Community Voices: Keep Fighting for Your Political Power

This editorial was written by Hon. Tommy Stallworth, former chair of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus and Detroit Caucus. Every American deserves to be respected and reflected by their government. The right to vote is about the ability to be seen and heard by people who make consequential decisions that impact your life, your family, and your community. It’s about real power. Right now, in Detroit—one of the Blackest cities in America—there is an effort underway funded by a group of nakedly partisan activists to strip away that power and deny people their fundamental, constitutional right to representation. In 2018, Michiganders voted overwhelmingly to establish an independent citizens redistricting commission and redraw the state’s House and Senate districts. In the first election with those new, fair maps in 2022, Democrats won the state house and senate after 40 years of Republican gerrymandering. All the work that happened in 2023 proved what happens when you have a legislature that respects and reflects the people—the people win. Led by the Joe Tate (D-Detroit), the first Black Speaker of the House, Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), the first woman Senate Majority Leader, and Sarah Anthony, the first Black woman to chair the Senate Appropriations...