Those stories were coming to me
at every moment.

1652
01:26:43,474 --> 01:26:45,727
Some were here for three hours,

1653
01:26:45,810 --> 01:26:47,270
others here for much longer,

1654
01:26:47,353 --> 01:26:50,356
after the Express poll machines
stopped working

1655
01:26:50,440 --> 01:26:53,651
inside the Annistown Elementary
polling place Tuesday morning.

1656
01:26:53,735 --> 01:26:55,403
We knew who we were up against.

1657
01:26:55,486 --> 01:26:57,614
We had been fighting
this guy for years.

1658
01:26:57,697 --> 01:27:01,075
And then to see
what the result was of

1659
01:27:01,159 --> 01:27:03,244
intentional underfunding
of elections,

1660
01:27:03,328 --> 01:27:06,497
intentional non-training
of local elections officials.

1661
01:27:06,581 --> 01:27:07,707
He says he went

1662
01:27:07,790 --> 01:27:09,250
to cast his ballot
Tuesday morning,

1663
01:27:09,334 --> 01:27:11,961
he handed the poll worker
his I.D., and then she...

1664
01:27:12,045 --> 01:27:14,756
Says, "Mr. Whitten, wait. Stop.
You've already voted."

1665
01:27:14,839 --> 01:27:16,257
I said, "No, I-I think
I would've remembered that."

1666
01:27:16,341 --> 01:27:18,509
She says, "No, I see here
that you voted,

1667
01:27:18,593 --> 01:27:20,470
and, uh, it looks like
several days ago."

1668
01:27:20,553 --> 01:27:23,973
Intentional purges, intentional
precinct consolidation.

1669
01:27:24,057 --> 01:27:27,352
They combined two locations,
gave us three machines.

1670
01:27:27,435 --> 01:27:30,063
Last election, I had 12.
I don't know why.

1671
01:27:30,146 --> 01:27:31,272
Intentional lack of training

1672
01:27:31,356 --> 01:27:32,941
around absentee
and provisional ballots.

1673
01:27:33,024 --> 01:27:35,610
All the compendium
coming together.

1674
01:27:35,693 --> 01:27:38,238
Students were showing up,
and their names were not

1675
01:27:38,321 --> 01:27:39,614
on the actual roll.

1676
01:27:39,697 --> 01:27:41,741
Um, and so they were casting
provisional ballots,

1677
01:27:41,824 --> 01:27:45,078
so much so that they actually
ran out of provisional ballots.

1678
01:27:45,161 --> 01:27:48,498
It was just out of control.

1679
01:27:48,581 --> 01:27:52,794
We knew people
were trying to be heard,

1680
01:27:52,877 --> 01:27:55,964
but I also knew
they weren't being listened to.

1681
01:28:01,219 --> 01:28:03,304
Election night...

1682
01:28:03,388 --> 01:28:07,308
I knew something had gone
horribly wrong.

1683
01:28:09,102 --> 01:28:10,895
Take a look at where
the numbers stand right now.

1684
01:28:10,979 --> 01:28:12,981
As you can see,
the numbers are now tightening.

1685
01:28:13,064 --> 01:28:14,482
The spread is only some 60,000.

1686
01:28:14,565 --> 01:28:16,359
Several counties
have yet to process

1687
01:28:16,442 --> 01:28:18,528
their provisional
and emergency ballots,

1688
01:28:18,611 --> 01:28:22,490
leaving an estimated
22,000 ballots outstanding.

1689
01:28:24,826 --> 01:28:27,704
By 1:00 a.m., what we knew

1690
01:28:27,787 --> 01:28:31,040
was that the race
was too close to call.

1691
01:28:32,709 --> 01:28:35,962
I'm here tonight to tell you
votes remain to be counted.

1692
01:28:36,045 --> 01:28:38,798
There are voices
that were waiting to be heard.

1693
01:28:38,881 --> 01:28:41,426
Across our state,
folks are opening up

1694
01:28:41,509 --> 01:28:44,304
the dreams of voters
in absentee ballots,

1695
01:28:44,387 --> 01:28:46,848
and we believe our chance
for a stronger Georgia

1696
01:28:46,931 --> 01:28:48,683
is just within reach.

