‘No Taxation Without Representation’ Campaign calls for an end to Georgia’s voter suppression tactics--an extension of its deeply rooted history of racial inequality.

A ‘Get Out the Vote & Return the Vote’ Rally will be held on January 4th, 2021

ATLANTA - On Monday, January 4, IMAN Atlanta will hold a “Get Out the Vote & Return the Vote” Rally from 12:00-2:00 pm EST outside of the Georgia State Capitol. Georgia made national history on Tuesday, November 3rd as it experienced the largest voter turnout in history for the 2020 Presidential Election. The nation anxiously awaits as hundreds of thousands of Georgians return to the polls and vote again on Tuesday, January 5th in a special senate runoff election. The responsibility of determining the control of the Senate weighs heavily on Georgia’s shoulders--a burden which could be made easier if not for Georgia’s voter suppression tactics which strictly prohibit anyone currently under supervision from voting until the prescribed term of supervision expires. Georgia is home to 266,000 disenfranchised citizens who are prohibited from voting.

The 'No Taxation Without Representation'petition was officially launched by IMAN Atlanta on Juneteenth 2020 to raise awareness and to work towards restoring the vote to Georgia’s 266,000 citizens who are required to pay taxes but are denied the right to vote. ‘No Taxation Without Representation’ was a founding principle of this country as it was deemed unjust to be taxed without having any say in representation in the governing parties.

The practice of modern-day slavery exists in America today under the disguise of mass incarceration and hundreds of thousands of Black and Brown people are still in its chains. Georgia has more people on probation and parole than any of the 30 states that do not restore voting rights after release from prison if under supervision. During Georgia's dark and regretful history, enslaved people were seen as 3/5ths of a person, and today, those who have served a felony sentence are still treated as such. “They will count our bodies where it will suit them and ignore them where it doesn’t,” says IMAN Atlanta Director Mansoor Sabree. For Georgia and other southern states, this has allowed lawmakers to increase their numbers in the House of Representatives but it removes the ability to vote and decide those representatives from the same bodies.

On January 4, 2021, we will remind Georgia’s legislators and lawmakers that as long as we remain law-abiding tax-paying citizens, we will raise our voices to contest the practice of disenfranchisement. Artists ALäZ, Abyss, and Vaneesah Bahar will join us as we issue a call to action to our fellow Georgians who are able to vote, to stand against these Jim Crow era-esque practices by continuing to spread awareness about the 'No Taxation Without Representation Campaign' and to elect state leaders who will fight to restore the vote and end voter suppression in Georgia on Tuesday, January 5th.

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ABOUT IMAN:
The Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1997 that, for over two decades, has worked to foster health, wellness, and healing in the inner-city. Based in Chicago with a branch in Atlanta, IMAN engages communities in urban centers across the country with its holistic arts, organizing, and grassroots development framework.

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