3 November 2025
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
On Monday, October 27, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice hosted a rally at the Louisiana State Capitol to demand state legislators protect and uphold voting rights for Black Louisianans.
Participants at the rally, which was held in partnership with the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, faith leaders and grassroots organizations statewide including VOTE, Step Up Louisiana, NAACP chapters, Divine 9 organizations and others, called for legislators to maintain the current voting maps featuring two majority-minority districts despite recent legal challenges against them.
“We are going to stand up for our rights, and we are going to defend our democracy,” said Davante Lewis, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner, at the rally.
Louisiana state Representative Alonzo Knox praised the assembly on his Instagram page. “Yesterday’s Fair Maps Rally at the Capitol in Baton Rouge was about one simple truth – fair representation matters. Citizens from all across Louisiana came together to demand transparency and accountability in the redistricting process. We cannot allow anyone to change the rules to cheat their way to power,” Knox wrote. “Special thanks to all the organizers, participants, especially college students who came out and stood up for democracy and made their voices heard. Fair maps mean fair elections – and that’s worth fighting for.”
After the 2020 census, Louisiana lawmakers were ordered to create a second majority-Black Congressional district to ensure fair representation for Black voters. But after the Legislature revised the map, a group of white voters filed a lawsuit claiming the redistricting was unconstitutional gerrymandering. The case is Louisiana v. Callais, and it has gone all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court heard arguments in March, but then ordered re-arguments for October to address the question of whether the “intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments.”
The Power Coalition said that the 14th and 15th Amendments were written to protect Black voters after the Civil War and now conservatives are trying to use those amendments to undermine equal representation.
Shelton said inadequate representation in voting districts affects Black voter turnout. She said people often point to Black voter apathy, but she feels that goes hand-in-hand with unfair representation. She added that there has been improved turnout among Black voters since the second majority-minority district was created.
“If a Black voter feels they can’t elect a candidate of choice, there’s less engagement.”
What happens in Louisiana could have wide-reaching national implications. Shelton said majority-minority districts could be sued out of existence across the country if the Supreme Court rules against keeping the second majority-minority district in Louisiana. She argued this would have negative effects on Black Americans’ citizenship.
“Citizenship is the ability to have a voice, a true voice,” Shelton said. “It’s the heart of democracy.”
Black people make up 33.1 percent of Louisiana’s population.
Shelton urged that anyone concerned about this issue make their voices heard. Assembling at the state capitol is part of this. The current special session of the state legislature will not decide on the maps, but discussions are being held about potentially pushing back election dates to give conservative challenges to the current map more time to succeed.
“People need to get involved before Louisiana yet again finds itself on the wrong side of history,” Shelton said.
This article originally published in the November 3, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.