1697
01:28:50,143 --> 01:28:54,939
But we cannot seize it
until all voices are heard.

1698
01:28:55,023 --> 01:28:57,233
And I promise you tonight,
we are gonna make sure

1699
01:28:57,317 --> 01:29:00,111
that every vote is counted.

1700
01:29:00,194 --> 01:29:02,113
Every single vote.

1701
01:29:05,074 --> 01:29:06,534
We've heard from

1702
01:29:06,617 --> 01:29:09,245
40,000 Georgians and counting

1703
01:29:09,329 --> 01:29:11,664
who have told us
story after story

1704
01:29:11,748 --> 01:29:14,208
about the concerns
and problems they have,

1705
01:29:14,292 --> 01:29:16,544
uh, with our system
across Georgia.

1706
01:29:16,627 --> 01:29:18,379
Our staff was,

1707
01:29:18,463 --> 01:29:20,006
you know,
running around the state

1708
01:29:20,089 --> 01:29:22,091
and collecting
all of these stories,

1709
01:29:22,175 --> 01:29:24,135
and we're in the federal courts

1710
01:29:24,218 --> 01:29:26,054
fighting for
each of these votes.

1711
01:29:26,137 --> 01:29:28,389
Every day, there were
votes that were found,

1712
01:29:28,473 --> 01:29:30,433
and there were lawsuits
that were settled

1713
01:29:30,516 --> 01:29:32,352
that then added to the total.

1714
01:29:32,435 --> 01:29:36,439
And it was just a devastating,

1715
01:29:36,522 --> 01:29:39,859
obvious thing what happened.

1716
01:29:39,942 --> 01:29:42,028
You couldn't swing a bat

1717
01:29:42,111 --> 01:29:45,365
and not hit 14 people
who had problems voting.

1718
01:29:45,448 --> 01:29:46,699
Governor Nathan Deal rolled out

1719
01:29:46,783 --> 01:29:49,118
the gubernatorial red carpet
Thursday for Brian Kemp,

1720
01:29:49,202 --> 01:29:51,204
declaring him governor-elect,
though the state

1721
01:29:51,287 --> 01:29:52,872
has yet officially
to certify the election.

1722
01:29:52,955 --> 01:29:56,376
Even if she got
100% of those votes,

1723
01:29:56,459 --> 01:30:01,631
we still win with, um,
a 50%-plus-one-vote majority.

1724
01:30:01,714 --> 01:30:03,591
Actually,
it's much more than that.

1725
01:30:03,674 --> 01:30:06,010
Uh, so we're moving forward
with the transition.

1726
01:30:06,094 --> 01:30:09,138
Brian Kemp is

1727
01:30:09,222 --> 01:30:15,436
25,622 votes

1728
01:30:15,520 --> 01:30:20,274
above the threshold
for a runoff election.

1729
01:30:21,901 --> 01:30:24,904
25,000 votes

1730
01:30:24,987 --> 01:30:28,282
of nearly four million cast

1731
01:30:28,366 --> 01:30:31,869
are at issue in this race.

1732
01:30:31,953 --> 01:30:34,288
By his own admission,

1733
01:30:34,372 --> 01:30:37,625
there are at least
25,000 outstanding votes

1734
01:30:37,708 --> 01:30:40,753
and hundreds,
if not thousands, of more

1735
01:30:40,837 --> 01:30:45,091
that we are learning about
and discovering every day.

1736
01:30:45,174 --> 01:30:48,052
Georgians deserve to have
their votes counted.

1737
01:30:48,136 --> 01:30:50,805
And some Abrams
supporters protested peacefully

1738
01:30:50,888 --> 01:30:52,890
outside the governor's office
during Kemp's news conference,

1739
01:30:52,974 --> 01:30:54,267
believing there are enough

1740
01:30:54,350 --> 01:30:56,978
uncounted votes
to force a runoff.

1741
01:30:57,061 --> 01:30:58,688
They're arresting me
because I refused

1742
01:30:58,771 --> 01:31:00,690
to leave the rotunda
of the capitol...

