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Politicsnation With Al Sharpton - Season Episode 32
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00:06Tonight, we look to a very different America for millions of voters, specifically black
00:13voters, who just watched our conservative Supreme Court eviscerate the Voting Rights
00:19Act with last week's ruling against Louisiana voting maps.
00:24That ruling, calling the maps an illegal racial gerrymander, has unleashed Republican state
00:31lawmakers across the South to fast-track redistricting at President Trump's demand.
00:38And legal combat from both sides have followed in Louisiana, where voters and voter advocates
00:45have sued the state over the suspension of its U.S. House primaries following the court's
00:52decision.
00:53Early voting in that election began this weekend, and the expected chaos seems like
01:00a prelude to what we can expect six months out from a midterm election that will determine
01:06not just the nation's direction, but whether black and brown representation isn't stamped
01:13out across the country.
01:15Joining me now, Congressman Cleo Fields, one of the two Democrats, Democratic Congress
01:22members serving in the state of Louisiana.
01:25Congressman Fields, we appreciate you joining us again.
01:28You were with us here on the show last weekend ahead of the court decision on the K-Lay, on
01:36K-Lay. And you were hopeful at that time that the ruling might not be as bad as some of
01:43us
01:43feared it would be. Now that it's come down, what's your reaction? And have you seen what's
01:50followed from Republicans in just the past few days?
01:55Well, first of all, let me thank you, Reverend Al Sharpton, for having me today. And you're
02:00absolutely right. I was much more optimistic than many members in the civil rights community.
02:04I was wrong. They were right. I just had hope. I had hoped that the Supreme Court would rule the
02:11right way, and they did not. The aftermath is just unconscionable. I mean, the Secretary of State
02:17here in Louisiana has decided to just toss out ballots, decided to, you know, stop an election
02:24that was already in process. The Supreme Court never said that the election should not go forward.
02:30But the Secretary of State, along with the governor, decided to halt the election,
02:35even after sending 100,000 ballots to people, many overseas. Many people have already voted in this
02:42election. Candidates are already qualified in this election. And to halt it at the last minute before
02:48you even give the litigants their last say. Because according to the Supreme Court own rules 44.1,
02:56the adverse party has 25 days to file for a rehearings. So, I mean, there's really technically
03:03no final judgment from the Supreme Court yet. And but the Louisiana government has decided to move
03:11forward. And that's I think that's in poor case. And I think it's untimely. And lawsuits have been
03:17filed against it. Now, now staying with that, Louisiana voters, Democratic candidates and lawmakers
03:24and several civil rights groups have sued your Republican governor, Jeff Landry, over his order
03:30last week to suspend Louisiana's U.S. House primaries following the ruling, even though the ruling can be
03:37appealed and and we have not seen the effects. And even though people have already voted early voting in
03:44this primary, this the approaches are different. But the thrust is the same that Landry overstepped his
03:52authority under state law. One of the suits were was brought by Democrats in the Louisiana legislature,
04:00including members of the state's legislative black caucus. Since it's your district that's at state,
04:07has your office been in touch with them or any of the other plaintiffs in any of these lawsuits?
04:13Oh, absolutely. We've been in touch with, in fact, all of the the parties in terms of those who have
04:22filed lawsuits. In fact, we have joined one of the lawsuits as recent as today. I mean, listen,
04:29you just can't disenfranchise people from voting in Louisiana. You know, people have already voted and
04:37it's just atrocity to just take away. Think you have the right to just take away the right to vote.
04:42And that was the biggest argument about this lawsuit to begin with. You know, voters brought
04:48this lawsuit saying that they were disenfranchised under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution,
04:53which was not the case. You know, Louisiana's minority population, as you know, Reverend Sharpton,
04:59is over 33 percent black. You know, there were other ways the district could have been created.
