Alabama’s only Black member of Congress welcomes a fight over her voting rights bill

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March 14, 2022

By Donna M. Owens, NBC News

Rep. Terri Sewell describes herself as a daughter of Selma, a key backdrop to the fight for voting rights. Her home and her mentor, Rep. John Lewis, continue to guide her.

Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., at a news conference after the Peace Walk to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Washington on Jan. 17. (Jose Luis Magana / AP)

In August, Rep. Terri Sewell stood at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in her hometown, Selma, Alabama, to tout H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Sewell, Alabama’s only Black member of Congress and the delegation’s only Democrat, had high hopes after she introduced the legislation named in honor of her late mentor and friend…

Sewell returned home this month and headed to the infamous bridge for the 57th commemoration of Bloody Sunday…

“Today, we stand on this bridge at a different time,” Harris said, calling the site “hallowed” ground. “We again, however, find ourselves caught in between — between injustice and justice, between disappointment and determination — still in a fight to form ‘a more perfect union.’ And nowhere is that more clear than when it comes to the ongoing fight to secure the freedom to vote.”

For Sewell, “voting rights are deeply personal.” A native of Alabama’s so-called Black Belt, she has roots that run as deep as the rich black soil that helped define the region. She was raised with two brothers by a librarian mother and a father who was a teacher and coach.

Read more about Sewell’s fight for a fair vote.

Discover the black women who are the unsung heroes of women’s suffrage or learn how black people won the right to vote in the south.

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