1743
01:31:00,773 --> 01:31:02,400
Well, I was taken out

1744
01:31:02,483 --> 01:31:04,152
in handcuffs and jailed

1745
01:31:04,235 --> 01:31:06,237
because I stood
with my constituents

1746
01:31:06,320 --> 01:31:08,197
to voice their concerns

1747
01:31:08,281 --> 01:31:10,533
and make sure that
every vote is counted.

1748
01:31:14,370 --> 01:31:19,083
By the end, we were still
17,000 votes shy of the runoff.

1749
01:31:19,167 --> 01:31:20,626
The ballot battle

1750
01:31:20,710 --> 01:31:23,254
in Georgia's governor's race
is over.

1751
01:31:23,337 --> 01:31:26,424
Brian Kemp
will be certified the winner.

1752
01:31:30,261 --> 01:31:31,762
I was very angry.

1753
01:31:31,846 --> 01:31:33,931
I'm still very angry.

1754
01:31:34,015 --> 01:31:35,516
Um...

1755
01:31:37,518 --> 01:31:39,770
...very angry.

1756
01:31:39,854 --> 01:31:41,647
Make no mistake.

1757
01:31:41,731 --> 01:31:43,649
The former Secretary of State

1758
01:31:43,733 --> 01:31:46,861
was deliberate and intentional
in his actions.

1759
01:31:46,944 --> 01:31:50,031
Pundits and hyper-partisans
will hear my words

1760
01:31:50,114 --> 01:31:52,158
as a rejection
of the normal order.

1761
01:31:52,241 --> 01:31:55,703
You see, I'm supposed to say
nice things and accept my fate.

1762
01:31:55,786 --> 01:31:58,414
They will complain that
I should not use this moment

1763
01:31:58,498 --> 01:32:02,210
to recap what was done wrong
or to demand a remedy.

1764
01:32:02,293 --> 01:32:05,713
You see, as a leader,
I should be stoic in my outrage

1765
01:32:05,796 --> 01:32:08,216
and silent in my rebuke.

1766
01:32:08,299 --> 01:32:10,426
But stoicism is a luxury,

1767
01:32:10,510 --> 01:32:12,261
and silence is a weapon

1768
01:32:12,345 --> 01:32:14,847
for those who would quiet
the voices of the people.

1769
01:32:14,931 --> 01:32:16,349
And I will not concede,

1770
01:32:16,432 --> 01:32:19,560
because the erosion
of our democracy is not right.

1771
01:32:21,229 --> 01:32:23,064
Last night, as you all know,

1772
01:32:23,147 --> 01:32:25,358
my opponent ended her campaign.

1773
01:32:25,441 --> 01:32:26,859
The election is over,

1774
01:32:26,943 --> 01:32:30,238
and I'm honored to be
Georgia's governor-elect.

1775
01:32:43,543 --> 01:32:45,628
My responsibility
as the daughter

1776
01:32:45,711 --> 01:32:48,214
of Robert and Carolyn Abrams,

1777
01:32:48,297 --> 01:32:50,841
as the granddaughter of people

1778
01:32:50,925 --> 01:32:52,843
who had been denied
the right to vote,

1779
01:32:52,927 --> 01:32:55,721
as the great-great-
granddaughter of slaves,

1780
01:32:55,805 --> 01:32:58,474
my job was to use this election

1781
01:32:58,558 --> 01:33:01,310
to talk about
the system that let this be.

1782
01:33:02,311 --> 01:33:04,689
And so,
we decided on that night

1783
01:33:04,772 --> 01:33:07,108
that we were going to demand

1784
01:33:07,191 --> 01:33:09,527
that the system itself
be fixed.

1785
01:33:09,610 --> 01:33:11,904
Because, when you concede,
what you're saying

1786
01:33:11,988 --> 01:33:14,782
is that the system worked
the way it was supposed to.

1787
01:33:14,865 --> 01:33:17,243
And I refuse to believe
that a system

1788
01:33:17,326 --> 01:33:19,745
that is supposed to protect
our democracy

1789
01:33:19,829 --> 01:33:22,582
worked the way
it was supposed to.

1790
01:33:28,462 --> 01:33:30,172
In 2020 and beyond,

1791
01:33:30,256 --> 01:33:31,632
the way we fight
voter suppression

1792
01:33:31,716 --> 01:33:33,301
is by meeting it where it is.