05:05Politics drove the creation of this district, made it look the way it looked. And and and I mean,
05:13and look, you can't appeal the Supreme Court's ruling. Obviously, it's the final say of the court,
05:18but the Supreme Court has rules. And 44.1 says, you know, it's not a final ruling until the time
05:26delays
05:27passed. And we got 25 days since the day of the ruling to file for a rehearing. And the state
05:34decided
05:34to just halt the election. And I think that was, you know, unconscionable, un-American. You know,
05:40I mean, it was just the wrong thing to do. And I would hope that we prevail in that from
05:45that
05:46perspective. And they're halting the election, even though some people have already voted.
05:50But several states, both blue and red, have taken up this redistricting in in the last year. But many
05:58of them have gone through a voter referendum, putting the question before the people, even in
06:04some states led by Republicans. What do you take from Landry trying to do this through executive order
06:11versus a ballot measurement? And and will it stand, Congressman? I don't think it will. I really
06:18don't. I really don't think it will stand because people had already started voting. First of all,
06:24candidates had already qualified to vote. People had already received their early voting ballots.
06:31Many people in Louisiana had already turned in their early voting ballots. Military people,
06:38personnel who lives outside of the country, overseas, had sent some of their ballots in. Over 100,000
06:46people had already received their ballots. The election started Saturday, yesterday. And there
06:53was just no reason to halt it. The Supreme Court did not say that the election couldn't be held under
06:59this voting map this term. And it was too late to change it, quite frankly. But the state chose to
07:08do it, halt the election anyway. And I think it was wrong. I think it was untimely. And I think,
07:14you know, we should win on that on those. I don't think it can be overstated just how existential of
07:21a crisis this is for black elected officials like yourself and others whose districts are now
07:28endangered because while Democrats could possibly redraw a blue state map to make up for Republican
07:35gains in a red state like Louisiana, there's no guarantee that it would go to a black lawmaker.
07:42It and I it'll still do nothing to grow black representation in the form of Confederacy.
07:51What does this mean for our country's future if we can't stop this somehow?
07:56I mean, it's like a post reconstruction, quite frankly. I mean, it's reconstruction all over again.
08:02It's it's taken away a privilege, a right that African-Americans and other minorities have had,
08:10you know, since the passage of the 14th, I mean, 15th Amendment of the Constitution. And then
08:1560 years ago, the passage of the Voting Rights Act. We don't have subsection five, which is something we
08:21always depended on as litigants, as lawmakers. We depended on the federal government coming to our
08:29defense when states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama passed laws that disenfranchised our vote.
08:36We can't depend on that anymore. And now they have taken away section two for the most part,
08:42you know, which is vote dilution. So we really, in my view, don't have a Voting Rights Act anymore.
08:47We got to pass a new one and we got to make it clear and unambiguous. And we need to
08:52make,
08:53you know, make sure that the court leaves nothing, leave nothing for the court's interpretation.
08:59It's that black voters, minority voters back centuries in this country. And it is it is absolutely
09:08terrible. And I say to people all the time, the issue is not, rather not, I serve another day in
09:14Congress. That's not the issue. The issue is, will a person like me look who looks like me have the
09:21opportunity to serve in Congress and not just Congress in the state legislatures. They're next
09:28city councils, local school boards all over this country are now, you know, a free season. They
09:36are under attack. I mean, they have no protections from the federal government, which is something we
09:42have always had the benefit of. You know, we had the right to vote, but states like Louisiana,
09:48Mississippi, Alabama, and other Southern states prohibit us from voting by having, you know,
09:54prerequisites, literacy tests, how many bubbles in a bar of soap, you know, state to preamma to the
10:00constitution. And that's, that's why they passed the Voting Rights Act to give minorities that real
10:06right to, to vote. And it should be unimpeded, shouldn't be impeded at all. And now we don't have
10:14the protection of the Voting Rights Act. And it's a very terrible thing, uh, particularly for people
10:19who live in the Southern part of our country. All right. Thank you, Congressman Cleo Fields being
10:25with us. The Supreme court's latest blow to the Voting Rights Act is raising urgent questions about
10:31black political power and who gets a fair chance to represent their communities. Make no mistake.
