May 22 | Mental Health Awareness Month Conversation

Join VAAC on May 22 at 12:30 PM for our Friday Community meeting, featuring special guest Hakim Crampton.

Hakim Crampton is a Lyrical Educator, Hip Hopologist, Justice Advocate, Author, Consultant, Healing Centered Practitioner, Government Relations Liaison at Citizens for Prison Reform, and Founder of The Academic Mentoring & Education Network.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, this conversation will focus on the connection between mental health, policy, and access.

Hakim will discuss a Therapeutic Spaces proposal focused on alternatives to solitary confinement and the growing movement in Michigan to address the harms caused by long-term isolation in prisons.

The proposal includes therapeutic spaces intended to reduce isolation and support mental health through increased out-of-cell time, expanded visitation access, sensory activities such as art and music, outdoor activity, exercise opportunities, and trauma-informed mental health policies developed with healthcare and treatment experts.

The conversation will also explore broader advocacy efforts around solitary confinement in Michigan, including concerns raised by incarcerated people, family members, and advocates about the mental health impacts of prolonged isolation and the need for more humane, healing-centered approaches within correctional settings. Reporting by Solitary Watch highlighted ongoing efforts by Michigan advocates to challenge the use of solitary confinement and document its impact on incarcerated people and their families.

May 22 12:30 – 1:30 PM EST
Virtual (Zoom) Join: bit.ly/VAACFridays

Upcoming meeting dates:

June 5

June 26

July 17

July 31

August 14

August 28

The post VAAC Friday Community Meeting: Mental Health, Solitary Confinement, and Therapeutic Spaces on May 22 appeared first on Voting Access For All.

In Michigan, many people in jail are legally eligible to vote, but access often depends on systems that are inconsistent, difficult to navigate, or unavailable altogether. This workgroup brings together organizations, advocates, and community members working to improve coordination, strengthen county-level relationships, and address barriers that prevent eligible voters from participating.

As conversations around voting rights and democratic participation continue nationwide, this work remains urgent.

The workgroup is focused on building the tools, communication systems, and statewide coordination needed to ensure eligible voters in jail are not left behind during upcoming elections.

As we move closer to the midterm elections, this work includes:

• Building county-level relationships  

• Improving communication and tracking systems  

• Strengthening statewide coordination  

• Supporting consistent access to mail-in voting and election information in jails  

VAAC recently adjusted the workgroup meeting schedule to better align with other statewide election access efforts and strengthen collaboration across organizations working on voting rights and election administration.

Upcoming Jail Voting Workgroup meetings:

May 21  

June 11 and June 25  

July 9 and July 23  

No matter where people are located, there are ways to support this work. VAAC provides guidance, tools, coordination, and support for those interested in helping expand voting access in jails across Michigan.

People can also support this work financially. Donations help fund jail voting postcards, flyers, transportation to jails, and other essential resources needed to expand voting access across Michigan counties.

Donate: vaac.me/give

This effort will continue through the November election cycle and beyond.

The post Next Statewide Jail Voting Workgroup on Thursday, May 21 appeared first on Voting Access For All.

What’s Happening

The day of action comes as courts and state legislatures continue making decisions that could reshape congressional districts and weaken protections that Black voters and other historically marginalized communities have relied on for decades. Organizers say these efforts are part of a broader push to redraw districts and interfere with fair representation after elections are already underway.

According to organizers and partner groups, several Southern states are already moving forward with redistricting efforts following the Supreme Court’s recent Callais decision. In Alabama, lawmakers convened to redraw congressional maps after the Supreme Court allowed the state to move forward with redistricting during an active election cycle. In Louisiana, an active election was halted days before early voting was scheduled to begin.

The National Day of Action is centered on defending voting rights and pushing back against efforts that could reduce representation for Black and Brown communities. Events are being held in Montgomery, Alabama, along with additional actions across the country.

Organizers are also raising concerns about increasing pressure and intimidation directed at election workers and local officials. Recent actions involving requests for private election worker information in Georgia have added to concerns about how election systems and workers are being targeted ahead of future elections.

Why This Is Important

For communities already facing barriers to voting, including justice-impacted individuals, low-income residents, and communities impacted by voter misinformation, these changes can create even more confusion and distrust around the voting process.

VAAC believes people deserve clear information about their voting rights and access to elections that are fair, transparent, and free from political interference. Our communities should not lose political representation because of shifting rules, rushed redistricting efforts, or attacks on voting protections.

Take Action

The National Day of Action: All Roads Lead to the South takes place May 16, with events in Alabama and in states across the country.

