Federal court just BLOCKED Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s “SCHEME” to criminalize voter registration after the Tennessee Black Voter Project registered 90,000. Tequila Johnson of The Equity Alliance tells us they were told to turn in every form, and she wasn’t allowed to testify.
“This was about holding onto power.”
Check out the full PODCAST INTERVIEW on ITUNES.
Watch Zulfat Suara react to her history-making win, saying she’s proud of her diverse support-base which she takes as a mandate for the council to help create a “NASHVILLE FOR ALL”.
Watch Columbia State student Grant Marsh respond to Senator Kerry Roberts, who called for higher education to be removed to “save America” in a rage last week in response to testimony he didn’t like at the Tennessee abortion ban hearings.
He has since told NBC News he was “joking”, but Marsh says that doesn’t matter – his words carry weight, and he also says Roberts is wrong, and invites him to spend the day with him to prove it.
“Absolutely it was racist… you want folks to stay ignorant so they won’t hold you accountable. It was not a joke.”
Cherisse Scott of SisterReach fires back at Sen. Kerry Roberts, who called for an end to higher ed after her #TNAbortionBan testimony.
She also said:
“You’ve been able to effectively train your people to believe I don’t care about myself, my baby, my community, and as long as you can keep that going there will never be an opportunity for white Tennesseans to believe they have something in common with black Tennesseans.”
Watch the CLIP below, and the FULL Facebook Live INTERVIEW HERE.
The AUDIO is also available on our podcast – subscribe on Itunes HERE.
And below you can watch Cherisse read the full testimony she tried to give during the #TNAbortionBan Senate committee hearings before Senator Mike Bell cut her off. He let a man who said he “remembers being born” go on much longer.
In the aftermath of his opposition to higher education becoming national news, Senator Kerry Roberts called his heated, triggered rant a “joke” and “hyperbole”… but here’s his pal Senator Mark Pody saying the same things DURING A DEBATE.
Sure seems to be what they actually believe. Why run from it?
Here’s the full video.
FLASHBACK: Watch TN GOP Senator @mark_pody tell the same “joke” about abolishing state-backed higher education during his campaign against @ElectMaryAlice.
Is this “hyperbole” too, @kerryeroberts? Sure seems to be what y’all believe. Why lie??
Full: https://t.co/ugl8uFJS3B pic.twitter.com/WSuQK1j5nn
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) September 10, 2019
Watch a group of immigrants in Nashville turn out to vote for immigrants running for office in Nashville.
Election Day is September 12th!
In response to passionate abortion ban hearing testimony from Cherisse Scott of Sister Reach – a pro-reproductive freedom witness who called Republican legislators to account for failing to expand medicaid, raise the wage to a living wage, support public education, and other public policies that should be supported by anyone who is truly “pro-life” – State Senator Kerry Roberts called for ending higher education in Tennessee on his radio show.
Presumably because that’s where Cherisse and others learn to support policy positions Roberts opposes. Yes, he lays abortion squarely at the feet of Tennessee’s colleges.
As a reminder, Cherisse was gaveled out and cut off by chairman Mike Bell, who allowed others to go much longer and finish their testimony, including anti-abortion advocate who says he “remembers being born”.
Watch and Share, and feel free to holler at Senator Roberts HERE.
Yesterday Tequila Johnson, co-founder of the Equity Alliance and statewide director of the Tennessee Black Voter Project, testified before the House Judiciary committee about voter suppression, calling Tennessee “Ground Zero” for it.
Tequila has been on the front lines battling voter suppression in Tennessee. The Black Voter Project registered over 90,000 voters in 2018, leading to a backlash from the GOP supermajority and Tennessee Secretary of State, who passed an unprecedented law criminalizing voter registration in Tennessee, which has already had a chilling effect on voter registration efforts, which was likely the intent.
Watch a piece of Tequila’s testimony below, and go HERE to watch it in its entirety. And read more about the voter registration criminalization law HERE.
Lawsuits are underway to stop Hargett’s law.
In an interview this week, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann made it clear he won’t back any common sense gun safety regulations as he spouted NRA talking points. Fleischmann has an A-rating from the NRA and as Ramsey Cohen says “Has taken thousands of dollars from them in the past”.
Watch and share the video below, and holler at Chuck HERE.
NEW: “I think there are enough laws on the books dealing with guns.”@RepChuck Fleischmann won’t support magazine size limits, universal background checks, etc. – instead spouts NRA talking points.
RELATED: Chuck has an A-rating from the NRA, as @ramseycohen points out here. pic.twitter.com/Xu2oQridsU
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) September 5, 2019
At a town hall in Maury County yesterday a local man named Greg Heller, who asked Rep. Scott Cepicky and Senator Joey Hensley why the TN GOP continues to block medicaid expansion and let Tennesseans die unnecessarily when expanding medicaid would cost the state nothing, and we lose $1.4 Billion every single year we don’t do it.
Tennessee is at the bottom in health care access, opioid deaths, infant mortality rates, the list goes on… we’re #1 in rural hospital closures per capita and medical bankruptcies. Medicaid Expansion would help all of it, and cost us nothing.
Also, important to remember – Cepicky says they want to “proceed with caution” when it comes to federal dollars, but TENNESSEE IS ALREADY ONE OF THE MOST FEDERALLY DEPENDENT STATES at 36% of the state budget. Do he and the TN GOP want to give that money back?
HOLLER AT YOUR REPS and tell them Greg’s right – there’s no excuse. Expand Medicaid.