10:38This is a huge setback. On the other hand, black candidates and black women in particular
10:45have already proven they can win far beyond majority black districts. Only about a dozen
10:52of the 60 current CBC congressional black caucus members represent majority black districts.
10:59And the number of women in the caucus now, the black caucus now stands at 31 to continue the
11:06conversation. We're joined by Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Presley and California
11:12Congresswoman Sydney Kamlaga Dove. Thank you both for being with us. Congresswoman Kamlaga Dove,
11:22how does this ruling impact black representation in Congress and what should be done about it?
11:30Well, first of all, uh, Reverend Sharpton, I just want to say how important your voice is in this
11:36moment, given your history in the movement, uh, as representative field said, this is a devastating
11:43blow, uh, to black voters, to minority voters. Uh, that is why the congressional black caucus is going
11:49to be making its way down to Louisiana to remind voters that they still have an obligation to fight
11:56and that we are going to meet this moment in the courts, as well as in the streets. You know,
12:01Clarence Thomas hopefully should find a piece of his black self and come on down to Louisiana with us.
12:07But it is important to note that many of us that are African Americans in Congress do not represent
12:13majority, uh, minority seats. We are doing the work of all of the people, Republicans, Democrats,
12:21black folks, white folks, Asian folks, Brown folks. And when we do our jobs, we are fighting for everyone
12:28and that the tide rises, uh, for all of the boats. And so we still have an obligation to remind
12:34folks
12:35that yes, you have, uh, you, your power is in your vote. And if you level the playing field,
12:41if you allow it to be equal, then let the candidate, let all of the candidates run and leave it
12:47to the
12:48voters to decide who is going to represent them the best. That's what I have had to do in all
12:53of my
12:53time in elected office. I've been honored to represent, uh, uh, districts that are incredibly
12:59diverse, but I am serving all of the people, not just black people. This suggests that the court
13:06either only wants us to serve black people or don't want us to serve anyone. And either way you slice
13:12it, it is wrong and unconstitutional. Congresswoman Presley, same question to you. How should we be
13:18reacting to this? Well, it is a devastating ruling and it's just important to bear in mind that, uh,
13:26when the voting rights act was passed, the whole point was to write a wrong. Uh, Dr. Martha King
13:31Jr. Said that it was a victory for black America, but it would enrich the lives of all Americans.
13:37So this is a devastating blow. Um, that being said, um, you know, Rev, it is, uh, in many ways,
13:44uh, predictable and as black people, we have pattern recognition here. Uh, the Trump administration
13:49and their hostilities and their, uh, anti-black agenda have been, uh, unrelenting and coordinated
13:55in their attacks on, uh, black workers, uh, on black bodies, on black voters, on black power,
14:03black progress. I mean, uh, the secretary of war, Pete Hexas was just before the Senate and would not
14:10even agree to not deploy uniform military to our polling places. If given that directive by Donald
14:20Trump, and let's just remember, even with the, uh, operation, uh, surge in Minneapolis, um, with
14:27aggressive ice enforcement and loss of life in the midst of that, Donald Trump said, we'll, we'll pull
14:34back if you give us the roles. So this is democracy and disenfranchising the most marginalized because
14:44we are the supermajority and that bothers them. But black folks are going to do what we've always
14:49done, what Bob Moses did, what Fannie Lou Hamer did. Um, we're going to, we're going to litigate,
14:56legislate, agitate, organize, and mobilize for our full rights and citizenship. And we're going to
15:03force a vote, Congressional Black Caucus. We will force a house vote on the John Lewis Voting Rights
15:09Advancement Act. These folks across the aisle, Rev, they quote John Lewis all the time. They quote Dr.
15:14King all the time. And they work actively to degrade their legacy and their work by trying to erase
15:20black history, to erase black voters, to erase black progress, to erase black people. But you
15:26cannot erase us. Congresswoman Kamalaga, uh, Dove, this voting rights case is not the only major matter
15:35before this conservative Supreme Court. Since Friday's access to, uh, uh, to the, uh, Mephistophon,
15:44uh, uh, by mail has been blocked after a federal appeals court ruling. And now the drug makers are
15:53asking the Supreme Court to step in for women across this country, especially poor women and women in
16:00states, hostile to abortion rights. What does it mean when the courts are not only rolling back
16:06voting rights, but also reaching into decisions about reproductive health care?