Not everyone can travel to Montgomery or attend in-person events. There are still ways to support the effort and stay involved:

• Share information about the day of action and ongoing voting rights threats with your community
• Amplify local and national voting rights organizations on social media
• Attend virtual briefings and organizing calls
• Stay informed about redistricting and voting rights issues affecting Black and Brown communities
• Support local voter education and civic engagement efforts in your own community
• Help combat misinformation about voting rights and voter eligibility

Organizers are also encouraging people across the country to speak out against efforts to weaken voting protections and redraw districts in ways that reduce representation for Black communities.

Learn more about the National Day of Action here: All Roads Lead to the South Day of Action

The post All Roads Lead to the South: National Day of Action for Voting Rights appeared first on Voting Access For All.

In the piece, Ford argues that attacks on voting rights are not isolated legal or political disputes, but part of a broader effort to weaken the political power of communities that have historically fought to be heard and represented.

The op-ed connects the Court’s ruling to ongoing efforts to limit access to voting, weaken protections under the Voting Rights Act, and reshape who has influence within American democracy.

Read the full piece below.

Destroying the Voting Rights Act wasn’t just a legal ruling. It was a moral statement

By Christopher Ford

May 12, 2026

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was once described as the crown jewel of the Civil Rights Movement. But it was not ornamental. It was functional. It was the answer to blood in the streets, to bodies on bridges, to names etched into memory because the nation refused to allow them to do the most basic of our civic duties, voting. 

On April 29, the Supreme Court did not simply reinterpret that jewel. It desecrated it. And in doing so, it handed something far more dangerous to state legislatures across this country: permission. Permission to redraw lines with surgical precision. Permission to dilute voices without saying so aloud. Permission to cloak racial disenfranchisement in the language of procedure. This is how erosion happens in America. Not always with a bang, but with a ruling from six unelected judges and a shrug. 

We have seen this before. We are told that this is progress. That the country has moved beyond its past, that we now live in a “colorblind” society. But if that were true, there would be no need to dismantle the protections that guard against it. Laws do not get stripped away in a vacuum. They are removed because they are in the way of something. 

And what they are is in the way of those who are in power and wish to wield it indiscriminately. 

The story of civil rights in this country is not abstract; it’s living and breathing. It is written in the lives of people who paid for the right to vote with their bodies. Activists beaten in Selma on Bloody Sunday. Freedom Summer volunteers murdered in Mississippi while registering people to vote. People who never saw the fruits of the freedoms they demanded. And the people today still living with the physical and mental scars earned fighting for freedom. 

To weaken the Voting Rights Act is not just a legal act. It is a moral statement. It suggests that the sacrifices made were excessive. That the protections earned are now inconvenient. That the bloodshed can be discounted because it belongs to another era. But the past is not the past. It’s the present.

Issues that were thought to be fully settled are now erased. You see it in the steady dismantling of women’s rights. You see it in the coordinated attacks on diversity and inclusion efforts, where attempts to correct a historic imbalance are recast as threats. You see it in the growing hostility toward immigrants. Rights that once felt stable now feel conditional. 

There is a pattern here. The Court’s action to dismantle Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting, wasn’t in isolation. It is part of a broader recalibration of rights in this country, one that places more discretion in the hands of those already in power and less protection in the hands of those who have historically been denied it. 

What makes this moment particularly dangerous is not just the policy shifts, but the posture behind them. The casualness with which they are carried out. The sense that history can be brushed aside, that the struggles of prior generations are relics rather than warnings. The distance between then and now is not as wide as we pretend. 

The images may look different. The language may be more polished. But the underlying questions remain the same: Who gets power? Who gets heard? Who gets to shape the future of this country? 

Opponents of the VRA will say that our country is different and that we’ve moved past the need for it, but snuffing out Black representation where the majority of Black Americans live isn’t progress. It’s regression with better branding. The question now is not whether this moment matters. It does. The question is whether we will recognize it clearly enough to respond with the same conviction as those who came before us. They understood something that we are in danger of forgetting. 

While last week’s decision was a blow to fighters for a more just nation, the moral arc of the universe still bends towards justice. Our battle for a nation that represents “we the people” in its truest sense is not closed and will never be closed. Which is why the hollowing out of Section 2 is not an endpoint but a rally cry to continue the work of our forefathers who strove to create an America where all people reach the mountaintop.

Christopher Ford is a political strategist, community organizer, and systems-level advocate based in Metro Detroit, with experience spanning government, party leadership, and grassroots movements.

The post New Op-Ed from VAAC’s Christopher Ford Published in Democracy Docket appeared first on Voting Access For All.

These policies are being framed as election security measures, despite repeated findings that noncitizen voting is extremely rare. In practice, these proposals could create additional barriers for eligible voters who may not have immediate access to documents like passports or birth certificates.

For many people, especially voters who have recently returned home after incarceration, moved, changed their name, lost records, or face housing instability, these requirements can create confusion and make it harder to stay registered or cast a ballot.

