Republicans are racing against the clock to change election laws before the midterms. And by “change election laws,” they mean redistrict their communities so severely that people of color are stripped of proper Congressional representation. You can thank SCOTUS’s recent ruling on Louisiana v. Callais for that.
Tennessee is one of many southern states targeted for the Republican electoral smash-and-grab job. Tennessee State Senator Raumesh Akbari joins April to reveal how Republicans are already rolling back rights in her state. Akbari discloses that Republican legislators want to “choose their voters, but voters do not get to choose them.” April and Akbari also discuss how clergy are getting involved in this voting rights fight and what — if anything — we can still do to make a difference.
State Senator Raumesh Akbari is the State Senator for Tennessee’s 29th district. She previously served as a State Representative. Senator Akbari is a member of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, the Senate Ethics Committee and serves as 2nd Vice-Chair of the Senate Education Committee.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
April Ryan
Guys, you know we are in unprecedented times. There is an attack, a straight attack, an assault, a gutting of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and there are several states right now in play. We’ve got Louisiana, the Louisiana v. Calais case. The Supreme Court decision last week is really why all this is happening. We’ve got states that are in play with redistricting, and possible shifts, in Black districts. You’ve got Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee, and with me today, I have State Senator Ramesh Ackberry, who is on the ground. She has been doing the work, she’s been talking. Just this Sunday, there was an emergency call with Women with Black Women, and State Senator Ackberry was one of those who lent her voice to this cry, this call for help in these unprecedented times. 8,000 people were on this call. Why is there such an urgency right now, Senator Ackberry, to this, particularly in Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama?
Senator Raumesh Akbari
you know, April, we are actively witnessing a rolling back of rights that we fought for such a long time for. I think we have not seen this level of rolling back since the end of Reconstruction. It is very timely and very urgent, because state legislatures across the country are determined to have emergency sessions, special sessions, to quickly change the law, to quickly modify these districts so that they can adjust them in time for the midterm elections. And so people need to get riled up, they need to get ready, but most importantly, they need to be informed about what’s going on.
April Ryan
in preparation for the midterm elections to keep Republicans, keep control of Congress, keep control of the White House, and that’s a lot of the things that people are not hearing when we do these explanations, is… There’s a sense of urgency, but the representation piece, the representation piece. Can you talk to me about the locales that could be impacted in your state? Tennessee, you’ve got Memphis. I lived in Chattanooga for a year. You got Nashville, you got Knoxville. Talk to me about that, particularly in Memphis, in a solidly Black district.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
You know, I think that’s the most devastating thing, right? In Memphis, our district, the 9th Congressional District, is 61% Black in a city that’s 64% Black. And so this is not just about diluting the Democratic vote, it’s diluting the voice of Black people. It’s not allowing Black people who live in Memphis to be able to select a candidate of their choice to have truly representative government. And because of the Cali decision, and because of, Justice Alito, you have elected officials like Marsha Blackburn and like Donald Trump explicitly saying, and even the governor, lieutenant governor in Tennessee explicitly saying. This will allow them to pick up an additional Republican seat. It all is fair, all bets are off for partisan gerrymandering, but the underlying… really underlying story is, they are racially discriminating. They are… putting Black people in a position where our voices will be so diluted that our issues will never come to the forefront. And then the unfortunate thing with the Calais decision is now we have to prove that the racism and discrimination is intentional. It does not matter that it will have a racist or discriminatory effect.