16:13So this is also, Rev, you know, the same, uh, Supreme Court that delivered the Dobbs decision of the
16:20reversal of Roe v. Wade, uh, and the basically obliterating section two of the Voting Rights Act. I, I have
16:27zero confidence in this Supreme Court and the majority of American people have zero confidence
16:32in this Supreme Court. This is supposed to be a court that protects the rights of Americans
16:37and not takes away the rights of Americans. You are seeing this with this recent decision
16:42from the first, from the fifth circuit, which basically says that now you're no longer able
16:48to mail Mifepristone to a patient. The patient will have to come in person to receive that kind of
16:54medication. Studies show studies show that telehealth medicine works and in states that are inhospitable
17:02to women who need reproductive care, this is going to be devastating. I am co-chair of Planned
17:09Parenthood in Los Angeles, and we are going to fight this in the courts. We are definitely going to
17:14appeal it, but we are also going to continue to make sure that we meet patients where they are
17:19and deliver them the care that they need so that these women, when they are searching for
17:25reproductive health care, when they are managing through a miscarriage and need medical support,
17:30that they have the reproductive health care that they need, that they deserve, and the health care
17:38of their choice. Congresswoman Presley, the Supreme Court is also considering the fate of Haitian
17:45TPS holders, people who have built lives here, worked here, raised families here, and contributed
17:53to this country. You are chair of the Haiti caucus. What is at stake for Haitian families if this court
18:01allows protections to be stripped away, and what should Congress be doing right now? We're out of time,
18:07but I had to bring up this Haitian question. Thank you, Rev. Let me just say, whether you're
18:12talking about extending temporary protective status for 360,000 Haitian nationals that call this country
18:18home who are here legally, or whether you're talking about denying health care access to millions of
18:26women with this Trump-stacked extremist court, we need to reform the Supreme Court. We need to expand
18:33the court. We need ethics reform. We need term limits. They are a clear and present danger to
18:39much of the progress that has been made in this country, whether you're talking about voting
18:43rights, reproductive freedom, or the 1.3 million people here in this country on temporary protected
18:49status. The House did pass my discharge petition, and the Senate must take that up quickly, and I'm
18:56just appealing to the Supreme Court to just uphold the law. These 360,000 Haitian nationals make
19:02incredible contributions to our health care industries, to construction, to hospitality, to civic life,
19:08and to our communities. And when my mother was dying, Rev, it was Haitian nurses, like so many in nursing
19:14homes and hospitals and home health care throughout this country, that prayed over her, that oiled her
19:20scalp, that lovingly braided her hair. So this is true for millions of people, and that's why I've
19:25been fighting in defense of our Haitian neighbors. I represent the third largest Haitian diaspora in the
19:29country. All right, Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Congresswoman Sidney Kamalaga-Dove. Thank you
19:38both for being with us. Just ahead, how the Supreme Court's historic decision on voting rights is
19:44impacting Florida. Stay tuned. You're watching Politics Nation on MS Now.
