By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Hundreds of community members, students, faith leaders and civil rights advocates gathered at Garfield High School on Sept. 19 before marching to the King County Courthouse as part of Seattle’s Constitution Day Rally and March, an event focused on voting rights, civic participation and the relationship between constitutional promises and the experiences of Black Americans.
Organized in about two weeks by a coalition of local community organizations, the event brought participants together in Seattle’s Central District two days after Constitution Day, which commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787.
Organizers said the event was not intended as a celebration of the Constitution, but as an opportunity to examine the expansion of constitutional rights over the nation’s history and encourage civic participation ahead of the election.
Antoinette Atkins, advocacy director for the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, said the event was intended to bring the community together around those issues.
“Today is about community and getting our community together and engaged,” said Atkins. “Thursday was Constitution Day, and we are highlighting Constitution Day not to celebrate it, but to bring awareness to this election season. It was signed a long time ago when Black people were still enslaved, and to this day, we are still fighting for those rights to serve us. Our democracy is at risk, so today we want to bring community together so that we are fired up and ready.”
Atkins said organizers wanted civic participation to extend beyond a single event or election. She encouraged attendees to talk with neighbors, family members and others in their communities about voting and submitting mail-in ballots early.
Hayward Evans, president of the King County Seattle NAACP, placed the event within the history of constitutional amendments and voting rights for Black Americans.
“The Constitution is something we have to uphold,” said Evans. “The 13th Amendment made Black folk free, but then you weren’t a citizen. So, they added the 14th Amendment for birthright citizenship, and then the 15th Amendment so we could vote. Then they put up every barrier imaginable, from poll taxes to literacy tests. Today, after the Supreme Court gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act, we have to fight for voting rights all over again.”
Evans urged attendees to remain engaged on voting rights issues and expressed confidence in Washington’s vote-by-mail system. Washington has conducted elections statewide by mail since 2011, with ballots automatically mailed to registered voters.
Young people also played a prominent role in the rally. Sinta Cordova, a sophomore at Garfield High School, Washington NAACP Youth Council member and Youth Safety Ambassador, told attendees that students who are not yet eligible to vote can still participate in civic life.
“We often hear that the Constitution guarantees equality, but history tells a different story, one where that promise has been withheld,” said Cordova. “Decisions made nationally, statewide, and locally shape our everyday lives. For my peers: we aren’t old enough to vote yet, but we are not powerless. Every vote affects resources in our classrooms, school budgets, sports funding, and the safety of our neighborhoods. We aren’t just the leaders of tomorrow; we are the organizers of today.”
Rev. Leslie Braxton, senior pastor of New Beginnings Christian Fellowship, raised concerns about the balance of power among the branches of the federal government and urged participants to use voting as a means of civic participation.
“We are living in a constitutional crisis as we speak,” said Braxton. “The legislative branch is supposed to be the most powerful, but we’ve seen an exponential expansion of executive powers trending toward dictatorial rule. We, the people, have to reclaim our power, our voice, our vote, and our future.”
Braxton also invoked the country’s civil rights history while arguing that the principles contained in the nation’s founding documents must be reflected in practice.
“As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. best said: we just want you to do what you said on paper,” said Braxton. “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, must place our ballot into the box so we share in shaping the history and destiny of this country.”
The rally also drew support from Kent City Councilmember John Boyd and representatives of regional faith institutions and community organizations, including the Seattle Foundation, the MLK Jr. Organizing Coalition, Washington Bus and the National Association of Minority Contractors.
Organizers concluded the event by asking attendees to sign civic pledges and remain involved in local elections, school board races and community organizing beyond Election Day.