April Ryan
And you have to prove, and now they’ve taken data out of the equation. You know, we use data to prove, and data has now been pulled, so you have a harder and higher way to prove this now. It’s gonna be harder, because the issue of race is just… no one wants to hear it. The Supreme Court, it was, was it Shelby v. Hold on 2013? And then that affirmative action case on, Harvard in North Carolina. striking race out of admissions, and people are taking that and using that as a cover for even this. So there… since 2013, we’ve seen a strategic effort to totally pull race out, and just… demolished the civil rights gains that we had in the 60s. Now, you know, this airs on Tuesday, and today at 2 p.m, you say they will gavel in on this, on this redistricting. I mean, Calais was last week, and you guys are jumping in now. Talk to me about the rush, and what’s gonna happen this week.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
I mean, this General Assembly is doing something that is so outside the norms of redistricting, so outside the norms of any sort of moral standard. We will gavel in at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. We will have first reading of this redistricting legislation. We will have a committee meeting. Several committee meetings on Wednesday, and this bill will be back on the floor for a vote by Thursday. By Thursday afternoon, I can assure you, both Speakers of the House and Senate and the Governor will have signed this into law. They are very much so aggressively trying to get these new maps in place so that they can be ready for the August 2026 primary, so they can reopen the filing period and have new candidates running for these new districts. It is, quite frankly, an affront to democracy. It is an affront to voters. This is yet another example of Republicans in this state, and really across the country, creating laws, creating districts where they choose their voters, and the voters don’t get to choose their elected officials. And you know, at some point, at some point, we’re gonna reach a breaking point, and I think this may be that time. Because right now, in Tennessee, the only thing on the table is the congressional district. But in Alabama, you have congressional and state house and state senate districts on the table. And I fully anticipate next year, when the legislature resumes for a full session, they will try and attack those districts as well. So you’re looking at this very strategic, as you said, from 2013 to now, and really beyond. to try and completely diminish and absolve the Black vote and the Black voice.
April Ryan
We’re talking to Tennessee State Senator Ramesh Ekbari, and I’m telling you, this… these are unprecedented times, and… The court of public opinion is important, but will it matter? Will it matter in the Tennessee legislature this week? Will it matter? Because you’ve got a series of calls, you’ve got people showing up, you’ve got rallies, but will it matter?
Senator Raumesh Akbari
I’m gonna tell you, I think that they will still vote this through. But here’s the difference. You have to shine a light on what’s being done, or they will do it and say that we wanted them to do it. And so that’s what this is about. And I hope that even though it won’t stop the legislation, it will continue to spark a movement. Where people fight back. Especially when they go and vote. They have to. They have to stay encouraged, but I want this, if nothing else. for people to be able to see exactly what is possible when a legislature is out of control, and when they don’t have the voice of the people at heart. But no, we have people, people are going to be showing up, they’re going to be speaking out, they are organizing, and that’s beyond what legislators are doing. We’re focused on internal strategy. making sure that we’re saying the right things in committee and on the floor. But no, this is not something that we’re just gonna let happen quietly. We might not be able to stop it, but we’re not gonna make it easy.
April Ryan
You’re very active in the community, particularly in the Black community. What were the churches saying this weekend? Because I went to a Black church in Baltimore, and I looked at a lot of services this weekend to see if the social justice piece, this loss of voting rights, melded into the theological message. Because, you know, in the 60s, this was some of the theological message in the Black church. What did you here this Sunday in churches.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
Well, I’ll tell you, we have a group called the Black Clergy Collaborative. They convened an emergency call on Saturday, and there was almost over 100 people on that call, and so we’ve had clergy across this state trying to make this issue real for people. You know, when you say gerrymandering or redistricting, people don’t often understand that. But when you say a loss of rights for your schools, and a loss of funding, and a loss of you know, healthcare and things like that, it kind of resonates. And so we… we also are dealing with a population of folks that are just trying to survive. You know, they’re trying to get to thriving. And so, our preachers, our clergy. Our, you know, just community members have helped make this message plain and clear to folks, and we’ll hope that that will continue through the rest of this week and beyond.
April Ryan
So, the Congressional Black Caucus came out with something, and they said majority Black districts can be eliminated. States can now redraw congressional maps to break up Black voting communities, manufacturing more Republican districts by diluting Black political power. And I want to get into that, because we keep talking about diluting, but I really want to get into the weeds, because I want people to really understand how this impacts you. You can be white, you can be Asian, you can be anything living in a predominantly black district, and you have a billionaire who doesn’t understand your… the way you live, or what you’ve had to deal with representing you, and they don’t necessarily have the same identity, cultural, way of thinking, or even political way of thinking. This is what’s happening, am I correct?
Senator Raumesh Akbari
Yes, like, it is going to impact all people, so the only way they can make these maps work so that it is leaning towards a particular political party is to completely dilute and combine rural and urban areas. So how are either of those parties going to have their actual needs met? Take race out of the equation if we, you know, for the purpose of this discussion. It is going to completely, you know, meld a district that really makes no sense, because people should be in districts where they are able to have full representation. And if you need funding, you know, based on the Farm Bill, or if you need funding to an urban area, you know, it’s going to be very difficult to have an elected official that can balance both of those needs. So you are going to see a complete dilution of making sure that people’s voices are heard, like, that their actual needs are being met by their member of Congress.
