The room was packed for the August 6 Kane County Democratic Women monthly meeting in Elgin. Both members and guests from throughout Kane County came to hear the stories of some of the Texas Democrats who came to Illinois to stop the redistricting vote in the Texas legislature. Because of security issues, the speakers shared their stories over Zoom.
Chair Carolyn Bird Salazar opened the meeting by saying that many generations before us fought for us, and we owe it to them to fight for future generations. Democrats are the firewall to protect our country from fascism.
All of the speakers were women except for Dr. Lalani Suleman who was the last speaker. Josey Garcia, a combat veteran, began by talking about how people’s rights to representation would be violated if the redistricting vote takes place and lines are gerrymandered to lessen minority votes so only Republicans can win. Gerrymandering is drawing maps to concentrate voters who lean a certain way in a few districts and spreading out most voters who lean that same way in districts where they are significantly outnumbered.
Josey was followed by Mary Ann Perez from Houston who said that we must continue the fight to protect the right to vote. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, Chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, reminisced about that fight for women’s suffrage. She talked about how we have to carry the torch forward so young girls don’t lose the rights that have been passed down to us. She also explained why she and her colleagues left the state. Trump told Governor Greg Abbott that he needs five more Congressional seats in Texas to help him keep the Republican majority in the midterm elections next year. He convinced Abbott to hold a redistricting vote during a special session. Normally, redistricting takes place after the U.S. Census. Since Democrat legislators left the state, the Texas House does not have the quorum needed to vote, which is 100 people present. Barbara continued by celebrating the work of Democratic women who are working hard to stop what is happening in D.C. and throughout the country. Families are being separated, and people are living in terror as their loved ones are picked up by unidentified people wearing masks. Trump is also threatening to take over D.C. and other large cities in America. She finished by saying there is a right way to solve the immigration problem, and what we are seeing now is the wrong way. We need to bring normalcy back.
Nicole Collier reminded us that August 6, the day of the KCDW meeting, was the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. She pointed out that even now we are still working to preserve these rights, which are under attack. If Texas is allowed to “steal” the rights of people in Texas to be fairly represented, our country will slide even closer to becoming like Russia or China where the votes of the people mean nothing. We must do all we can to save voting rights for our children and grandchildren.
Lulu Flores, former president of the National Women’s Political Caucus, said that it also takes a village to uphold democracy. She said that there are 32 Democratic women in the Texas House, which worries the men in the House. The women fight for everyone and are always there to serve minorities and make sure their voices are heard.
Jolanda Felicia Jones compared what is happening in Texas to what happened in N.C. in 2024. North Carolina was a 50/50 state when Republicans there gerrymandered the state and “stole” three Democratic seats. Jones believes that Texas is a state that can become blue if we stand up and fight back. If Trump gets a stronghold over our country, it will be hard to recover. We are as strong as our weakest person, and we must fight to save democracy. Charlene Ward-Johnson emphasized that same message by saying that if Trump succeeds in Texas, he will try the same thing in other states. She also talked about the personal sacrifice that this group of legislators is making. All of them left their families at home, and many are mothers and fathers with young children. Some also have second jobs since their legislative jobs are part-time positions.
Doctor Lalani Suleman, M.D., was the last speaker for the group. He talked about the importance of taking care of not only his patients but also the ailing politics of our nation. We need to keep up the good work of taking care of people and educating them about the truth. He said the old saying that “If you educate a woman, you educate a family” is true. We must continue to fight and not give up.
Some Illinois House Representatives were present to show their support for the delegation. Suzanne Ness, Illinois State Representative for the 66th District, told the group that they are welcome here and to keep their spirits up. Matt Hansen, Illinois State Representative for the 83rd District, emphasized that we are proud of them for taking on redistricting and inspired by their fighting spirit.
Chair Carolyn Bird Salazar ended the meeting by saying that our nation had been waiting for someone to stand up, and these legislators took up that fight.
