I watched my parents go to the polls to vote in the early 1960s. They had to recite the preamble to the constitution while ignorant and illiterate white people waltzed right in. Racists poll workers had jars of jelly beans. Black voters had to guess how many. Then the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965.
The Voting Rights Act provided federal oversight to prevent discriminatory practices, enabling more African Americans to register and vote. Civil rights groups leveraged this legal framework to expand their get out the vote (GOTV) efforts, knowing that legal protections reduced barriers to participation.
The Voting Rights Act has now been gutted by Trump’s Nazis on the Supreme Court with the help of a slave someone bought named Clarence Thomas. And Trump has been brought to us by a variety of stupid. Black men, Cubans, Latinos, jews, women who voted for a racist, fascist, misogynist, rapist, pedophile and crook. And then there’re the idiots who proudly stick their chests out because they did not vote. Congratulations, we now have the level of racism and attacks on Black people’s right to vote that made extraordinary Get-Out-the-Vote Strategies needed when I was nine once again necessary. So here they are. We need to do this.
Voter Registration and Education Campaigns
Civil rights organizations (NAACP, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)) focused heavily on voter registration. They used door-to-door canvassing to meet voters personally, explain the voting process, and help people register. They provided practical support, such as transportation to polling places. They also provided classes to teach about voting rights, the political processes, and the duties of elected officials.
Mass Meetings and Public Mobilization
Community organizers held mass meetings and rallies to raise awareness, inspire action, and coordinate voter drives. These events often combined political education with direct calls to register and vote. Responsible ministers in Black churches made a point of spending time on voting rights and the need to vote.
Direct Action and Symbolic Voting
In some cases, activists organized Freedom Votes or symbolic elections to draw attention to disenfranchisement and pressure lawmakers. These events were less about immediate electoral change and more about visibility and political pressure.
In the 1960s, getting out the vote was less about mass media advertising and more about personalized, grassroots mobilization—canvassing, education, and direct action. We need to get back to that –and we need to do it now.
John-Michael Lawrence, lawrencejohnmichael9@gmail.com