April Ryan
So, one of the tenets of this issue from the Congressional Black Caucus, they’re saying your representatives can be chosen by state and imposed on you. Can you explain that?
Senator Raumesh Akbari
Yes, so essentially, the state legislature, really across the country, they are responsible for drawing congressional maps, and so the state legislatures will draw maps where it is impossible for you, your voice to really be heard, right? When you break up a community, so let’s say Memphis, you break up that community where that 61% of the folks in that community are, you know, aligned in a certain way, and you stretch it across multiple areas. then essentially the legislature is picking your elected official for you, or picking the type of elected official for you. And so that’s what we’re really looking at. It is extremely dangerous, and we know that states across the South, where you have Republicans in the majority, are going to do it. They’ve already said that they’re going to do it. If not now. in the next legislative session, but by 2028, you can expect the landscape in Congress and on the state level to look completely different from how it looks now.
April Ryan
And what you’re saying is keeping, basically keeping Republicans in Congress, keeping, the President in the White House, or… I don’t know, because he… he wants to stay, and we know that. Or keeping Republicans, period, in the top branches of government. So, in Tennessee, we know you were very, outspoken, and you were there in that… that fight, the gun battle in your… in your legislature. But in… in… it was… it was tough, but I’m kind of… it feels like it’s the same thing. Democrats are, like, holding tight, and Republicans are like, no, no, no. Am I correct in that? Are Republicans really supporting this, in Tennessee? Like, you know, there’s no… is there any leeway to… for conversation or anything, or is it just… We’re gonna do it, and this is it.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
You know, I’ll tell you, Democrats are definitely on the right side of history on this, and there are colleagues, Republican colleagues that I’ve spoken to, or that I’ve, you know, kind of heard through the grapevine, that they don’t fully support this, but the difference is they’re willing to get on board, in service to their party, in service to Donald Trump. And that, to me, is truly an abomination. It’s one thing to truly believe something, but to act in a certain way just for political gain, just to take power away from people, really is a crushing blow to the very concept of democracy.
April Ryan
But when you hear people talk about… Let’s go back and fix the John Lewis voting rights. Law, or bill. Is that kind of perfunctory in this moment? Because… We had a Democratic president. And it didn’t happen. And now you’ve got a Republican president who doesn’t want to hear anything about civil rights, he doesn’t want to hear anything about race. Those calls are kind of perfunctuary, and I’m not downing people, but you don’t have a lot of Republicans trying to join in on this in this anti-woke, anti-DEI moment that is impacting us on every level.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
You know, I agree. I mean, it is a conversation that needs to be had. It is a goal that we should reach for. Quite frankly, it is the only solution to this issue for Congress to take action, that will kind of bring things back to a certain place in spite of what the Supreme Court has said, or around what the Supreme Court has said. A way to comply with the Supreme Court decision while also making sure that people are protected. But again, we have seen Congress just has a really tough time accomplishing pretty much anything. Things are so partisan, there’s such an ugly moment, towards anybody who is different, anybody who does not align directly. with the Trump message, with the MAGA message. And that’s where we are. That doesn’t mean you need to give up. I’m hoping that this will be a catalyst, this will be more than a spark. It will be a bomb that unites people so that they recognize when you don’t vote in federal elections, when you don’t vote in your state elections, when you don’t vote in your local elections, elected officials are put in place that do not represent your interests. And as a matter of fact, they’re helmet on taking away your rights and ignoring your interests. And so if this is not a wake-up call. I don’t know what is. I mean, you know, my district, the National Civil Rights Museum sits in my.
April Ryan
Yeah, I’m…
Senator Raumesh Akbari
Yes, I’m on the board for the National Civil Rights Museum. I’m a student of the Civil Rights Movement. And to witness this in real time in my lifetime, when I have colleagues who had to count how many bubbles were in a bar of soap to be able to vote, when my own mother was born in a segregated hospital, will we still see significant gaps in Black wealth compared to white wealth? Like, and then we have, on a political level, no protection and a desire to take away the little protections we have. So this must be a wake-up call to fight back. It shouldn’t be something that divides us. It should be something that pulls us even closer and stronger together.