1793
01:33:33,384 --> 01:33:34,844
That means, first and foremost,

1794
01:33:34,927 --> 01:33:37,179
volunteer to help people
get registered to vote.

1795
01:33:37,263 --> 01:33:39,473
Hi, Nina, darling.
My name is Stacey Abrams.

1796
01:33:39,557 --> 01:33:42,268
I wanted to thank you
for all the work you're doing

1797
01:33:42,351 --> 01:33:43,394
to reach out to voters

1798
01:33:43,477 --> 01:33:45,187
and making sure
they stay on the rolls.

1799
01:33:45,271 --> 01:33:47,898
If you believe in
"one person, one vote,"

1800
01:33:47,982 --> 01:33:50,192
if you believe in
representative government,

1801
01:33:50,276 --> 01:33:52,612
then you will fight
for this democracy.

1802
01:33:52,695 --> 01:33:54,322
So, if you, um,
fill it out right now,

1803
01:33:54,405 --> 01:33:56,490
we can mail it out for you.

1804
01:33:56,574 --> 01:33:58,659
Our power is in our vote.

1805
01:33:58,743 --> 01:34:01,495
Our power is in our voice.

1806
01:34:01,579 --> 01:34:04,206
And if we willingly choose
to remain silent,

1807
01:34:04,290 --> 01:34:06,125
we give up that power.

1808
01:34:06,208 --> 01:34:07,460
The day that we celebrate

1809
01:34:07,543 --> 01:34:09,253
what it means
to be an American.

1810
01:34:09,337 --> 01:34:10,504
Today, our returning citizens

1811
01:34:10,588 --> 01:34:13,215
have their right to vote
restored.

1812
01:34:14,717 --> 01:34:17,386
Plan out
what you're going to do

1813
01:34:17,470 --> 01:34:19,305
to make sure your ballot
is cast and counted,

1814
01:34:19,388 --> 01:34:21,349
and then ask
your friends and family

1815
01:34:21,432 --> 01:34:22,892
whether they have a plan.

1816
01:34:22,975 --> 01:34:24,518
Even if you've done
everything right,

1817
01:34:24,602 --> 01:34:26,062
do not assume
you're registered.

1818
01:34:26,145 --> 01:34:28,898
Check to make sure
that you haven't been purged

1819
01:34:28,981 --> 01:34:30,941
or that your polling place
has moved.

1820
01:34:31,025 --> 01:34:32,443
Vote as early as possible.

1821
01:34:32,526 --> 01:34:34,445
Take your friends with you
to the polls.

1822
01:34:34,528 --> 01:34:36,322
Talk to your neighbors
about voting.

1823
01:34:36,405 --> 01:34:37,865
Call your parents
and ask them if they've voted.

1824
01:34:37,948 --> 01:34:39,325
Call your grandparents.

1825
01:34:39,408 --> 01:34:42,203
And make sure that people know
what precinct they're in,

1826
01:34:42,286 --> 01:34:43,829
where their
polling location is.

1827
01:34:43,913 --> 01:34:46,082
And then you turn up
at the polls,

1828
01:34:46,165 --> 01:34:48,751
and you don't leave
until you cast your ballot.

1829
01:34:48,834 --> 01:34:50,920
They told voters
to anticipate long lines.

1830
01:34:51,003 --> 01:34:53,381
Is two and a half hours,
three hours, four hours...

1831
01:34:53,464 --> 01:34:55,466
is that reasonable, though,
in your mind, David?

1832
01:34:55,549 --> 01:34:57,301
It's worth the wait.
It's worth the wait.

1833
01:34:57,385 --> 01:34:59,553
Folks died for this right
that... I mean, you know,

1834
01:34:59,637 --> 01:35:01,639
so I would never take advantage
of it, you know, so...

1835
01:35:01,722 --> 01:35:02,723
I'm here for the long haul.

1836
01:35:02,807 --> 01:35:04,642
It's a life-and-death matter.

1837
01:35:04,725 --> 01:35:06,394
It really is.

1838
01:35:06,477 --> 01:35:08,020
It's not gonna be the courts
that save us.

