“All Roads Lead to the South” rally brings thousands to downtown Montgomery
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – Thousands of demonstrators came to Montgomery Saturday to voice their opposition to the newly redrawn congressional map in Alabama.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Alabama’s redrawn congressional map, and it has sparked outrage among many voters. The “All Roads Lead to the South” rally brought in thousands to the birthplace of the Civil Rights era movement of 1965.
The massive event brought in over 275 different organizations which included the NAACP and the Black Lives Matter organization. Dozens of Alabama State Representatives, Senators, and Montgomery city leaders attended, also in attendance was U.S. Representative Terri Sewell and U.S. Representative Shomari Figures.
Other prominent national Democrat leaders such as New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were also in the capital city urging voters to fight back.
“Every single day we go to fight, and we go to bat for you guys with the support of everyone here on this stage. We call Alabama home. We know what we’ve been through. People tell us that we are not who we once were. That is true, but we certainly aren’t where we need to be. We’re not going back,” said U.S Representative from Alabama, Shomari Figures.
“I am a young man that remembers where I came from. We all must remember now that this is sacred civic soil that we are standing on. They told our ancestors that democracy could not grow here, but with their hands, and their toiling in the hot sun and dark nights, they planted the seeds of the fruit we now enjoy,” said Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey.
“It is time for the North to pull up to the South. It is time for New York to pull up to Alabama. It is time for all of us to come to Georgia, to Louisiana, to Tennessee, to Mississippi, and let them know exactly what they have uncorked with this injustice. They think they can draw us out of power, but they do not know the sleeping giant that they just awakened,” said U.S. Representative from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The message reverberated throughout the entire day by speakers and demonstrators was “we’re not going back.”