April Ryan
The Lorraine Motel is in your district, where Dr. King was killed. The Civil Rights Museum, the bus that Rosa Parks, the statue was Rosa Parks, I took the picture of that statue, and I met your dad during that time. And I’m sure you were like me. Your dad took you, and your parents took you to the… to vote when they voted, correct?
Senator Raumesh Akbari
My mom always took me. The moment my dad got citizenship and was allowed to vote, he has not missed an election. So it’s very important. And even my grandmother, who It was my absolute heart. She had a… her voting card was from 1962, before the Voting Rights Act. She was a strong voter, and she was my constituent. It was one of my proudest moments that she was able to vote for me. And so this is… I mean, I think any Memphian, any Southerner, to have to live through this, and knowing what… not even… I don’t even say ancestors, because many of them are still alive, fought for, is just… unreal.
April Ryan
And, you know, it’s… it’s not just these… historic districts like Memphis and Selma in Alabama. But again, you have a lot of these districts that are going to be impeded. A lot of people and their progress will be impeded, with this. But as we talk about these historic districts, I do want to travel to Alabama for a minute. Selma. Where Bloody Sunday really was the kickoff. The launching point for people to really see The… the crisis. In this voting… situation for Black folks. It was the pop-off, and now Selma is going through the same thing Memphis is. This black town, that still looks like a time that land forgot, it looks just like it did in the 1960s. This black town! could be carved up in Republican, with this still-racist name bridge, Edmund Pettis Bridge. So this is… this is an affront to history, it’s an affront to people’s rights, it’s an affront to freedom, it’s an affront to democracy. This is control. This is… This is Russia, this is China, this is not America.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
Yeah, April, if you sat with it too long, you just sit on the floor and cry. Because it truly is anti to everything this country has professed to be.
April Ryan
Yes.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
If this was happening in other countries, we would be sending in people to try and restore democracy.
April Ryan
UN, Blue Elements, yes!
Senator Raumesh Akbari
Yes, yes, and instead, and I have marched across the Edmund Predice Bridge. I have walked the streets of Selma, and for them to even contemplate doing this to Congresswoman Sewell’s district. during this time, I mean, where you have the original marchers who are still living. It’s just… and for my colleagues to try and justify it and say. we’re trying to make sure we’re complying with the Constitution. The cloak of trying to use democracy as a cover, when they are actually anti to everything that represents, is all the more insulting.
April Ryan
So my last question to you, Senator Abbari, and I’m just so thankful that you gave us your time. Do you believe, even with this decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the 6-3 decision, the three Democrats said, yes, we need to… we need to keep the things the way they were, and the 6 said, no, we gonna change it. But even with this, do you believe that change can happen if there is a blue tsunami that shows up at the polls and that can change the dynamic? Do you believe In your heart of hearts, even with this redistricting, if people still show up at the polls, a difference can be made.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
Yes. I, in spite of everything, I have to have hope, and I know that it matters who sits in political seats. While this redistricting decision will make it more difficult for congressional districts to really be truly representative. I think we have to rise up. It matters who sits in the White House. It matters who sits in Congress, because Supreme Courts throughout history have made incorrect decisions. We can look at Plessy vs. Ferguson, and we know that they do not get things right, that history will have to sometimes prove them wrong. And I think this will be one of those situations. But if we don’t have a legislature, if we don’t have a president. that is going to take action to restore some of these rights, then we have no hope. And also, it makes a difference who gets appointed to the Supreme Court. So, no, we have to show up and vote. We have to do it now more than ever.
April Ryan
Yeah, and the example that Norm Eisen and I talked about this week, look at what happened with immigration law. When you think it’s just one group, it winds up being all of us. You think it is just Black folks, it’s gonna wind up touching all of us. So this is an all-in, everybody issue. It’s not just them versus us, it’s all of us.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
Yeah.
April Ryan
Tennessee State Senator Ramesh Akbari, thank you so much for joining us on this, informative and hurtful time in the nation, where democracy is being peeled back, freedoms and rights, particularly for those of color, are in the balance. Thank you so much for your time.
Senator Raumesh Akbari
Of course, of course, and thank you, April, for all that you do.
April Ryan
Thank you.