1839
01:35:08,104 --> 01:35:09,897
It's not gonna be
the justices in their robes.

1840
01:35:09,980 --> 01:35:11,023
It's got to be the people.

1841
01:35:11,107 --> 01:35:12,900
If you were
to come out to vote,

1842
01:35:12,983 --> 01:35:14,735
we could elect
who we wanted to,

1843
01:35:14,819 --> 01:35:16,737
we could get done
what we wanted to,

1844
01:35:16,821 --> 01:35:19,031
and we could make sure
that our voice was heard.

1845
01:35:19,115 --> 01:35:20,616
The fight for voting rights

1846
01:35:20,700 --> 01:35:23,744
needs to be a defining
civil rights issue today.

1847
01:35:23,828 --> 01:35:26,038
The desire
to keep certain people

1848
01:35:26,122 --> 01:35:27,373
away from the polls,

1849
01:35:27,456 --> 01:35:30,334
it's a reality that we have to
be prepared to confront.

1850
01:35:30,418 --> 01:35:32,503
But unless we confront
that reality

1851
01:35:32,586 --> 01:35:34,714
and base actions
on that reality,

1852
01:35:34,797 --> 01:35:35,965
we won't make the progress

1853
01:35:36,048 --> 01:35:38,884
that we all want to make
in this country.

1854
01:35:40,845 --> 01:35:42,221
I believe in our democracy.

1855
01:35:42,304 --> 01:35:43,764
I believe in our nation.

1856
01:35:43,848 --> 01:35:45,349
And I think
our strongest patriotism

1857
01:35:45,433 --> 01:35:48,269
is a patriotism that says
that every voice matters

1858
01:35:48,352 --> 01:35:49,895
and that every vote counts

1859
01:35:49,979 --> 01:35:52,773
and that we will do everything
in our power to make it so.

1860
01:35:56,444 --> 01:35:58,654
Let's stop thinking
that our voice don't matter...

1861
01:35:58,738 --> 01:36:00,281
- That's right.
- ...and vote!

1862
01:36:00,364 --> 01:36:04,160
Educate yourself and know
who you're voting for.

1863
01:36:05,745 --> 01:36:08,539
Because it's a lot of us.

1864
01:36:08,622 --> 01:36:11,417
- It's a lot of us.
- That's right.

1865
01:36:11,500 --> 01:36:12,918
It's a lot of us!

1866
01:36:13,002 --> 01:36:14,670
It's a lot of us!

1867
01:37:32,081 --> 01:37:33,582
♪ The table 'bout to turn ♪

1868
01:37:38,254 --> 01:37:40,089
♪ The table 'bout to turn ♪

1869
01:37:44,927 --> 01:37:46,345
Register to vote.

1870
01:37:46,428 --> 01:37:48,264
Even if you think
you're already registered,

1871
01:37:48,347 --> 01:37:49,974
check your registration status.

1872
01:37:50,057 --> 01:37:53,185
Seriously, check to see
if you're registered to vote

1873
01:37:53,269 --> 01:37:55,729
at AllInTheFilm.com.

1874
01:37:55,813 --> 01:37:57,940
Don't be a victim
of voter purge.

1875
01:37:58,023 --> 01:38:01,861
If you're registered, make sure
the information is correct.

1876
01:38:01,944 --> 01:38:03,904
If not, update it.

1877
01:38:03,988 --> 01:38:06,198
♪ The table 'bout to turn ♪

1878
01:38:08,576 --> 01:38:11,412
Oh, and make sure
to keep your receipts.

1879
01:38:11,495 --> 01:38:12,746
Take a screenshot

1880
01:38:12,830 --> 01:38:15,749
so that no one can
deny your registration.

1881
01:38:15,833 --> 01:38:17,459
Get informed.

1882
01:38:17,543 --> 01:38:20,254
Find out what documents or I.D.

1883
01:38:20,337 --> 01:38:22,756
are required for you to vote
in your state

1884
01:38:22,840 --> 01:38:25,634
so that you will have time
to prepare to vote.

1885
01:38:25,718 --> 01:38:26,969
Make a plan.

