Demonstrations to sweep the South over voting rights and redistricting

A wave of voting rights battles and GOP redistricting fights is triggering a coordinated response across the South, with organizers preparing a "Summer of Action" campaign with marches that start this weekend. Why it matters: Organizers say the fight over congressional maps, voting access and political representation is accelerating in real time as states redraw political power ahead of November's midterms and the 2028 general election. The Supreme Court narrowed the Voting Rights Act in late April, making it harder to challenge maps on the basis of racial discrimination. Republican-led efforts in states like Tennessee and Alabama have targeted Democratic-leaning districts, particularly those anchored by Black voters in urban areas, for last-minute 2026 redistricting. Gov. Brian Kemp has called a special session to redraw Georgia's maps for 2028, and Gov. Tate Reeves said Mississippi Republicans will redistrict ahead of 2028 to draw out longtime Rep. Bennie Thompson's (D) seat. (edited) Zoom in: Organizers in Selma, Ala., are planning marches tied to the legacy of Bloody Sunday and the Edmund Pettus Bridge, framing this summer's demonstrations as a continuation of the civil rights movement. "This is an altar call," Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown said during a national organizing call ahead of Saturday's event. Plans for marches are taking shape in Texas , where activists say rising living costs and concerns over representation are energizing younger Black voters. National organizing networks and "Day of Action" coalitions are coordinating marches, teach-ins and grassroots mobilization efforts across multiple states. Zoom out: Arndrea Waters King tells Axios that returning to Selma also serves as a way for people to "come together and rededicate" themselves amid rapidly changing voting battles. "The reality is, it simply is our turn in that long march toward freedom." Her husband , Martin Luther King I...

Original source: Axios