19:59Welcome back to Politics Nation on MS Now. Let's turn now to Florida, the latest state to join the
20:08redistricting fight ahead of November's midterm elections, which will redetermine the balance of
20:15power on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, Florida passed a new map that could help the GOP pick up four more
20:24congressional seats, just hours after the Supreme Court delivered a major blow to the Voting Rights
20:31Act, opening the door to even more aggressive political gerrymandering. Joining me now is Nikki
20:37Freed, chair of Florida's Democratic Party. To start, the Democrats are calling this map
20:44illegal as it runs counter to voter-approved anti-geromandering standards in Florida. Democrats are also
20:52hoping to win a few seats in Florida in this year's midterms. How would Florida's proposed map impact those
21:01plans, and is this going to turn out in DeSantis' favor? Well, first of all, thanks, Brad, for having me
21:08on
21:08today to discuss this very important issue that's happening here in the state of Florida. And just to level set
21:12for
21:12anybody who's watching, in 2010, Floridians in our state passed what we call the Fair District's
21:18Amendment by almost 70 percent of Floridians. And that was to protect, to make sure that this moment
21:23didn't happen in Florida, that the maps were drawn in nonpartisan way. And what Ron DeSantis did is he
21:29went on Fox News Monday morning and unveiled this new map that even the legislators who are charged the
21:35responsibility of drawing maps, went on to Fox News, showed a map that was very color-coded,
21:41red and blue seats, and also talked about what a registration difference is in between Republicans
21:46and Democrats. That is all absolutely unconstitutional in the state of Florida. And so what they've done
21:53is not only have they played around with the maps unconstitutionally, but they've also watered down their
21:58own red district seats. So I do believe that not only has Florida been overperforming the national
22:03average, moving left 17 points since 2025, we've also flipped 29 seats throughout the entire state,
22:10getting the first Democrat elected to the city of Miami mayor, to Boca, we flipped Mar-a-Lago,
22:15we flipped Hillsborough County, we flipped Escambia County. So there was a lot of things that I would
22:21have not advised DeSantis to do this. And polling today still shows that almost 89 percent of Floridians
22:27will vote against legislators who actually voted for these maps. So we're pretty bullish that not only are we
22:33going to reelect all eight of our members of the congressional delegation, but we are going to
22:38flip seats. Florida has become the number one unaffordable state in the nation. People are
22:43frustrated. They're frustrated with what's happening in Tallahassee. They're aggravated and at dismay of
22:48what's happening in Washington, D.C. They can't put gas in their tanks. They can't pay for their
22:52health care. They can't pay for their rent. The list goes on and on and on. This is why we
22:56are so confident
22:57that with the right candidates that we have all around our state, that we're going to not only
23:02protect our eight, but also bring some more Democrats to D.C. Now, Republicans are trying
23:07to claim that black majority districts across the country are racially discriminatory. Yet Florida's
23:13governor this week has been out mocking House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries using an offensive
23:21accent. What do you make of the GOP's racist rhetoric right now at the same time they're dismantling
23:28civil rights protections that have been an important part of our democracy for decades now?
23:34But remember that this has been DeSantis' MO. You know, just a couple of years ago, he got
23:40rid of black history in our school system. Back in 2022, he actually vetoed the maps from the legislature
23:49during the actual redistricting period of time so that he can draw his own maps to dismantle
23:54one of our black elected congressional seats in the panhandle. So this is what Ron DeSantis has
24:00consistently been doing. You know, the Stop Woke Act, the DEI attacks. And so I'm not surprised that
24:06DeSantis continues to stoop lower and lower and lower when it comes to his rhetoric and protecting all
24:1223 million Floridians that are here in our state. He is charged with that responsibility as a governor for
24:18all 23 million. He continues to be derelict in that responsibility. And of course, but this is
24:24the culture that has been created the last 10 years by Donald Trump, you know, that we mock our
24:28elected officials. We try to dehumanize them. This is not what we want to be teaching our children of
24:34how to interact in a civilized society. And fortunately, Ron DeSantis has been leading the
24:39way of trying to dismantle that type of human decency in our state, making it more and more dangerous
24:45and the rhetoric continuing to increase. And we saw that on his attacks of Leader Jeffries this week.
24:51Now, on Friday, Trump was in villages in Florida trying to sell seniors on what he's calling
24:57the golden age for their golden years. He also spent a lot of time rambling on about malfunctioning
25:05microphones and the village people. Nikki, as party leader, you helped organize counter-demonstrations
25:12during Trump's visit. How are Floridians reacting to the president's midterm message?
25:20You know, Rev, I was there on Friday talking to so many of our seniors that live in the villages,
25:25and they are angry. They are angry at what is happening to Washington, D.C., whether it is their
25:30attacks on the economy here in our state and across the country. A lot of our seniors are veterans.
