Black Voters Plan Next Steps After 2020 GA Primary Election

ATLANTA, GA — Protests have taken place nationwide since the death of George Floyd on May 25 in police custody in Minnesota, and Atlanta activists are now focused on what the next step is to change the system. Floyd's death — along with the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery in coastal Georgia, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and other African Americans — have stirred up unrest, anger and deep sadness for black people in Atlanta and around the world.

For 12 consecutive days, protesters in Atlanta have marched, held rallies and urged people to vote. Local officials and political organizers have stressed the importance of casting one’s ballot. So as primary election day came to a close Tuesday in Georgia, many African Americans pondered the question, “What’s next ” and “Where do we go from here?”

DeKalb Young Democrats President, Cindy Thomas, also the former Lithonia mayoral candidate, said that after the polls close, people need to shift their focus to the local level. She said this is the time to get involved with city councils and demand that police departments are transformed. State and local governments spent $115 billion on policing in 2017, according to data compiled by the Urban Institute.

She said the recent instances of police brutality show the urgent need for reform.

“The police were originally formed for purposes that were racist and hateful,” Thomas said. “We haven't reformatted their purpose. So the purpose is no longer to capture innocent black men and do bad things to them, their purpose is to literally serve us to protect us.”

Thomas is also urging all Americans and residents of Georgia to not lose momentum. The fight should be for demands such as reparations and reform for the criminal justice system, she said.

“What can you do at your local county jail? What is to be done there? Have you gone and seen the conditions there? Are they clean? Are they being treated fairly?" Thomas asked.

“What I'm hoping is that whoever wins the positions of judge and sheriff, that they really take it to the next level, clean things up, get things real straight, and just show how people of color are not criminals, but they're intelligent, creative, great people.”

On May 31 at a protest, Tiffany Roberts, the community engagement and movement building counsel for the Southern Center for Human Rights and a member of JUSTGeorgia, said the organization is seeking justice in the wake of the fatal shooting of Arbery. Three white men now face murder charges in his death.

"We're asking for holistic reforms and social transformation that decriminalize black people in this country," Roberts said. "We're not stopping at a verdict."

The change that African Americans want to see will come through legal reforms, she said.

The organization seeks to repeal the state's Citizen's Arrest Statute, which has allowed Georgians to arrest one another since the Civil War era in 1863. A prosecutor cited the law to justify the killing of Arbery.

They also want to block the governor's proposed gang legislation, HB994.

Changes To State Laws

Pushing for a reparations’ package to be passed and enacted this year is equally important, Thomas said.

“Slavery is the biggest sin that our country has ever committed. This right now is our moment. Reparations should have been given a long time ago. We are in this state because we did not finish what was started. Promises were not upheld and we did not hold our country accountable for their sins.”

This election year is crucial, Thomas said. Along with choosing a president, Georgians will elect a U.S. senator, members of Congress, and local political officials in November.

“The fate of the free world is at stake. This election is really going to show us the morals and values of our country and the quality of people. We have to get past the skin color and the ‘Are you this?’ or ‘Are you that?’ Just get to basic human decency.”

The issues that black people are protesting against and demanding to change should touch people from all backgrounds no matter political views, race or ethnicity, Thomas said. On the state level, that’s where state representatives come in, she said.

“There need to be very clear consequences for police officers when they choose to harm citizens,” Thomas said. “They should be putting together different bills that would make things like killing an unarmed man illegal. These issues are bipartisan. It isn't a white or black thing. It's a human being thing.”

Last Friday, elected officials joined protesters and several groups for a peaceful Black Lives Matters march in Atlanta. Commissioner Natalie Hall urged people to get out to the polls, encouraging voters to push for two bills – HB426 to address hate crimes and HB636 for use of excessive force.

The Metro Atlanta Uprising Task Force was also promoted. It's a new city task force that will create a public database to track police brutality in metro Atlanta. A town hall is being planned and more information will be released at a later date.

Councilman Antonio Brown, District 3, said it's for residents, advocates and organizers to have their voices heard. The Atlanta police, elected officials, and the governor's office will work together to create solutions.

Election Day Problems

On Tuesday, June 9 voters in Atlanta experienced issues at the polls as they cast ballots for president, Congress, and state legislative seats. Many reported long wait times, malfunctioning machines or none at all. Tuesday was the primary election for Georgia voters and according to several reports, it didn’t go as planned, with long lines and voting machine malfunctions.

Matthew Sease said he arrived at Cedar Grove Elementary School close to 6:30 a.m. and immediately experienced problems.

“It started out really, really bad,” he said, "and I'm not blaming the people because they were very nice, but they were operating on a machine that they never operated before, and it had a malfunction.”

There were also long lines that he said wrapped around the building. It took over an hour to get through the doors.

While waiting, Sease said he felt the urge to show some kindness so he began letting the seniors in line get in front of him. As more showed up, he decided to take their phone number, give them a number to hold their place in line and sent them to their vehicles to wait. After his turn he came back and let everyone know what’s expected of them once they get inside.

“I begged everybody, please, stay, please stay,” he said. “I said by not voting it’s slapping our ancestors and people who died for us to pave the way for us to vote in the face.”

He also left for the store and brought back bottles of water to pass out.

“I just wanted people to vote, to stick around,” he said.

What he’d like to see from the black community after Election Day is everyone coming together, children too, to hold monthly discussions.

“We have to make it a movement because if we stop right now we are going to relax and forget,” Sease said.

