Peoples cited the continuing partnership with the AFL-CIO on voter mobilization.
“We won’t stop until the AFL-CIO and PNBC continue to push back voting suppression, till everybody gets a chance to vote,” he said at the news conference. “Even those who have paid their time, they have a right to vote. We won’t stop until everyone can realize the dream to vote, understand all of us are God’s children.”
Francois added that the voter registration work with the AFL-CIO will be organized around their organizations’ policy priorities.
“We are tired of politicians asking us, and benefiting and pimping our robes and pimping our collars, for their agenda,” he said. “If they want our votes they need to sign on to our agenda.”
At last year’s annual session, the denomination joined forces in a renewed partnership with the prominent union, decades after the two groups worked together to lobby for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discriminatory practices in hiring and voting, respectively.
The denomination also reiterated criticism it first expressed in June when the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in admissions by American universities. It said the ruling will be a motivator in get-out-the-vote efforts for the 2024 election.
“We believe this is not the final word on race-specific affirmative action, and our advocacy will mirror that conviction,” it said in a resolution. “PNBC will continue to partner with the nation’s HBCUs and Black churches to ensure the growth of the Black middle class.”
This article originally appeared here.
