By Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover, JD, CPA
At a time when the nation is wrestling with a Supreme Court decision that gutted key protections of the Voting Rights Act, it is important to remember that May 17 marks the 72nd anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education (May 17, 1954) — the ruling that declared segregated schools unconstitutional and inherently unequal. It served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement and paved the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Brown showed that education and the right to vote are the strongest pillars of progress — and they rise and fall together. That is why these rights are constantly under attack. Today, that connection is being tested once again, as hard won gains are being stripped away. This fight has never been over.
Whether the fight involves educational equity or unjust redistricting, it is all the same battle. Different battleground, same battle. Different tactics, same truth. Different strategies, same struggle for equality. And we must confront this modern day oppression with a resolve that calls for action equal to the magnitude of the threat.
For African Americans, the fights to end school segregation, voter suppression, and unequal funding have never been separate struggles — they have always been interconnected forces at the very heart of the civil rights movement.
The weakening of the Voting Rights Act has allowed states, including Tennessee, to adopt redistricting plans that dilute the voting strength of Black communities. These maps fracture longstanding districts, silence collective voices, and undermine the very representation that the civil rights movement fought to secure. And now, the same regressive forces that once fought against desegregation are showing up again — not hidden, not discreet, and every bit as damaging and consequential.
The promise of Brown reminds us that true democracy depends on a society where equality in education and equality in political power are not separate goals. These fundamental rights must be defended with the urgency this moment demands.
On this 72nd anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, let us be reminded that progress is not selfsustaining. It must be protected, practiced, and passed on. Passed on to the next generation. Passed on so they can understand the fight. Passed on so they never leave the battlefield no matter how the struggle changes or how the opposition disguises itself.
This is the charge before us: to get in. Get back in. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t retreat. Don’t back away. Don’t yield an inch in a struggle that demands our full presence.
The fight for justice is calling your name, and history will record whether you answered.
So boot up, suit up, step up, show up — because freedom does not come to the quiet, the cautious, or the comfortable. It comes to those who refuse to back down, refuse to be silenced, and refuse to surrender the ground their ancestors already paid for.
