At this point, I assess racial progress in America by asking myself one question: Is Rev. Jesse Jackson still getting arrested at protests?
On Wednesday, Jackson and Bishop William Barber II were among more than 20 people who were arrested while staging a protest outside the U.S. Capitol. Don’t worry—this protest was nothing like the whiny wypipo rebellion at the Capitol on Jan. 6, as this protest was peaceful; it was inspired by actual issues as opposed to Trump-manufactured “stop the steal” propaganda, and it didn’t end in an attempted overthrow of the government. Jesse and them just want Black people to be able to vote unrestricted, and they want full-time workers to be paid a livable wage—the horror!
Fox 5 reports that Jackson, Barber and nearly two dozen others were arrested for crowding and blocking traffic during what demonstrators for the Poor People’s Campaign called “A National Call for Moral Revival.”
Demonstrators gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest the Republican filibuster, which played a role in upending Democrats’ attempt to pass For the People Act, which would have made it easier for people to vote—which Republicans understand is the ultimate kryptonite for GOP prospects of ever running the country again. Besides the fight for voting rights, the protest also targeted Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for failing to vote for the $15 and hour minimum wage increase.
Jackson, of course, made it a point to mention that their protest wasn’t like the coup-tastic caucasity convention that took place at the Capitol earlier this year.
“We come not as an insurrection group, but as a resurrection group,” Jackson shouted as he marched down Constitution Avenue alongside hundreds of protesters, Religion News Service reports. “Today we must fill up the jails. If you call yourself a child of God, you oughta act like it sometimes.”
Meanwhile, Barber called Manchin out for basically being the Democrat version of a wanksta and a studio gangsta.
“We are also here to say to Manchin: Any so-called Democrat who claims to support the nonconstitutional filibuster over the constitutional guarantee that no state can deny or abridge the right to vote…you are assisting the Republicans in their extremism,” he said.
Barber also spoke on the arrests Wednesday night on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time.
“We need people to be able to vote freely and fairly,” Barber told host Chris Cuomo. “The people led us today, and they said since Manchin and McConnell wouldn’t answer them for a meeting...and they said we’re willing to put our bodies on the line. This is not optional. We cannot have voter suppression in this country.”