At the same time, election workers across the country are facing growing pressure and interference. Recent actions involving election workers in Fulton County, Georgia have raised concerns about intimidation and the targeting of the people responsible for helping elections run safely and smoothly.

What #HandsOffMIVote Is About

The #HandsOffMIVote Open Letter is a public statement from Michigan voters, community members, and organizations calling for voting access to remain fair, accessible, and easy to navigate.

The letter opposes efforts that would create new barriers for eligible voters and calls for continued support for election workers and local election administration.

The open letter specifically calls on leaders to:

• Oppose proposals that would require additional paperwork or documentary proof of citizenship requirements for eligible voters
• Oppose efforts that interfere with access to voting in state and local elections
• Support election workers and local election officials who help elections function safely and accurately

Michigan voters have already expanded access to early voting, absentee voting, and same-day registration. Organizers behind #HandsOffMIVote say these newer proposals risk creating additional confusion and barriers for voters who are already eligible to participate.

Sign the Open Letter

Add your name and stand with Michigan voters defending access to voting, supporting election workers, and pushing back against efforts to restrict participation.

HandsOffMIVote Open Letter

Please click here to sign.

The post Sign the #HandsOffMIVote Open Letter to Protect Voting Access appeared first on Voting Access For All.

This forum will give community members an opportunity to hear directly from candidates running for Governor about public safety, democracy, and violence prevention in Michigan communities.

Confirmed candidates currently include Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Sheriff Chris Swanson.

Candidates will be asked to address issues including:

• Protecting schools and children
• Suicide prevention
• Community violence intervention
• Domestic violence
• Holding the gun industry accountable
• Protecting democracy

Organizers say the event is intended to center the voices of survivors, advocates, and community members directly impacted by violence and public safety issues across Michigan.

The event will also include a community organization fair featuring groups working on voting rights, civic engagement, public safety, criminal legal reform, reproductive rights, and community advocacy.

VAAC will be participating alongside organizations from across Michigan. Co-organizers and participating organizations include: Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit & Vicinity, Statewide Indivisible Michigan (SWIM), Michigan United, Detroit Action, Church of the Messiah Detroit, Detroit Change Initiative, Red Wine & Blue, Lock It for Life Ypsilanti, Women’s Center of Greater Lansing, Reproductive Freedom for All Michigan, Distill Social, Disarmory Ministries, Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters, We the People Dissent Detroit, FORCE Detroit, North Flint Neighborhood Action Council, Charles W. Reid Community Center Detroit, Reproductive Freedom for All, Michigan Education Justice Coalition, National Council of Jewish Women, Lock It for Everyone, and additional community partners from across the state.

Event Information

May 16, 2026

Cathedral Church of St. Paul
4800 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201

Governor Candidate Forum: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Community Organization Fair: 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Space is limited and advance registration is encouraged.

Register Here for the Governor Candidate Forum

The post Governor Candidate Forum in Detroit Will Focus on Community Safety and Democracy appeared first on Voting Access For All.

Detroit Warrant Clinic | May 16

VAAC is co-hosting Our Own Wall Street’s Detroit Warrant Clinic on May 16, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

This clinic is for individuals with arrest warrants from the City of Detroit connected to traffic tickets or misdemeanors. Community members will be able to receive assistance in a supportive environment.

Butzel Family Recreation Center
7737 Kercheval St., Detroit, MI

NO FEAR OF ARREST.

For more information:
info@ourownwallstreet.org

A Brighter Way’s 4th Annual Community BBQ | May 15

VAAC will also be attending A Brighter Way’s 4th Annual Community BBQ on May 15 from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti.

The event brings community members together for food, connection, and support.

Riverside Park
2 E Cross St, Ypsilanti, MI 48198

Those interested in volunteering can contact:
supports@abrighterway.org

Please include:
• Phone number
• Time available
• Any accommodations needed

The post Community Events In Detroit and Ypsilanti This Week appeared first on Voting Access For All.

Voting Access for All Coalition (VAAC), in partnership with Indivisible Metro Detroit, are hosting additional community pop-ups where participants can create personal art pieces connected to their experiences, perspectives, and reflections on voting and civic life on May 19th and 28th.

Through writing, drawing, collage, and mixed media, participants are contributing 5×7 pieces that will become part of a larger public installation centered on voting rights, access, and community voice.

The project creates space for people to reflect on questions including:

• What does voting mean to me?
• What barriers do communities face when trying to vote?
• What does it look like to protect access to voting?

The installation is rooted in the understanding that not every experience connected to voting, exclusion, or civic participation can be fully explained through policy discussions alone. Art creates another way for people to express frustration, hope, memory, resistance, and lived experience.

No art experience is needed. Participants can create independently or alongside others.

