A 'new civil rights movement' has to be built: it'll begin (again) in Selma

Fair Fight Action CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo (who's now been called to testify before a state Senate panel investigating the now-defunct New Georgia Project) joined me to vent over the state of civil rights & marginalized voter rights in a post-'Callais' environment. Lauren spoke of the need for a "new civil rights movement." Well, that new coalition is assembling Saturday in Selma - first at the Edmun Pettis bridge - with nearly a hundred organizations gathering to re-invigorate a civil rights movement that's seen a century of gains almost entirely wiped away in the last sixteen months. - - - Make no mistake: this isn't just about silencing Black voters. There's also been the targeted effort to eviscerate the Black middle class - starting with DOGE disproportionately terminating Black women from career federal jobs that, for generations, had been a 'safe haven' of sorts from hiring bias & pay discrepancies. It's not enough they want to dilute a Black family's voting power; they'd also taken aim at a Black woman's purchasing power, too. - - - It's no wonder, then, why Southern-born, Southern-raised Bakari Sellers 'lost his cool' as the smug Kevin O'Leary insisted Black people need to simply "get over it." Personally, I think Bakari showed great restraint.- - - Lastly, having recently binged 'Mad Men' and being - as many of you are - engulfed in 'The Handmaids' Tale' and it's spin-off, 'The Testaments,' I feel like both franchises provide some insights into what MAGA is taking women and minority women back to, but also the sort of Dystopian dream world the conservative patriarchy seems more closely aligned to than the diverse, expressive nation they currently live in.