Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out against using the filibuster to block voting rights legislation in 1963.
Republicans in the U.S. Senate have blocked voting rights bills using the filibuster numerous times last year.
With voting rights under attack in statehouses across the country, President Joe Biden has backed a carve-out to the filibuster rule to ease passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Unfortunately, conservative Democratic senators like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are siding with the Republican caucus in preserving the filibuster.
What is a filibuster, you ask? I created an animated explainer that details the largely racist history of the convoluted Senate rule.
Major parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that was filibustered by racist Southern Democrats (but eventually passed) were recently struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Which has led politicians in some states to pass legislation that makes voting more difficult ... and has led to more filibusters.
I know it's a very, very long shot, but I sure hope Martin Luther King Jr. gets some shiny new voting rights laws for his birthday this year.