“Gov. Kemp you get an ‘F’"

Georgia State Rep. Derrick Jackson (D-64) went live throughout the primary election day on Facebook updating about the long wait times. At 12:30 a.m. he said there were people who had been waiting for six hours and longer to vote.

“We’re going to continue to fight the fight. This will not happen in November so secretary of state, Gov. Kemp, y’all have to get this together because we’re not going to have this in November,” Jackson said. “Gov. Kemp you get an ‘F,’ secretary of state, you get an ‘F.’ This was unsatisfactory. Georgians deserve better...makes no sense at all for citizens to be out here at 12:30 a.m. to vote. It’s their right, it’s their civic duty to vote.”

He said what they experienced is a repeat from previous election years.

“It’s our jobs as leaders, real leaders, [to] identify the problem and then you solve it, it’s that easy. We can’t continue to have the same reasons every two years. This is some of the same lessons we continue to re-learn from 2018, 2016, 2014, it’s just a different year. This makes no sense, Georgians demand better. We must do better.”

He said of the 10 machines, only five were operable and they were short-staffed and out of paper.

The police were also called on him and his group who were there to help voters who had been waiting hours.

“Seven police cars to tell us to vacate the premises, the premises that people have been out here for six, seven, eight hours to vote and the police were called on us,” he said to viewers. “They said we’re the protesters that’s trying to impede people from voting.”

Jackson, Sen. Nikema Williams (D-39) and others were out passing out water, pizza and encouraging people to stay in line. In the video he says he doesn’t know who called the police on them or why. There were about 20 voters still left.

“We made a pledge to be out here until the last voter leaves,” he said. “As long as they got in line before 9 p.m. it’s their right to vote.”

Jackson said they called the mayor and chief of police to inform them of the situation, which his group worked on de-escalating.

Next Steps

In another part of Georgia, a peaceful protest took place. Jan Reynolds-Jones, the owner of Icon Models & Talent Studio, located inside Stonecrest Mall, organized the event with Matthew Sease. Protesters gathered at Centennial Olympic Park and marched towards the capitol.

“I've never seen so much support in my life,” she said, commenting on how everyone has come together over the last week and a half in this fight for justice. “I am a Baby Boomer and I lived through the Black Panther era.

“Now's the time for we the people of the United States to stand together and make our leaders represent us accordingly.”

She was told to stay home because she has a greater chance at contracting COVID-19 because of her age. The risk wasn’t enough to keep her away, she said.

“I had to come out and be a part of this.”

She wants millennials and Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, to remember their history as a people.

“We can’t forget where we came from,” Jones said. “You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you came from.”

Black people have to do more than march, she said.

“We have to have plans. We have to boycott. We need to support our own.”

Sean Price, who works in the film industry, attended the event. He said he agrees.

“Black people spend trillions a year. We take our money back, that’s power. We have to organize the biggest boycott ever.”

Price said he’s looking for a real call to action and hasn’t seen one yet.

“I came out here to film, but I have enough footage, it’s time for me to start speaking.”

He voted and said he took down the names of everyone he voted for.

“Tomorrow, whoever’s elected, wherever you live at, show up at their office or home and list your demands, watch them because we aren’t playing any games,” he said, adding that people need to do their research on the questions that are posed on the ballot.

There was a question on the ballot about the money bail system.

Should our criminal justice system end discriminatory cash bail systems that allow the wealthy to buy their way out of jail while devastating lower income Georgia?

Advocates have said that eliminating bail would help make the system fairer for low income people, who, statistically, are far more likely to get stuck in jail while awaiting trial, NBC News reports. Many borrow from bondsmen, pushing them further into debt, compared to the wealthy who are able to avoid pretrial detention.

In January, New York passed a law eliminating pretrial detention and cash bail in cases involving most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony charges.

“No one can give us justice but us.”

Some in the black community believe that fighting for equality is useless. Instead, they argue that it would be better if blacks had their own.

“We need our own nation,” said Freddie Joseph, who attended the protest. “We need our own schools. We need our own banks because we’ve been integrating in [this country] for almost 50 years, and nothing much has really changed.”

“Right now, in the United States, what we need is to come together and make decisions for ourselves. Nobody is coming to save us. We must save ourselves. No one can give us justice but us.”

Another protester, Chris, said he agrees.

“We need to fight for independence, not justice or equality because we ain't gonna get it,” he said.

He said the marches are a good first start, but not enough.

“We can’t act off emotion, but we need to be proactive,” he said. “All of this is cool for a first step of the process, but what is the end goal? What is the permanent solution, not the temporary fix?”

“We Are Done Dying”

Georgia’s legislative session starts back Monday. The Georgia NAACP is hosting a march at 9 a.m. at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building.

They released a statement on Wednesday addressing the election, recent events and next steps.

After weeks of protests and now a failed election, we are leading a direct action on the first day of the General Assembly’s return to the State Capitol. We must confront and address the systemic criminal justice and electoral failures immediately and with the upmost urgency as they continue to lead to the dehumanization, disenfranchisement and death of too many Georgians.

As the legislative session starts back next Monday, we will use the Constitutional right to assembly to demand state legislators address our legislative demands and ensure criminal justice reform, repealing citizen’s arrest, stopping voter suppression and ending police violence against our communities as well as stopping harmful anti-voting rights bill SB 463.

We are done dying. It’s going to take real effort on the part of every elected official in the Georgia General Assembly to do their part to protect every single Georgian and ensure that this becomes a state that such a disheartening reality is of no more.