1886
01:38:27,052 --> 01:38:30,264
Look up your polling place
and the time it's open

1887
01:38:30,347 --> 01:38:31,932
and how you're getting there

1888
01:38:32,016 --> 01:38:35,686
and what you can do
to stay safe if you're casting

1889
01:38:35,769 --> 01:38:39,481
your socially distanced vote
in person.

1890
01:38:39,565 --> 01:38:42,234
Some states allow any voter
to vote absentee.

1891
01:38:42,318 --> 01:38:44,653
Other states have
stricter requirements.

1892
01:38:44,737 --> 01:38:47,323
Head to AllInTheFilm.com
to find out

1893
01:38:47,406 --> 01:38:50,367
details about your state
and how to request a ballot.

1894
01:38:50,451 --> 01:38:54,371
Go to 2020Census. gov
and complete your census form.

1895
01:38:54,455 --> 01:38:56,749
Ensure that your community
is counted

1896
01:38:56,832 --> 01:38:58,667
and help combat gerrymandering.

1897
01:38:58,751 --> 01:39:02,796
And most importantly,
know your rights.

1898
01:39:02,880 --> 01:39:05,299
If the polls close
and you're in the line, man,

1899
01:39:05,382 --> 01:39:08,594
stay in the line because
you got the right to vote.

1900
01:39:08,677 --> 01:39:11,055
If you make a mistake on
your ballot, ask for a new one.

1901
01:39:11,138 --> 01:39:13,307
If the machines are down
at your polling place,

1902
01:39:13,390 --> 01:39:14,808
ask for a paper ballot.

1903
01:39:14,892 --> 01:39:16,936
If they can't find your name
on the voter rolls,

1904
01:39:17,019 --> 01:39:18,646
then ask for
a provisional ballot.

1905
01:39:18,729 --> 01:39:20,439
And if you run into
any problems

1906
01:39:20,522 --> 01:39:22,942
or have any questions
on Election Day,

1907
01:39:23,025 --> 01:39:25,611
call the
Election Protection Hotline:

1908
01:39:25,694 --> 01:39:27,988
866-OUR-VOTE.

1909
01:39:28,072 --> 01:39:29,949
- Think you got all that?
- Are you all in?

1910
01:39:30,032 --> 01:39:31,367
Perfect. Now...

1911
01:39:31,450 --> 01:39:33,202
Go and tell
literally everyone...

1912
01:39:33,285 --> 01:39:34,536
- Everyone.
- Everyone.

1913
01:39:34,620 --> 01:39:36,121
Everyone you know.

1914
01:39:36,205 --> 01:39:39,041
Literally everyone you know.

1915
01:39:40,209 --> 01:39:41,835
♪ Yeah, uh ♪

1916
01:39:41,919 --> 01:39:45,005
♪ I been flipping
through my timeline ♪

1917
01:39:45,089 --> 01:39:47,925
♪ Trying to get my mind right ♪

1918
01:39:48,008 --> 01:39:49,802
♪ My city cried out ♪

1919
01:39:49,885 --> 01:39:52,972
♪ I got to cool down,
but I'm under pressure ♪

1920
01:39:53,055 --> 01:39:55,599
♪ Cooking with my Crisco ♪

1921
01:39:55,683 --> 01:39:57,726
♪ Look at where my fist go ♪

1922
01:39:57,810 --> 01:40:00,396
♪ A renegade
when I'm in a rage ♪

1923
01:40:00,479 --> 01:40:03,190
♪ I got to cool down,
but I'm under pressure ♪

1924
01:40:03,273 --> 01:40:05,901
♪ I keep my hands dirty,
my mind clean ♪

1925
01:40:05,985 --> 01:40:09,405
♪ Got a new agenda
with a new dream, uh ♪

1926
01:40:09,488 --> 01:40:11,240
♪ I'm kicking out
the old regime ♪

1927
01:40:11,323 --> 01:40:14,284
♪ Liberation, elevation,
education ♪

1928
01:40:14,368 --> 01:40:16,620
♪ America, you a lie ♪

1929
01:40:16,704 --> 01:40:19,081
♪ But the whole world
'bout to testify ♪

1930
01:40:19,164 --> 01:40:21,792
♪ I said the whole world
'bout to touch the fire ♪

