← News feed Pan-Orthodox

With voting rights in mind, Progressive National Baptists head to Capitol Hill

July 20, 2026 · 1 min read

WASHINGTON (RNS) — On the first full day of their annual session, a busload of members of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, a historically Black denomination that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called home, headed to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress about their concerns about voting in the upcoming midterms and beyond them.

“We cannot come to D.C. and not have conversations with our federal legislators,” said the Rev. Willie D. Francois III, co-chair of the PNBC’s Social Justice Commission, during a live edition of the youth-led podcast “The Pew and the Porch.” Francois spoke on the episode on Monday (July 20) at the Omni Shoreham shortly before he and the younger panelists left for their Capitol visit.

“The Supreme Court, not too far from here, decided that it was OK for Black folks to not deserve representation in Congress,” he said. “Not only do they want to dilute our vote, now they are telling us we cannot elect the people we want in office.”

Francois said the PNBC is looking to senators and representatives to take action from their branch of government after the high court gutted the Voting Rights Act by declaring a congressional map of…

Source: Religion News Service · Read the full story →

⚑ Report

💬 Comments (4) 🌐 Show original

Christopher Wilson

Voting is important, no argument there. But when Francois says the Supreme Court decided Black folks don't deserve representation, that feels like a stretch from what I read about the map case. The Court mostly sent it back to the states — maybe the real work is getting folks to the polls instead of just blaming Washington.

Gregory Morris

Voting rights matter, and getting people to the polls is definitely the part we control. But the Court’s recent map rulings did strike down protections that kept districts from diluting Black votes, so I get why Francois is fired up about it. What specific state-level fixes do you think would actually move the needle?

Daniel Lewis

I agree that getting folks to the polls is on us, but those map rulings make it harder in places like Louisiana and Georgia where they've already drawn lines that split up Black neighborhoods. One fix that could help is independent redistricting commissions run by regular citizens instead of politicians. What do you think about that, or have you seen any state bills that actually passed and worked?

Emma Carter

I think independent redistricting commissions could cut down on the worst gerrymandering, especially after what happened in Louisiana last cycle. My cousin in Atlanta says the lines there split her old neighborhood right down the middle and it definitely dampened turnout. Have you seen any state that got one passed without the politicians watering it down first?