What unfolded Monday night inside First Baptist Church Broad started as a town hall — Memphians rapidly mobilizing for a state redistricting fight. But it didn’t take long for the evening to feel like a revival, complete with passionate preachers, amens and applause.
But instead of a sermon on salvation in Christ, the primary political messages were: Keep fighting. And by all means: VOTE.
Senior Pastor Keith Norman drew laughter — and knowing applause — when he floated the idea of greeting Sunday worshippers and turning away those who admit they didn’t vote.
“Some of these neighboring churches might have some visitors or new members coming,” he said, delivering the line with a straight face that suggested it wasn’t entirely a joke. “At First Baptist Broad, WE VOTE.”
With several hundred people filling the sanctuary on short notice, the Tennessee State Conference NAACP-led voter rights town hall became a rallying point for Memphis residents and elected officials bracing for a fast-moving congressional redistricting battle that could reshape — and potentially weaken —Black political power in Tennessee.
The meeting was organized in response to Republican Gov. Bill Lee ‘s call for a special session of the Legislature to address redrawing Tennessee’s congressional districts. The session started Tuesday, May 5.
Memphians and others descend upon the Capitol in Nashville on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, to protest during a special session of the Legislature to discuss redistricting that could potentially dilute Black voting strength and representation. Stay with TSDmemphis.com for further details from Nashville. (Gary S. Whitlow/Tri-State Defender) 
Memphians and others descend upon the Capitol in Nashville on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, to protest during a special session of the Legislature to discuss redistricting that could potentially dilute Black voting strength and representation. Stay with TSDmemphis.com for further details from Nashville. (Gary S. Whitlow/Tri-State Defender) 
Memphians and others descend upon the Capitol in Nashville on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, to protest during a special session of the Legislature to discuss redistricting that could potentially dilute Black voting strength and representation. Stay with TSDmemphis.com for further details from Nashville. (Gary S. Whitlow/Tri-State Defender)
A generational fight
National NAACP President Derrick Johnson, one of several leaders to join the town hall via videoconference, set the tone, calling the moment “one of the biggest fights in a generation.” He warned that the court’s decision and other recent legal developments has opened the door to rolling back decades of civil rights progress.
“This is not gonna be a quick fight,” Johnson said. “We are in a long war … but we will prevail because we are in the fight.”
Throughout the evening, speakers repeatedly tied the redistricting push to the broader erosion of the Voting Rights Act.
“Tennessee will be the first state to call back a special session to redraw these congressional lines — something that is just downright voter suppression,” said State Sen. London Lamar. “It is targeted to weaken our vote. As emotional as I am, thinking about my whole life learning about the Voting Rights Act. To see that, in my young years, being taken away from us is a burden I never thought I would carry.”
State Sen. Raumesh Akbari framed the issue explicitly in racial terms.
“This is not a partisan issue — it is a race issue,” Akbari said. “It is designed specifically to make sure that the voices of the 61 percent Black residents in this district are not heard. It is about whether we can select our candidate of choice.”
Memphis Mayor Paul Young joined via video conference, emphasizing that Memphis risks losing influence and resources if its representation is weakened.
“This is something we all should be unanimous on. Democrats, Republicans, Black, White — everybody should understand that this is about making sure Memphis is represented,” Young said. “Memphis generates the highest amount of revenue for the state of Tennessee, and we need to have a voice when it comes to decisions that affect our communities.”
Akbari said the redistricting effort is also part of a broader conservative push for power across the South.
“The 9th Congressional District, as we know it, is on the chopping block. What happens here won’t stop here — Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are all facing similar threats.
“Tennessee might be first, but it won’t be the last,” she said.
The stakes
Atty. Van Turner, the state NAACP’s point person on legal matters, explained how the fight reached this point and what is at stake. He pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Friday, May 1, in a Louisiana case that race cannot be considered in mapping congressional districts. Justices also ruled that lines can be drawn along partisanship lines.
Turner said the ruling opens the door for states to redraw congressional maps under the guise of partisanship, even when race is the underlying factor. The ruling, he said, creates a legal gray area — one that allows lawmakers to claim compliance while fundamentally altering who holds political power.
“So what you’re going to hear over the next few days,” Turner said, “are people standing up saying this has nothing to do with race … and on the other side, you’re going to hear folks say this has everything to do with race.”
What’s different this time, Turner warned, is the speed. Rather than waiting for the next census cycle — when redistricting typically occurs — Lee immediately called the special session. Maps of Tennessee were circulated on social media just after the ruling showing Shelby County, thus Memphis — the state’s only predominately Democratic and Black district — being parcelled among three districts.
Turner said lawmakers could move immediately, meaning voters could face newly drawn districts as soon as November.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “we’re dealing with whether African Americans — who make up the majority in this district — will still have the ability to elect a candidate of their choice.”
Turner said the response would not be limited to the ballot box. Legal challenges are expected, he said, but they will depend on community participation — from testimony to affidavits — to build the record for what could become a long-term fight.
“If this goes to litigation, we’re going to need plaintiffs, affidavits, testimony — all of it. That’s how you build a case,” Turner said. “Even if we don’t win right now, that record will matter. Because that’s how these cases are built and won over time.
“Ten years from now some child will pick up the record from today — from your affidavits, your testimony — and use it in a case to win. That’s how this works.”
Throughout the gathering, speakers alternated between historical perspective and present-day urgency.
Rev. Earle Fisher, founder of UpTheVote901, didn’t mince words about redistricting efforts.
“I’m pissed,” he said. “But I’m also not shocked.”
Fisher pastors at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Whitehaven and frequently refers to his church as “the Blackest church in Memphis.” He warned that the current situation reflects a long-standing pattern — and a failure to sustain political engagement across generations.
“We are here today because we forgot to tell the story of the struggle” to future generations, Fisher said. “And now we’re asking people to fight who we never trained to fight. We need to develop a strategy that is not simply responding to what (those in power) have always done.”
Expanding the fight beyond the ballot
Tajuan Stout-Mitchell, former Memphis City Council chair, pushed the conversation beyond voter turnout, urging a broader, more coordinated response that includes economic pressure and unified leadership.
“We need to be on one accord — not just the NAACP, but civic organizations, young voters, student groups,” Stout-Mitchell said. “We need joint statements, clear demands and regular coordination. And we need to be willing to use every tool we have.”
That includes economic leverage, she added, calling for stronger support of Black-owned businesses and greater accountability from the broader business community.
“You cannot survive if we do not survive,” she said. “Our voices will not be silenced — not in the legislature, not in the economy, not anywhere.”
“What will you do?”
Near the end of the evening, Rev. Dr. Andre Johnson addressed the matter in generational terms — not as something distant or historical, but immediate and personal.
“I’m part of the first full generation that was not segregated,” Johnson said, pausing as the weight of that reality settled over the room.
For many in that generation, the Civil Rights Movement has long existed as memory and myth — grainy footage, black-and-white photographs, stories told in classrooms and churches. A time when others marched, others risked, others decided what side of history they would stand on.
Johnson issued a challenge.
“If you ever asked yourself, ‘What would I have done back then?’” he said. “The answer is simple: Whatever you’re doing right now is what you would have been doing then.
“You have an opportunity right now,” Johnson said, his voice rising. “To be on the right side of this moment. Don’t waste it.”
