Image Source: Getty / Kevin Winter
Michelle Obama delivered the keynote address at When We All Vote’s Culture of Democracy Summit on June 13, delivering a powerful speech that emphasized the need for federal and individual action to protect and expand voting rights in America.
She opened her speech by acknowledging the grief that has defined the past few weeks, referencing recent shootings in Uvalde, Buffalo, Tulsa, Philadelphia, her hometown of Chicago, and “far too many other communities that are coping with similar tragedies,” she said. But the conversations sparked by these shootings, she said, are reminders that it’s “important for us all to remember that it’s not just about who you vote for. It’s not about whether you’re a Republican or Democrat or independent — this is so much bigger than that. Because right now, when we look around at everything that’s happening when it comes to voting and our democracy, it is clear that we’re seeing a deep discrepancy between what we tell ourselves about this country and what we can see with our own eyes,” she continued.
She went on to reference recent voting rights restrictions currently being enacted across America. “Last year alone, 19 states passed bills to restrict voting. That’s 87 million people who might find it harder to vote than they would have just a couple years ago,” she said.
She continued to emphasize the fact that the decisions made at the polls affect all of us. “Here’s the most insidious thing we tell ourselves — that it won’t happen to me,” she said. “We tell ourselves that even though there was an insurrection, the presidential election was still, in fact, certified . . . We tell ourselves that our grocery stores won’t get shot up by a white supremacist. That our babies will be safe in school . . . That maybe strongmen are taking over across the world, but it won’t happen here. [Sure], the sea levels are rising, but I don’t even live on the beach,” she said. “We are clowning ourselves, because these last couple of months alone have proven that there’s no guarantee that these issues won’t reach every single one of us.”
Acknowledging the exhaustion and helplessness that can come with facing these issues and with dealing with the chaos of American democracy on the whole, she emphasized the need for collective action and strategic, sweeping change. “We need a remix. We need a strategy,” she said, referencing new voter ID laws, cuts to early voting hours, redrawn house districts, and other impediments to voting recently enacted around America. All of these restrictions, she said, were made possible by a single Supreme Court Case “that was decided by a single justice.” She was referring to the 2013 court decision that struck down a key tenet of the 1954 Voting Rights Act which had defended voters from discrimination for decades, opening the door for nationwide voter suppression.
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