On the final night of the Democratic National Convention, Shomari Figures, who is running for Alabama’s newly drawn 2nd Congressional District, stepped on the stage to honor the legacy of civil rights heroes. He referenced U.S. Rep. John Lewis, whose work paved the way for voting rights.
He also pointed to other freedom fighters: his mother, Alabama state Sen. Vivian Figures, and his father, the late former Alabama state Sen. Michael Figures, who bankrupted the Ku Klux Klan.
“All of us owe a debt to courageous freedom fighters, both known and unknown,” Figures told the crowd. “What we can do is ensure that the work of those fighters who came before us continues and that our sacred right to vote is always protected.”
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia shifted the focus to a more serious conversation: gun violence. McBath rose as a national figure opposing gun violence after her son Jordan was shot and killed. On the DNC stage, she joined the parents who lost their children in school shootings in Texas, Connecticut, and South Carolina.
“Ours are stories of loss. But make no mistake: Our losses do not weaken us. They strengthen our resolve. We will secure safer futures that we all deserve,” McBath said
Later in the program, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore tipped his hat to fellow military veteran Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters of California helped to kick off the convention on Monday, connecting our country’s past and our present. In1964 Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights legend from Mississippi gave a rousing speech at the DNC and fought for Black equality.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas , who was a public defender, received a standing ovation after she shared how Harris welcomed her when she came to Congress.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia turned the podium into his pulpit and underscored the importance of protecting access to the ballot box.
The senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta won his runoff election on Jan. 5, 2021. Within 24 hours, insurrectionists laid siege to the U.S. Capitol. They hoped to overturn the 2020 presidential election after Trump’s allies fabricated lies about voter fraud in heavily Black cities.
“Behind the ‘Big Lie’ was an even bigger lie — it is the lie that this increasingly diverse American electorate does not get to determine the future of the country,” Warnock said. “The lie and the logic of Jan. 6 is a sickness. It is a kind of cancer that metastasized into voter suppression laws all across the country.”
This story has been updated.