THE PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION FOR PROGRESS (POP)
PO BOX 22505
NEWARK, NJ 07101
973 801-0001
www.njpop.org
CONTACT: LAWRENCE HAMM
JULY 21, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
VOTING RIGHTS FORUM SCHEDULED FOR NEWARK, TRUMP FIRING OF ELECTION OFFICIALS CONDEMNED, WARNS AGAINST COUP ATTEMPT
(ARTICLE AND PHOTOS)
“The Attack On Voting Rights And The War On Black People,” will be the subject of a panel discussion that will be held Wednesday, July 29, 2026, 7:00pm at St James AME Church, 588 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Newark, New Jersey.
The event is sponsored by the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) a grassroots group that fights for civil and human rights.
“We are having this forum to convey the urgency of the moment as it pertains to voting rights in particular but also to the state of Black people in the U.S. in general. Both are under severe attack,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated.
“The basic message of our program will be that the Black community and our allies must have a response to these threats that is commensurate with the degree and intensity of the crises that we are facing,” Hamm said.
The forum in Newark is the third of a series on this topic. The first one was held in Montclair and the second was in Plainfield. Others are scheduled for Newark, Maplewood, Hackensack, and East Orange.
“Many still don’t realize the seriousness of the situation. The Trump administration, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the MAGA Republicans in Congress have launched a full frontal attack on voting rights in order to impact the outcome of the midterm elections,” he said.
Hamm said the onslaught has been relentless with one thing after another. The latest episode has been Trump’s attack on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC).
“The People’s Organization For Progress condemns President Trump’s firings of members of the Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency tasked with helping officials administer elections and voters participate in the electoral process,” he declared.
“This is yet another attempt by Trump to dismantle the infrastructure that protects against election interference so he can engineer an outcome in the midterm elections that is beneficial to his party and himself,” he said.
“If it were only the attack on the EAC that would be enough, but the goals of the Trump regime go beyond tampering with the midterm elections. Trump and his confederates through their multi-pronged efforts are laying the basis for a second coup attempt in this country,” he said.
“This is why we will urge people at our forum to increase civic engagement at all levels and in every way possible in order to defend voting rights and to defend the Black community against the onslaught of the policies and actions Trump administration,” he stated.
“We must utilize every tool of resistance at our disposal. Protests, boycotts, strikes, legal actions in the courts , and votes must all be utilized” he said.
“At the program we are going to call for massive voter registration from now until the cutoff date in October. More importantly, we will call for massive voter mobilization in November,” he said.
POP decided to have this forum series after the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in the Louisiana v. Callais case several months ago which eviscerated and effectively killed the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The court’s decision enables racist state legislatures to redraw their congressional districts and eliminate those which have large black populations. This could result in the loss of as many as 19 congressional seats now held by African Americans.
Besides political retrenchment Hamm cited other areas where Black people are under attack.
“Black people continue to experience the highest rates of racist violence. Black Americans experience the highest rate of police brutality and fatal shootings by police. Black people are three times more likely to be killed by police than whites.
“Black student enrollment at colleges and universities continues to decline due to the Supreme Court decision to end affirmative action in higher education.
“Since the beginning of Trump’s second term Black unemployment has doubled with more than 600,000 Black people losing their jobs, including 350,000 Black women, due to a sagging economy, federal budget cuts, and the ending of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs,” he said.
Hamm said the racial wealth gap continues to widen between blacks and whites. White families now have six times the wealth of black families. The median net worth of white families is about $285,000 compared to $44,900 for Black families.
In terms of health outcomes life expectancy of Black Americans is shorter than that of whites. The rate of black infant mortality is double the rate for whites. Black maternal mortality is more than three times the rate for whites.
“Our history and our culture are under attack. Black history is being eliminated in public schools or being re-written to fit a racist and white supremacist narrative. In some states teachers have been fired for defying the ban on teaching black history,” Hamm said.
“Scores of books about Black people and other people of color have been banned. Black Studies departments, programs, and courses are being eliminated or downsized at colleges and universities, and Black faculty and staff have been laid off,” he said.
For more information please call People’s Organization for Progress at 973 801-0001.
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