25:37They have seen the attacks on their health care system, on the VA. And a lot of them are seeing
25:42that we have a commander-in-chief that doesn't have a human decency to protect the men and women
25:49of our military, both here at home and overseas. So our seniors out here are not being fooled by what
25:56this president is doing here. They are organizing on the ground. We are organizing in all parts of our
26:02state. We started what we call the Pendulum Project, beginning part of 2025, organizing in all parts
26:08of our state. And so our seniors are feeling like this is their chance to make sure that we don't
26:14go
26:14back, that the next 250 years of our country is going to be a democracy. And they have a responsibility
26:20to organize right now and to make sure that they're having conversations. So they're pissed,
26:25and they're getting organized. And we plan on making sure that the state of Florida
26:29sees some incredible wins in this election cycle.
26:33Nikki Freed, thank you for being with us. Coming up, the Supreme Court sets backs and what's next.
26:40We'll hear from an attorney who will argue some of the appeals we're seeing
26:44as a result of the voting rights ruling.
26:53Welcome back to Politics Nation on MS Now.
26:56Last week's Supreme Court decision on Louisiana's voting map set off a flood of legal challenges
27:04in the state. But the Pelican State is just the latest in a growing effort to redraw maps on both
27:12sides of the aisle. And the ruling is expected to have lasting implications for the entire nation ahead
27:19of an election just six months away. Joining me now with more on that is Abba Conner, political attorney
27:27with the Elias Law Group. Ms. Conner, thank you for being with us tonight. What's your reaction?
27:34Let's start there. What's your reaction to this ruling?
27:37Good evening, Reverend. Thank you so much for having me on. I think my reaction is the same as anybody
27:42who's
27:42a litigator in this voting rights space and, frankly, any American who cares about democracy.
27:48The Voting Rights Act is a hallmark of our democratic government. It has been just a
27:55catalyst for real change and progress toward equal opportunity for Black and brown voters.
28:02It has done a lot of work since the 1960s when it was first enacted, and that work is not
28:06done.
28:07And so the Supreme Court's decision to essentially defang it of its most powerful agency and ability to
28:14actually create change is devastating. It's devastating for me personally. It's devastating
28:19for all Black and brown voters. And really, it should be devastating for all Americans.
28:24Now, this ruling has been cast as the most severe gutting of the Voting Rights Act in its history.
28:31To the folks watching, tell us how bad is it? And is there any daylight here, any daylight,
28:39any opportunities for pro-democracy and voting rights advocates to push back and possibly reverse
28:46the damage with help from a different Congress? Well, I think, yes, it is extremely bad what the
28:53Supreme Court has just done to the Voting Rights Act. And yes, it is absolutely possible for
28:59a Congress that wants to make change to make real change. The Voting Rights Act is a piece of
29:04legislation that had been reauthorized time and time again by multiple Congresses. And it's certainly
29:09within the power of any Congress, including a newly elected Congress in 2026, to decide that this
29:15decision should not stand. And at the very least, the kind of partisan warfare and open discrimination
29:22that it allows for in the name of partisan politics is just not permissible and to strike
29:28it down on a nationwide basis. Now, we have a midterm election in six months and primaries are underway
29:35in many states like Louisiana, where early voting just started. How much do you expect November to be
29:42impacted by the Supreme Court's decision? And what do you make of the court not applying the so-called
29:50Purcell principle in this case by trying to avoid changes to election law at the last minute?
