The Transformative Justice Coalition and the Voting Rights Alliance, in honor of Black History Month, are reviving the daily special series devoted to sharing the legacies and stories of the sheroes, heroes, and events in the fight for Black suffrage. This series was created in 2017 and will add 9 NEW articles this year. In addition to these daily newsletters all February long, this series also incorporates daily social media posts; an interactive calendar; and, website blog posts to spread the word broadly.

We encourage everyone to share this series to your networks and on social media under the hashtag #VRABlackHistory. You can also tweet us @TJC_DC to share your own facts.

Others can sign up for the daily articles at VotingRightsAlliance.org.

This article is written by Caitlyn Cobb. All the sources are linked throughout the article with a full reference list at the end of the full article which can be read by clicking the button at the bottom of the page). This is an introductory summary page.

You can also watch Caitlyn read this article on live on video via Facebook Live and Periscope by going to her Facebook profile or Twitter Profile, as a part of the new #VRABlackHistoryLIVE series (2019). View past article-readings by searching the #VRABlackHistoryLIVE.

Today, February 10th, 2022, we remember the fight for the Federal Elections Bill (also known as “The Lodge Bill, or to its opponents “The Force Bill"). The Lodge Bill would have given more oversight in elections and provided much-needed enforcement of the 15th Amendment in the South. Following the 1877 Hayes-Tilden compromise, this bill represented the last attempt by the U.S. Congress in the 19th Century to protect African-American suffrage.

The Lodge Bill was passed in the House, but was defeated in the Senate because of Democratic filibusters, which wasn’t only a means of stalling, but was also a means of shaming Western Republicans into voting against the Lodge Bill.

It is almost eerie how the fight over this bill reveals issues mirroring those of today in the 1800's, including but not limited to: priorities of political parties shifting; Congressional gridlock; immigration; public shame tactics; the mistreatment of Native Americans and Chinese immigrants; Georgia majorly suppressing votes of Black people; and, the battle between doing what is good for the economy and one group, and doing what is best for the social good, especially when benefits aren't immediate.