Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
On the 60th anniversary of the 1961 Freedom Rides from Washington, D.C., through the South, UNITE HERE will join Black Voters Matter in the Freedom Ride for Voting Rights. As voter suppression laws targeting people of color sweep the nation, this multiracial coalition will conduct a voter outreach campaign to protect the freedom to vote. Launching on June 18, over 1,500 hospitality workers and allies from more than 15 cities across the country will travel by bus to the nation’s capital for a major mobilization on June 26 and stop in key cities for events along the way. The coalition is demanding that the U.S. Senate pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
“UNITE HERE hospitality workers made huge sacrifices to get out the vote and take back our country for the people. We won’t stand by and let racist voter suppression laws move us backward,” said D. Taylor, international president of UNITE HERE. “We are committed to protect our democracy so that it is representative for all people, not just a privileged few.”