The work is being developed in collaboration with Detroit artist, writer, and storyteller Yusef Qualls-El, whose work explores incarceration, race, identity, dignity, and the silencing of marginalized voices. His leadership helps ground this project in lived experience, creative expression, and community storytelling.

Join us at the next pop-ups:

Tuesday, May 19 | 5:00 to 7:30 PM
Sherwood Forest Branch Library
7117 W Seven Mile Rd, Detroit

Thursday, May 28 | 5:00 to 7:30 PM
Jim’s Corner
22757 Woodward Ave Ste 100, Ferndale

VAAC and community partners are also planning additional art pop-ups as part of the Good Trouble Lives On Weekend of Action taking place July 17–19, 2026.

The national weekend of action honors the legacy of Congressman John Lewis through grassroots organizing, voting rights advocacy, and nonviolent action focused on protecting democracy and civil rights.

Additional event details, locations, and times will be announced soon.

Community members are invited to stop by, create, reflect, and contribute to the growing installation.

The post Voting Rights Art Pop-Ups Continue In Detroit and Ferndale appeared first on Voting Access For All.

The proposal would:
• Ban regulated utilities from making political contributions
• Ban corporations with large state or local government contracts from contributing to political campaigns
• Close loopholes that allow undisclosed political spending (“dark money”)

As the campaign approaches its filing deadline, organizers say there are still completed petition sheets circulating across Michigan that need to be returned immediately.

According to the coalition, petitions are still sitting in homes, cars, bags, and community spaces across the state. These are signatures that have already been collected and now need to make it back to campaign organizers before the May 20 deadline.

In response, the campaign is launching a large-scale call and text effort to help track down and return every outstanding petition sheet.

Organizers are encouraging supporters to:

• Return completed petition sheets as soon as possible
• Contact people who may still be holding petitions
• Help collect remaining signatures before the deadline
• Continue spreading information about the campaign in their communities

The campaign says every returned sheet could help determine whether the proposal qualifies for the ballot.

The initiative is part of broader statewide conversations about political influence, accountability, and corporate money in elections.

Get Involved

Learn more or volunteer:

MMOP Volunteer Information

Find a place to sign:

MMOP Signing Locations

The post MMOP Campaign Launches Final Push to Collect Outstanding Petition Signatures appeared first on Voting Access For All.

Black Mama’s Bail Out began in 2017 as a national effort to bail out Black mamas and caregivers from jails and migrant detention centers before Mother’s Day. The campaign uses the term “Mama” broadly to include Black women, femmes, gender-nonconforming people, and non-binary people who parent, care for, and hold their families and communities together. 

The campaign responds to the ways incarceration harms Black mothers and caregivers, including family separation, financial strain, trauma, and the risk of losing custody or parental rights while jailed before trial. National Bail Out also emphasizes that many women in local jails have not been convicted and are awaiting trial. 

Black Mama’s Bail Out is not only about release from jail. National Bail Out supports Black mamas and caregivers with short- and long-term needs such as court reminders, childcare, groceries, transportation, housing assistance, employment support, mental health support, and legal counsel.

In 2025, National Bail Out and partner organizations granted more than $1 million in bail, provided $195,000 in supportive services, and bailed out 104 Black mamas and caregivers across the country. In 2024, partners bailed out 151 Black mamas and caregivers, including through work in Detroit. 

Our partners at the American Friends Service Committee Michigan Criminal Justice Program are also sharing resources through the Michigan Survivors Justice Initiative to lift up incarcerated mothers and support long-term change.

Their Mother’s Day toolkit includes information about women incarcerated in Michigan, ways to support incarcerated mothers, and resources connected to the effort to advance a Survivors Justice Act in Michigan.

As part of this effort, AFSC Michigan shared prayers honoring incarcerated mothers and the families impacted by separation:

“We pray for the strengthening of the bonds between mothers behind bars and the children and loved ones who miss them.”

“We pray for the internal journey of every incarcerated mother. Grant them the resolve to heal from past traumas, the wisdom to grow through their circumstances, and the hope of a future defined not by their mistakes, but by a redeeming grace and the possibility of a restoration that begins in the heart and in community.”

“We pray for incarcerated mothers whose paths into the system were paved with surviving their abuse.”

“We pray for the power of liberation to grace mothers who have been separated from their children and communities for decades.”

This Mother’s Day, we encourage our community to reflect on the impact incarceration has on mothers, caregivers, children, and families, and to support efforts focused on healing, release, restoration, and keeping families connected.

Learn more:
Black Mama’s Bail Out: https://www.nationalbailout.org
AFSC Michigan Criminal Justice Program: https://afsc.org

The post Mother’s Day, Black Mama’s Bail Out, Support for Incarcerated Mothers appeared first on Voting Access For All.