[This Freedom Ride story is best read while seeing the
faces of the riders. Click on the link below to enjoy
the photos that illuminate the story. -- moderator]

Taking a `Freedom Ride' Against Pennsylvania's
Voter ID Law

by Cord Jefferson
Voting Rights Watch 2012
July 27, 2012
http://www.thenation.com/blog/169124/photos-taking-freedom-ride-against-pennsylvanias-voter-id

As Election Day approaches, we've seen increased
reporting on voter suppression schemes. Journalists,
lawyers, and academics are all weighing in, and our own
project, Voting Rights Watch 2012, continues to
investigate beyond the headlines, from a battle over the
Voting Rights Act in Texas to purge lists in Florida and
beyond.

But we're also curious about what's happening at the
community level, and sparking a conversation about why
communities that are often either ignored or bashed by
elected officials of all stripes would care about voting
rights in 2012. Last week, I introduced you to Miracle
Randle, a rising college senior whose own family history
inspired her get involved to defeat a ballot measure in
Minnesota what would require ID to vote. Over the coming
weeks, we'll introduce you to more community activists
and bloggers, who will explain what draws them to work
against voter suppression. Several of them are also
joining our Voting Rights Watch 2012 team as community
journalists, offering additional eyes and ears in their
districts and states.

One of those team members is James Cersonsky in
Pennsylvania. He works with Philly's Teacher Action
Group and Asian-Americans United around education reform
and community-centered pedagogy. Aside from his
activism, he's also a writer who will be sending us
missives about how everyday people in Philly are
organizing around the state's voter ID law. This week,
as the state's Supreme Court hears a case challenging
that law, James joined a group of voters who evoked the
civil rights era Freedom Rides to highlight the racially
biased impact of the law. Here's his report from the bus
to Harrisburg.

-Aura Bogado



`I'm One Who Will Stir It Up'

As Pennsylvania's voter ID law was being fought inside
the state's Supreme Court this week, more than 1,000
people rallied outside the state's capital in protest of
the law, which may disenfranchise up to 43 percent of
Philadelphia's voters.

Shortly after the law passed in March, leaders from the
Northwest Philadelphia Coalition started a neighborhood-
based campaign called "Keeping my Vote". Since then, the
group has recruited scores of volunteers to organize
neighbors around voting rights and ensure people have
the right documentation to vote in November.

On Tuesday, group members joined with others from the
statewide Voter ID Coalition to take buses to the
capital. I met up with forty people at Germantown's
Johnson House-a stop on the Underground Railroad that
now runs youth programming on histories of protest-for a
"Freedom Ride" to Harrisburg. We shared stories, watched
videos, belted out gospel songs and took a rest along
our two-hour bus trip before spending the day at the
capital, denouncing the voter ID law. Here are some
photographs from our ride.

On the ride to the capital, we watch clips from PBS'
Eyes on the Prize, which recounts the story of civil
rights activist Medgar Evers. Mjenzi Traylor laments,
"People don't have the advantage of having this history
in their communities and homes." In 1967, Traylor was
arrested at Philly's school district headquarters for
protesting the shortage of black teachers and lack of
black history taught in city schools. Before that, he
was president of the NAACP of Flint, Michigan, where he
led a rally-attended by Governor George Romney-following
Medgar Evers' murder.



Though Leandra Hunter (left) won't be 18 by November,
she's enthusiastic about educating her peers on civil
rights and civic engagement. Hunter, a high school
senior who recently received certification as a nursing
assistant, wasn't always into politics herself. When she
applied for a job with Philly's WorkReady summer
program, she described herself as a people person, which
landed her at the office of State Representative John
Myers. There, under the mentorship of youth organizer
Annette Young-Gordy (right), she helps provide clothing,
food, and ID support to district residents.



En route to Harrisburg, Stephen Kinsey (left) signs up
for the Johnson House mailing list while his "body
guard," 85-year-old Nathan Thomas, watches. Kinsey will
replace the soon-to-be retired Representative Myers
after winning a three-way primary in April. Already,
Kinsey has been inundated with calls from neighbors
concerned about the state's new voting requirements.



Clarice McIntosh (second from right) maintains her
support for Obama, but says that change begins with
grassroots organizing. McIntosh grew up in Ohio as a
"rebel child" and Vietnam dissident inspired by the
likes of Angela Davis and Malcolm X. Along with her
husband Lee (second from left), she volunteers with
Concerned Citizens for Change, a former subsidiary of
ACORN.



Tara Smith (far right) sees a priority role for women as
activists and leaders: "As soon as we organize, we can
get the men to follow." Marvetta Coleman, Smith's red-
and-white-clad sister from the Delta Sigma Theta
sorority, was a co-host of the Harrisburg rally. Smith's
voter activism is also a natural outgrowth of her job.
After the rally, she headed to West Philly to lead a
neighborhood meeting for Town Watch, a city community
policing initiative in which she serves as a Community
Support Specialist.



On the ride back to Philly, Rena Traves led an impromptu
bus-wide rendition of "We Shall Overcome." Traves is a
91-year-old, lifelong Philly resident who refuses to own
a rocking chair. As an Episcopal deacon, she is active
with Keeping My Vote's clergy committee and envisions
organizing clergy throughout the city around voting
rights. "I'm one who will stir it up," she says. "That's
our job. Let's be intentional about what we do."

-James Cersonsky

Voting Rights Watch 2012
In-depth coverage of voter suppression efforts
nationwide, in partnership with Colorlines.com.

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