Jerry Hawkins will moderate a discussion about voting rights: where do things stand at the federal, state, and local levels after the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, what are some paths forward to fix the mess, and how can we all help — as citizens and members of a faith community. 

OUR PANELISTS

Nina Perales, Vice President of Litigation, Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF). Tried, and argued successfully before the U.S. Supreme Court, LULAC v. Perry, the first case in which the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Latino vote dilution claim under the Voting Rights Act.

Ramiro Luna, Executive Director, Somos Tejas. Luna is a civil rights activist, community organizer, Immigration Reform advocate, and political campaigner. Luna was a co-founder of the North Texas Dream Team, which successfully lobbied President Obama to sign the 2012 Executive Order implementing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — which had failed to pass Congress as the DREAM Act following a Republican filibuster. 

Rev. Dr. Danielle Ayers, Pastor of Justice – Friendship-West Baptist Church; Co-Founder – Black Faith Coalition. At Friendship-West, Dr. Ayers coordinates social justice work by the church’s more than 12,000 members, including extensive voter engagement efforts. Friendship-West holds voter registration drives and answer congregants’ questions about elections, produces voting guides, holds candidate forums, helps recruit election judges and clerks, and organizes rides to the polls.

Childcare is available for this event. Please click here to register for childcare.