1931
01:40:21,875 --> 01:40:24,837
♪ And the tables 'bout to,
t-t-tables 'bout to ♪

1932
01:40:24,920 --> 01:40:28,465
- ♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪
- ♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

1933
01:40:28,549 --> 01:40:30,175
♪ Ain't gon' stop until they ♪

1934
01:40:30,259 --> 01:40:33,762
- ♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪
- ♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

1935
01:40:33,846 --> 01:40:35,472
♪ Now it's time for it to ♪

1936
01:40:35,556 --> 01:40:39,059
- ♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪
- ♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

1937
01:40:39,143 --> 01:40:40,811
♪ We can't wait for it to ♪

1938
01:40:40,894 --> 01:40:43,731
- ♪ Turn, turn ♪
- ♪ Yeah, the table 'bout to turn ♪

1939
01:40:43,814 --> 01:40:45,899
♪ Turn ♪

1940
01:40:45,983 --> 01:40:48,360
♪ It's a boomerang
booming back, yeah ♪

1941
01:40:48,444 --> 01:40:50,988
♪ You laid a egg,
now it's 'bout to hatch, yeah ♪

1942
01:40:51,071 --> 01:40:53,866
♪ You're gaslighting,
'bout to meet your match, uh ♪

1943
01:40:53,949 --> 01:40:56,994
♪ You fuck up the kitchen,
then you should do the dishes ♪

1944
01:40:57,077 --> 01:40:59,163
♪ Burning down
plantations, uh ♪

1945
01:40:59,246 --> 01:41:01,707
♪ Ain't no park and
I don't need no validation ♪

1946
01:41:01,790 --> 01:41:04,501
♪ I light sage
when I'm in a rage, uh ♪

1947
01:41:04,585 --> 01:41:07,588
♪ I don't need permission,
I got my intuition ♪

1948
01:41:07,671 --> 01:41:10,132
♪ Hands dirty, mind clean ♪

1949
01:41:10,215 --> 01:41:13,385
♪ A different vision
with a new dream, uh ♪

1950
01:41:13,469 --> 01:41:15,262
♪ We kicking out
the old regime ♪

1951
01:41:15,345 --> 01:41:17,765
♪ Liberation, elevation,
education ♪

1952
01:41:17,848 --> 01:41:20,601
♪ I said, America,
you's a lie ♪

1953
01:41:20,684 --> 01:41:23,062
♪ But the whole world
'bout to testify ♪

1954
01:41:23,145 --> 01:41:25,773
♪ I said the whole world
'bout to testify ♪

1955
01:41:25,856 --> 01:41:28,692
♪ We gon' watch the table,
now we gon' watch the table ♪

1956
01:41:28,776 --> 01:41:30,235
- ♪ T-Turn ♪
- ♪ Turn ♪

1957
01:41:30,319 --> 01:41:32,821
- ♪ Turn, turn ♪
- ♪ Turn, turn ♪

1958
01:41:32,905 --> 01:41:34,364
♪ That's right ♪

1959
01:41:34,448 --> 01:41:37,284
- ♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪
- ♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

1960
01:41:37,367 --> 01:41:39,453
♪ We waited too long,
you gotta ♪

1961
01:41:39,536 --> 01:41:43,123
- ♪ Turn, just turn, turn ♪
- ♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

1962
01:41:43,207 --> 01:41:44,917
♪ We see it all now ♪

1963
01:41:45,000 --> 01:41:47,461
- ♪ Turn, turn ♪
- ♪ Turn, said the table got to turn ♪

1964
01:41:47,544 --> 01:41:50,255
- ♪ Turn, tables, turn ♪
- ♪ Yeah ♪

1965
01:41:50,339 --> 01:41:52,800
♪ Turn, tables, turn ♪

1966
01:41:52,883 --> 01:41:58,263
♪ Turn, tables, turn,
turn, tables, turn ♪

1967
01:41:58,347 --> 01:42:00,891
♪ Turn, tables, turn ♪

1968
01:42:00,974 --> 01:42:06,313
♪ Turn, tables, turn,
turn, tables, turn ♪

1969
01:42:06,396 --> 01:42:09,108
♪ Turn, tables, turn ♪

1970
01:42:09,191 --> 01:42:10,859
♪ Turn. ♪