BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) — Hundreds gathered at Louisiana’s State Capitol for a voters’ rights rally during the legislature’s special session, advocating for the maintenance of the state’s current congressional map to ensure fair representation. The demonstration coincided with a special legislative session where lawmakers were urged to uphold voting rights, particularly for Black voters, in light of a recent court ruling affirming fair representation. “Representation is core to citizenship,” said Ashley Shelton of the Power of Coalition for Equity and Justice. “You cannot have full citizenship if your values and the things you care about are not showing up in the halls of Congress.” Congressman Cleo Fields emphasized the importance of the Voting Rights Act....

Black political power, fair representation, and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act are once again on the Supreme Court’s docket in Louisiana v. Callais. On the heels of the 60th anniversary of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965, the nation’s highest court will rehear arguments that could have major implications for fair representation for Black voters and other disenfranchised groups.  In many ways, Callais continues the generational attack on Black political power and fair representation dating back to the end of the Civil War in 1865. Renewed attacks on Black voting rights and political power, and addressing unconstitutional discrimination in exercising the franchise, require intervention like that provided under Section 2 of the VRA.  When will Louisiana v. Callais be heard?  After hearing oral arguments in March 2025, the Supreme Court punted the case to the upcoming fall term.  The Court will rehear oral arguments in Callais on Oct. 15, 2025. Listen to the...

At the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture, the Global Black Economic Forum stage closed out with a powerful political roundtable led by the hosts of theNative Land Podcast  hosts Angela Rye, Andrew Gillum and Tiffany Cross — who sparked a wide-ranging and candid conversation about the state of American democracy, health care, media narratives and the urgency of Black civic engagement. The panel featured U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas; Malcolm Kenyatta, vice chair of the Democratic National Convention; Ashley Shelton, president of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice; and Lynae Vanee, host of “The People’s Brief” and a prominent social commentator. ​​Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor, opened the discussion with a question for Crockett about the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping piece of legislation signed into law by Donald Trump.  Crockett was direct in her assessment, warning that the bill would have devastating consequences for public health. “They cut $1 trillion...

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered further argument in what is considered a high-stakes redistricting case in Louisiana. The court delayed its decision in Louisiana v. Callais, a case that would have determined whether one of the state’s two majority-Black congressional districts was a racial gerrymander. The punt on the case has created uncertainty in the battle for the House. As Politico explains, one Democratic-held House seat is in limbo as Republicans look to defend their thin majority in the next election. The legal battle began with Robinson v. Landry (originally Robinson v. Ardoin). The NAACP Louisiana State Conference, along with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and nine Black voters, successfully challenged the state’s 2022 congressional map. According to the Vanguard News Group, the map drawn by the state legislature following the 2020 Census Bureau was found to violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This was after the state’s governing body drew a congressional map that packed Black voters...

NEW ORLEANS, LA – SEIU service and care workers joined by over a dozen local and national partner organizations, faith leaders, and local allies will lead a mass march and rally in New Orleans on Tuesday, calling for an end to the Trump administration’s brutal ICE raids, the release of immigrant workers unjustly detained in Louisiana and across the country, and a future where working people of every race and background can thrive.  “Workers of every race have always faced systems designed to strip away our rights, divide our communities, and criminalize our existence, all while politicians and corporations profit,” said April Verrett, President of SEIU. “Immigration detention and mass incarceration are two sides of the same system of control, and we’ve seen this hateful playbook before. We’re standing together in a powerful, united resistance to reject the politics of cruelty and greed, where some think they can send our families, friends, and...

Though they once applauded the jail’s ambitious, federally overseen reforms, community groups and political leaders in New Orleans united in opposition to a key mandate stemming from those efforts: the construction of a $109 million mental health jail. Mayors agreed to it, opposed it, agreed to it again, and opposed it again. Multiple working groups met to produce lengthy reports on it, and possible alternatives. Advocates tried to stop its construction by blocking zoning permits, funding allocations, and attempting to influence FEMA environmental-impact statements. They camped out in front of City Hall, organized a letter-writing campaign to a federal judge and held rallies and second lines in opposition. A reform candidate ran for sheriff touting her disapproval of it — and won. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s elections in Louisiana didn’t go the way that voting rights advocate Ashley Shelton had hoped, with the far-right conservative attorney general replacing a term-limited Democratic governor and consolidating Republican control in the state. Turnout was just 37%, despite the efforts of activists like her. “Even when you work hard and you do all the things you’re supposed to, you get an unfortunate outcome, which was these statewide elections,” said Shelton, the executive director of Power Coalition for Equity & Justice in Louisiana....

At a recent listening session, Ashley Shelton, founder and executive director of the New Orleans-based nonprofit Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, learned something about why Louisiana’s Black vote in November’s statewide general elections was the lowest in more than a decade. “Nothing is changed in my life,” a Black, middle-aged contractor told the group, beginning an exchange with Shelton about how the 2024 elections will affect his life....

CADDO PARISH, La. (KSLA) – Retired Louisiana Supreme Court Justice E. Joseph Bleich has made a ruling in the election lawsuit filed by Caddo Parish sheriff candidate, John Nickelson. That ruling came down Tuesday, Dec. 5. The judge ruled the results of the Nov. 18 runoff election, in which Henry Whitehorn defeated Nickelson by one vote, are declared void. It was further ordered a new runoff election shall be conducted. It’s expected that Whitehorn’s team will appeal this decision. They have until 9:56 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 8 to do so. The ruling states “it was proven beyond any doubt that there were at least 11 illegal votes cast and counted” and that it is “legally impossible to know what the true vote should have been.”...

“When you gerrymander people’s power away, you can’t elect candidates of choice,” says Ashley Shelton, executive director of Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, a Louisiana organization that focuses on voter outreach. “We understand the power of gerrymandering: It’s not that Black people don’t care or don’t want to vote, it’s that the power of their vote has been lessened....

“If you can’t figure it out in Louisiana, you can’t figure it out anywhere,” says Ashley Shelton, Executive Director of Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. As leader of one of the state’s most powerful civic engagement tables, she sees the abysmally low voter turnout in last month’s gubernatorial election — just 36 percent, the lowest in a decade — and the hard right state government it portends as a call to action, not a time to throw in the towel....

In the trailer for the new Hulu docuseries on the groundbreaking “1619 Project,” creator and host Nikole Hannah-Jones notes that, “No part of America’s story has been untouched by the legacy of slavery.” It was that viewpoint, reframing American history by exploring the impact of slavery and the contributions of African Americans to our nation, that underpinned the project and produced both controversy and revelation.   ...

For Immediate Release:  January 23, 2023 BATON ROUGE, LA— Tomorrow, January 24, 2023, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice (PCEJ) will reconvene at 1 p.m. (CST) at the Claiborne Building in the Thomas Jefferson Room with others who are a part of the HCR 14 Disability Voting Task Force. The 13 member group came about after the 2022 Legislative Session as a way to study how the state could expand voting rights for those with disabilities.  “At Power Coalition we’re working to continue expanding voting access in Louisiana. As we work during each election with our partners at Legal Defense Fund (LDF) to provide election protection, we see and hear about the problems voters with disabilities face in Louisiana,” said Ashley Shelton, CEO of PCEJ. “This is a chance for us to work in collaboration, address issues, and positively improve voting through policy recommendations.” The task force group, which started...

As the nation pauses to recognize the 40th installment of the annual federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., a number of racial and social justice leaders are spreading awareness of the civil rights icon’s legacy by urging policymakers to emulate the good reverend doctor while working in their official capacities....