Press Releases

Stand Up America’s Sean Eldridge Arrested Alongside King Family, Civil Rights Leaders While Calling on Biden, Senate to End Filibuster & Protect Freedom to Vote

Eldridge: “It is an honor to stand in solidarity with the King family and all the civil rights leaders who put their bodies on the line today to demand action to protect the precious right to vote.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, civil rights leaders and activists joined family members of Martin Luther King Jr. in front of the White House to call on President Biden to publicly demand that the Senate end the Jim Crow filibuster and pass federal voting rights legislation, including the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the latter of which will be considered by the Senate today.

Stand Up America Founder & President Sean Eldridge commented on today’s action outside the White House, where he was arrested alongside the King family and other leaders who participated in civil disobedience to force President Biden to hear their calls for his leadership on voting rights:

“President Biden has said that we’re facing the ‘most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War’—it’s time to act like it. We don’t need more handwringing, more delays, or more excuses. We need action on voting rights now. It’s time for President Biden to loudly call on the Senate to end the Jim Crow filibuster and protect the freedom to vote.

“Today, the Senate will consider the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, urgently needed legislation that would prevent future voting discrimination and ensure every eligible voter can make their voice heard. But, in spite of this bill’s broad bipartisan support among Americans, Senate Republicans are expected to filibuster voting rights for the third time and prevent the Senate from even debating this bill. We have had moments of bipartisanship on voting rights in our nation’s history, but sadly, this is not one of them. The only way to protect the freedom to vote is to end the filibuster. 

“The King family and civil rights leaders from across the country came to the White House today because President Biden has the largest soapbox on the planet, and we’re asking him to use it to protect voting rights before it’s too late.”

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About Stand Up America
Stand Up America is a progressive advocacy organization with over two million community members across the country. Focused on grassroots advocacy to stand up to corruption and voter suppression and build a more representative democracy, Stand Up America has driven over 1.6 million calls to lawmakers, registered tens of thousands of voters, mobilized thousands of protestors, and contacted tens of millions of voters.

Website: StandUpAmerica.com
Twitter: @StandUpAmerica
Instagram: @StandUp_America
Facebook: @StandUpAmerica