This essay examines the current state of voting rights in America on the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Dear Voting Rights Advocates,

Sixty years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act (“VRA”), this moment marks a critical time to embrace the lessons learned from the movement that brought about one of our nation’s most effective pieces of civil rights legislation.

“There are years that ask questions, and years that answer.”

Malcolm X would have turned 100 on May 19, 2025. February 21, 2025, also marks the 60th anniversary of his assassination in Washington Heights, a neighborhood outside Harlem’s boundaries that his presence made a permanent part of New York City’s cultural tapestry.