The Urgency of the 2024 Election for Black Voters of Faith

Near dusk late last month, under an awning in Jackson, Mississippi, we bowed our heads in prayer. Our group was diverse: Black, white, women and men, Northerners, Southerners, Midwesterners, persons hailing from the Pacific Northwest.

An Attorney. A Pastor. A Hip-hop artist. Baby Boomers. Generation-Xers. Millennials. And there was blood beneath our feet. The bloodshed was not new. Yet, its presence heightened our urgency.

On June 12, 1963, around midnight, a bullet entered Medgar Evers’ back, ripped open his chest, and invaded his home. Despite his mortal wound, Evers attempted to reach his front door, dragging his body on the ground. Myrlie, his wife, found him dying near the front steps.

When juxtaposed, Medgar Evers’ life of service and sacrifice stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s vitriolic rhetoric and current ideas for America.

Evers’ blood painted the pavement red. Pools of blood left stains. Over 60 years later, as a group of us from the progressive evangelical organization Vote Common Good prayed, those stains remained visible on the pavement.

Evers once said, “You can kill a man, but you can’t kill an idea.” While gathered amid bloodshed, it was painfully clear that we still have a long way to go to perfect our union. Still, Evers’ great hope, the idea that we can and that we must become a nation that makes the promise of democracy accessible to all, is an idea that lives on. It is the very idea that brought us to Evers’ doorstep earlier this fall.

While our journey to Medgar Evers’ home further heightened our sense of urgency to work to mobilize voters to vote for the common good in this general election, our urgency was already heightened as these are consequential times. America has a major decision to make. Either send Donald Trump, a man who does not respect the rule of law and who conspired to overturn our last election, back to the White House, or elect Vice President Kamala Harris, a proven public servant, who, when elected, would possess more day-one experience than any other president over the past three decades.

When juxtaposed, Medgar Evers’ life of service and sacrifice stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s vitriolic rhetoric and current ideas for America. After three years of distinguished service in the U.S. Army while fighting in during World War II, Evers returned home and graduated from Alcorn State, one of our nation's finest historically Black colleges and universities. Trump routinely diminishes the sacrifices of our military, labeling those who die in battle as “losers.” And Trump’s idea to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education would end federal student lending and crush the dreams of low-income students—especially Black and brown students—who seek a college education.

Evers fought to secure rights for and to protect and improve the lives of Black Americans. Trump’s nominated judges, including those now serving on our nation’s highest court, are rapidly overturning rights, from abortion rights (which since Roe v. Wade ended in 2022 has resulted in increased childbirth deaths per 100,000 Black women in Texas from 31.6 to 43.6) to affirmative action.

Tragically, during Evers’ funeral, Black mourners were beaten by police in the streets. Trump’s big idea for the police is to grant federal immunity from prosecution. Trump has also voiced support for returning to the days of stop-and-frisk, which terrorized Black and brown communities.

Conversely, Vice President Kamala Harris embodies many aspects of Evers’ life and ideas. Harris has already brought nearly $170 billion in student debt relief for almost 5 million borrowers. And Harris, an HBCU graduate, has provided significant support to HBCUs. Harris will sign the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to enshrine voting rights for all Americans as soon as it reaches her desk in the Oval Office. And it is important to remember that Sen. Harris introduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to reform policing in America.

For Black lives, for the survival of democracy, the decision could not be any clearer. Yet, some are still undecided. If only they could have journeyed with us to Jackson, Mississippi, to bear witness to Evers’ blood, I believe they would have a moment of clarity.

Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now…This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.” November 6 will be a critically important day for America. It will be the day after we saved democracy. Or it will be the day after we handed a match and gasoline to a madman to burn it down.

At the end of our prayer there in Jackon, I looked again at the blood. Then I turned to depart with my colleagues to do all we can to honor Evers’ sacrifice. Most assuredly, to do this: Turn out the vote.

And, most assuredly, we must ensure that Kamala Harris becomes the next president of the United States of America.