29:59Look, I don't think that this ruling should have any, make any difference when it comes to the 2026
30:04elections. We know from this court in our Alabama Voting Rights Act case just a few years ago, when
30:10we won an injunction in January of 2022, this court, Supreme Court, said that that was too late for a
30:17court
30:17ruling to have any impact on an upcoming election. That was January. And they were talking about a
30:22May primary. Here, this decision came down at the end of April. The primary in Alabama and in Louisiana
30:28are already in full swing. And under the court's jurisprudence, it should not be allowed to have any
30:34impact on those ongoing elections. It should not be allowed to upend election administration, and it
30:39certainly should not be allowed to disenfranchise voters who have already cast ballots. The Supreme Court
30:44actually hasn't said yet whether the timing of its ruling was intended to really just throw a bomb in
30:50the middle of these elections. We have since applied to the Supreme Court to make clear and implored it
30:57to make clear to Louisiana and Alabama and any other state that this is not a blessing to go and
31:02upend
31:02existing and ongoing elections for 2026. And it does not upend what you call what you mentioned is
31:08the Purcell principle, which is that court rulings should not interfere with upcoming and certainly not
31:13ongoing elections. Republican governors, let me follow up on that. Republican governors in the
31:19South are wasting no time in capitalizing on this. Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and of course,
31:26Louisiana, all of them taking up redistricting at the request of their governors and ultimately
31:33President Trump at his request. Looking around the country, where else can we expect to see an
31:39immediate impact because of this ruling or not? Look, I hope that pretty soon the Supreme Court
31:47is going to come down and say no to Alabama, to Tennessee, to Louisiana, and particularly to any
31:54other state who has already conducted a primary election under its existing map or who is in the
31:58middle of an election under the existing map to say, no, you cannot start from throw out those ballots
32:04and start from scratch. It doesn't surprise me that some of these governors and legislatures have
32:09tried to weaponize this ruling, but it is certainly a far cry from what they've said in previous cases.
32:15When we won a new Opportunity District for Black Voters in Louisiana in 2022, back in spring of 2022,
32:24Louisiana screamed and cried and said, no, it's too late. We can't possibly change the election dates at
32:31this time. We're already in full swing. And here we have Louisiana seems all too eager to
32:36upend its entire election process, redraw statutes. That's not how this democracy was built. That's not
32:42how this judicial doctrine in electoral law operates. No matter how bad the Supreme Court ruling is on the
32:49substance, as a procedural matter, we should not allow it to drive a train through ongoing elections.
32:55And I really hope that the Supreme Court is going to make that clear in the coming days to put
33:00a stop to
33:00not just those states, but any other state that's hoping to take advantage and weaponize this
33:05opportunity at the expense of voters.
33:08Bukhana, political attorney, thank you for being with us. Just ahead, the runway revolutionized
33:15how black fashion will be on display at this year's 2026 Met Gala.
33:33Welcome back to Politics Nation on MS Now. The dress code is fashion as art tomorrow night at the
33:42Metropolitan Museum of Art, and it will be hosting the biggest night in fashion, the 2026 Met Gala.
33:50And for black communities, fashion has never been just about what we wear. It has been a statement,
33:56a form of survival, a declaration of dignity, from Sunday best to street wear, from protest style
34:03to high fashion. And for the third year in a row, I'll be there on the red carpet. Now,
34:09many of those that are involved, I agree with politically that there are some people we question
34:16that have always been sponsors. But I also think it's important that we support Beyonce and others
34:23that are co-chairing tomorrow night, and Anna Winter, who has worked with us on diversity.
34:29So I'll be wearing my Aisha McShore gear on the red carpet to support the black art that is making
34:36it down the runway. So here to explore this with me is Jonathan Michael Square, assistant professor
34:43of black in black visual culture at Parsons School of Design. Jonathan, this year's Met Gala theme is
34:51custom art with the dress code fashion is art. What does that theme say to you, especially as someone
34:58who studies black visual culture? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, since this is intervening in a longstanding
35:05debate, is fashion art? And of course, the exhibition is arguing that fashion is indeed art.
35:11Unfortunately, this year's theme will not be focusing on blackness, but I'm looking forward to seeing
35:16all the black celebrities that will be on the red carpet. The exhibit is focused on dressed body and
35:23how it is represented in art and fashion. For black communities, fashion has often been more than
35:29personal style. There's been identity, resistance, status, protection, even protests. We saw that
35:36highlighted last year when the theme was superfine, tailoring black style. How do you see that history
35:43showing up in a theme like tomorrow? Yeah. Last year's theme was really groundbreaking. I mean,
35:48just think about four black male co-chairs for the Met Gala. That was revolutionary. This year,
35:55it won't be focused on blackness. However, Beyonce is a co-chair and I'm excited to see her and what
36:02she's wearing. I suspect, I hope, that she'll be announcing the third act of the trilogy.
