Church buses and charter buses are heading to Selma and Montgomery for a ‘reclamation of power’

Organizers of mass gatherings in Selma and Montgomery Saturday to oppose redistricting plans aimed at ousting Black members of Congress say their numbers continue to swell along with a rising roster of national figures.More than 100 buses are expected to carry people from Alabama and as far away as Ohio to participate in the “National Day of Action for Voting Rights.” Protesters are expected to demonstrate outrage over efforts by Alabama’s Republican majority to redraw lines of congressional districts 7 and district 1 to favor mostly Republican voters, who are mostly White. Those seats are currently held by Black Democrats.“This is not a protest,” Latosha Brown of Black Voters Matter said during a virtual town hall Wednesday night. “This is a reclamation of our power for us to get centered.”Brown’s group is the central organizing organization for Saturday’s activities.The virtual town hall was convened by Bishop Julius H. McAllister Jr., who leads all 250 AME churches in Alabama. McAllister is among a group of religious leaders united in calling for participation.AL.com has learned that among the roster Saturday are prominent figures including the Rev. Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., activist Bishop William Barber and Rev. Jamal Bryant.“Selma and Montgomery are sacred ground in the struggle for freedom, and this is not a moment for silence or passivity,” King wrote on Facebook Thursday. “The movement is not over. We must stay organized, mobilized, and committed to protecting our rights, our voices, and our future.”Bryant is pastor of the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, which also has a branch in Birmingham.Bryant has gained fame for using his pulpit to deliver fiery sermons that highlight political and social issues. He’s also called for boycotting corporations that he deems as unfair or insensitive to Black communities.Bryant recently took to social media to announce his plans to travel to Alabama.The U.S. Supreme Court late Monday removed an injunction preventing districting changes in Alabama and sent the case back to a three-judge panel.The Alabama Legislature is now seeking a special election and new lines that would give the Republican majority in the state an even greater advantage. The fate of that action remains up to the Birmingham-based federal three-judge panel. “We have entered the civil rights era 2.0. Every state that represented the confederate south has declared war on black representation and voices,” Bryant wrote on Facebook. “Marching is not enough but taking a stand and voting is the beginning. Join me in Montgomery Saturday at 1 pm on the steps of the capitol!”Bryant also produced a video urging people to meet him at Alabama’s Capital. “Something is sprouting out across the South and the revolution is coming to America at warp speed,” Bryant says in his video. “The South is going to stir when they thought we were going to fold. They’re wrong again.”The day of activities comes a week after the Alabama Legislature held a special session to approve plans to redraw lines that would eliminate one of the state’s two Democratic majority legislative districts and pare down the other.In addition to high-profile names, orgiazers and participants are calling for a coalition that is diverse in both race and age.“We’ve got to lean into our creativity and our spirituality,” said Rev. Stephen A. Green, pastor of The Greater Allen AME Cathedral of New York during a virtual town hall meeting Wednesday night. “It’s so important that we teach young people how to organize, how to build collective power, how to engage in non-violent resistance.”State leaders say they are justified by the recent Supreme Court ruling in a Louisiana case that has set off a flurry of redistricting moves in several states - particularly Southern states controlled by Republicans.While opponents characterize plans by Alabama Republican leaders as racist because they dilute Black voting power, GOP leaders maintain that their efforts are purely partisan, which are allowed by law.Birmingham attorney Allen Perkins, who is a constitutional law expert and longtime professor at the Birmingham School of Law, calls it wrong to simplify Alabama’s redistricting battles to racial statistics.“Justice Clarence Thomas has long argued that mandating majority-minority districts relies on an offensive, fundamentally flawed assumption: that Black citizens are politically monolithic and uniformly prefer candidates of their own race,” Perkins said. “This patronizing view strips voters of their individuality and diverse political convictions.”He agrees with the GOP efforts to restore the older 2023 maps.“The Equal Protection Clause demands a colorblind Constitution, not maps drawn on the prejudiced premise that race dictates political thought.”To the contrary, Perkins said true equality means treating all Alabamians as independent thinkers, not predictable racial blocs.Participation Saturday is expected to be widespread across the lines of those who oppose redistricting efforts. In one example, the nonprofit Children’s Defense Fund announced plans to provide bus transportation for people from Huntsville to Selma and Montgomery.“There are moments history will not excuse,” said CDF board chairman Don Darius Butler, who also pastors The Concord Fellowship of Huntsville. “All Roads Lead to the South names this hour as one that demands moral courage, unflinching presence, and direct action. Silence will only sustain harm, and delay will only deny our collective responsibility. The time to act is not coming. It is here.”Organizers selected Selma and Montgomery as a nod to the role those cities played in passing the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was created to end the disenfranchisement of Black voters and increase voting participation and representation among Blacks.