Press Releases
Statement from Rev. Al Sharpton & National Action Network Regarding the Disbanding of the Public Safety and Elections Task Force
—STATEMENT FROM REV. AL SHARPTON & NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK REGARDING THE DISBANDING OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY AND ELECTIONS TASK FORCE
April 17, 2012 (New York, NY) “Today, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) announced that it will disband its Public Safety and Elections task force. While this move is a step in the right direction, it does not undo the harm created by the “Stand Your Ground” laws and the voter suppression laws which ALEC influenced state legislators to pass. In 26 states, people have to fear that a gun toting vigilante will have the right to kill you even when the situation does not call for violence. Also, millions of eligible voters will not be able to cast their vote in the upcoming election due to new voter suppression laws. Even though ALEC has announced that they will no longer deal with non-economic issues, the National Action Network (NAN) believes that more needs to be done to get justice for the people affected by these unjust laws.
NAN recently marched from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery Alabama to protect immigration and voter’s rights. Immediately after the march in Alabama we went to Sanford, Florida to be with the family of Trayvon Martin. In both locations we were met with resistance from people under the influence of ALEC. Last week at our 14th annual National Convention we spoke with corporate partners about their relationship with ALEC and how their support of ALEC is detrimentally hurting minority communities. It has been evident that these corporate sponsors have understood our concerns and many have since dropped their financial support of ALEC.
We are hopeful that ALEC will maintain their current stance of only dealing with issues affecting the economy. NAN will continue to monitor ALEC and we ask that our corporate sponsors do the same.
NAN is committed to fighting for justice
Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network leadership including the office of the Executive Director, Tamika D. Mallory