36:09And Venus Williams. I mean, that's what I'm saying. I agree to go and, as I said,
36:14they should be sure those addressed me before we even knew who the sponsors were. I've been with
36:18the Amazon crowd a long time supporting them, but I don't want to confuse.
36:26This year's controversial for a number of reasons. Typically, corporations like TikTok or eBay or
36:32Instagram fund the Met Gala. This year, it's funded by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos,
36:38which is a controversial decision. Right. Now, as you mentioned, Beyonce is one of the co-chairs.
36:43You have Beyonce and Venus Williams, both co-chairing, two black women who have reshaped music,
36:51sports, beauty, and global culture. At the same time, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos are
36:59serving as honorary chairs and major backers of the event, throwing a lot of criticism. And again,
37:05Mayor Zoran Mandani is reportedly not attending, breaking a decades-long tradition of New York City
37:12mayors attending the gala. But as I said, some of us go because we're supporting those that have
37:19been excluded. And you and I are talking about Andre and others that fought to get us in. And I
37:26don't
37:26want it. I don't want the issue to be, oh, we left them out there and we had black chairs
37:31and black
37:31artists, though I do not support a lot of the politics of some of the sponsors. And I have not
37:38in the last two years I've gone. But though this is a night that wants to present itself
37:43as fashion and philanthropy, is politics just inevitable, though? Is that tension part of the
37:50story of fashion itself, beauty and power occupying the same room? Absolutely. And I suspect that there
37:57will be protesters at this year's Met Gala. If not in person, then online. Absolutely. I mean,
38:04this is a very political event. Like you said, politicians often aren't in attendance. But
38:09I think there's room for celebrating black ingenuity, creativity, and our presence at the
38:15same time not supporting the politics or the supporters of the funders of this event.
38:20And you could say your politics as you do it. I remember AOC went and wore an outfit. And I
38:29feel that
38:30we have a responsibility, though, as we break through, particularly when we've had the issue
38:36in fashions for black artists and black stylists, that we support them. Jonathan Michael Square,
38:44assistant professor in black visual culture at Parsons. Thank you for being with us. Up next,
38:50my final thoughts. Stay with us.
39:05Today, I remember my close friend, father figure and mentor, James Brown, the godfather of soul,
39:13what would have been his 93rd birthday. James Brown took me under his wing as a teenager preacher
39:19and showed me my place in the world from the stage to the White House, where in 1982,
39:26he and I met with then president Ronald Reagan and vice president Bush to lobby for a holiday in honor
39:35of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that Mrs. King was leading the drive that eventually happened.
39:41James Brown taught me the importance of getting in the fight and never giving up, which brings me to
39:47this. In 1901, North Carolina representative George Henry White, George Henry White announced he was
39:55retiring as the last reconstruction era black lawmaker in Washington. In his final address,
40:02he said, this is perhaps the Negro's temporary farewell to the American Congress. But let me say,
40:10Phoenix-like, we will rise up someday and come again. No black person would serve in Congress after that
40:17for almost 30 years, following the brief flurry of representation in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.
40:26Blacks never again held congressional seats in significant numbers until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
40:34The current Congress started with a record high of 66 black members. And yet, after the Supreme Court
40:44Kalea's case, Kalea's decision, the future is very uncertain. The one thing I can say for sure
40:53is that event, if there are setbacks, we will overcome and we will rise again and bigger and stronger
41:03than ever before. This movement has come too far and fought too hard to turn back now.
41:10That does it for me. Thanks for watching. I'll see you back here next weekend at 5 p.m. Eastern.
41:16The weekend primetime starts right here on MSNOW at the top of the hour.
41:32It is 6 p.m. here in New York. I'm Ayman Mohideen along with Elise Jordan, Catherine Rampell, Antonia.
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