All In: The Fight for Democracy

Greetings again from the darkness. Stacey Abrams is a generational spokesperson, and may very well be the future of the Democrat Party. This despite being recently passed over as Joe Biden's running mate. Ms. Abrams is a producer on this film co-directed by Lisa Cortes (HIP HOP X FASHION, 2019) and Liz Garbus (nominated for 2 Oscars: WHAT HAPPENED MISS SIMONE, 2015 and THE FARM: ANGOLA, USA, 1998). She also appears on camera numerous times speaking to us about voter suppression - something which impacted her directly.

The film provides an historical look at the different ways voters have been suppressed and elections manipulated over the years - dating back to 1789, when the film informs, only 6% of the population was eligible to vote: white male property owners. We hear from many historians, authors, politicians, and activists, yet it's Ms. Abrams who stands out. She takes us through her personal background and describes in detail the influence her parents had on her. We also learn much about the 2016 Georgia Governor's race, where Ms. Abrams faced off against Brian Kemp. In one of the more startling statistics, we are told that as Georgia Secretary of State, Mr. Kemp purged 1.4 million voters from the Georgia registry.

A true history lesson on voter suppression is provided, with much of the lesson and commentary provided by Ms. Abrams and author Carol Anderson, who wrote the 2018 book, "One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Democracy". We also hear from others, including 88 year old Andrew Young, one of the leaders of the Civil Rights movement, and a former Mayor of Atlanta and former US Ambassador to the United Nations.

So many aspects of United States elections are discussed, and these include the Reconstruction era after the Civil War, the 19th Amendment, President Lyndon Johnson and Voting Rights Act, Gerrymandering, Voter ID requirements, Poll taxes and literacy tests, and the landmark 2013 case, Shelby County v Holder, resulting in a US Supreme Court decision that has impacted voter access. We see clips of the 30th anniversary of the Walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and it's clear Civil Rights and Voting Rights are forever bound.

The documentary is important as it connects history with the modern day issues resulting in voter suppression. Ms. Abrams and Ms. Armstrong are vital voices on a topic that should have been laid to rest many years ago; yet as long as the thirst for political power exists, manipulation of the system will be attempted. So, it's important that every citizen understand how this happens and what to be aware of.

"The consequences of anybody here, not turning out and doing everything you can to get your friends, neighbors, family to turn out, the consequences of you staying home would be profoundly dangerous to this country, to our democracy." Barack Obama

That a particular party might like to suppress the votes of its opponents makes some sense in the winner-take-all mantra of any race, but that racial and ethnic suppression does happen is always a shock to those who believe the process of democratic election is sacrosanct. Directors Lisa Cortes and Liz Garbus' insightful documentary All in: The Fight for Democracy dispels any notion that America's elections are pure and unadulterated.

As the centerpiece of this study that covers the history of election fraud and questionable practices up to 2020 in Wisconsin, the Stacey Abrams run for Georgia governor in 2018 best expresses the frustrations of Democrats who perceived the Republicans were throwing up roadblocks from difficult qualifying questions to delayed polls. Abrams fought to the bitter end with only a few thousand votes outstanding and her awareness that she would never win.

Perhaps most dismaying is that Brian Kemp won by 25 K votes among 4 million while over 100,000 were disqualified for not having voted enough previous times. I am personally disappointed that my home state of Ohio has the same illogical suppression.

Abrams' Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, won with the advantage of these "hoops" that minority voters had to jump through, often answering questions like "Who is the clerk of the Superior Court?" He was the Secretary of State in charge of the election process while running for governor, illegal in some states but not Georgia. Such obvious conflicts of interest throw negative light on elections everywhere. However, the co-directors show how voter suppression was common throughout the history of the "Republic." Progressives and moderates have been fighting to suppress the suppression for centuries.

Early on this informative doc shows other manipulative tactics such as gerrymandering, poll taxes, and demands for government ids to keep away the poor, resulting in making the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments impotent legislation. What the doc does not do is to present a fair assessment by conservatives about why they favored the suppressive legislations. The other side should always be allowed to defend itself in even benign docs like this.

If for nothing else, this important documentary emphasizes the need to vote early, check on the vote's being processed, and exalt in a flawed but fair election. We'll see.

Stop what you're doing and watch this. Never has a doc been more timely and vital.

Just watched "All In: The Fight for Democracy" and it's an excellent recap of the GA gubernatorial election (Stacey Abrams vs. Brian Kemp) and it does a great job of tying current day voter suppression efforts to their historical origins. Check it out! #VoterSuppressionIsReal

Unfair, undemocratic, biased, discriminatory, immoral, partisan, autocratic, oppressive; with a common denominator the world over - white middle aged and older men, who are the curse of freedom, truth and democracy (obvs. not all of them). They've been around a while, just search for 'A Rotten Borough' online to find out more.

Being able to vote as a legitimate resident in any country should be as easy as going outside and holding up your arm. If your views are then reflected in representatives appointed through proportional representation, you have democracy. Break either of those rules and, as much as you'd like to think otherwise, you're under the control of others and, most likely, through men with the common attributes and characteristics previously alluded to - another one of them being they don't like your right to vote if you're not like them.