LiberationPrimary SourceFBA Grio Verified Source

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Name: If We Must Die
Author: Claude McKay

United States Congress

1965

Liberation

3-Minute Summary

Prohibited discriminatory voting practices that had disenfranchised Black voters for nearly a century. Section 5 required jurisdictions with histories of discrimination to obtain federal preclearance before changing voting laws — a provision gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013.

Why It Matters

The Voting Rights Act restored what the 15th Amendment had promised in 1870. Its partial dismantling in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) demonstrates that civil rights gains are not permanent without continued vigilance.

Important Passages

'No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.'

Where to Read

Congress.gov (free)

Verified: National Archives, Congress.gov

Key People

Lyndon B. Johnson

John Lewis

Fannie Lou Hamer

Selma marchers

Key Policies & Events

Section 5 preclearanceLiteracy test banFederal examinersShelby County v. Holder (2013)

Related FBA Leaders

John Lewis Fannie Lou Hamer

If We Must Die

Claude McKay

1919

Resistance

3-Minute Summary

A sonnet written in response to the Red Summer of 1919, when white mobs attacked Black communities across America. McKay's poem calls for armed resistance and dignified defiance in the face of racial terror.

Why It Matters

Written during one of the bloodiest periods of anti-Black violence in American history, McKay's poem is the literary voice of FBA resistance. Winston Churchill later quoted it — without attribution — in a speech to the British Parliament during World War II.

Important Passages

'If we must die, let it not be like hogs / Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot.'

'Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, / Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!'

Where to Read

Public domain — available at Poetry Foundation

Key People

Claude McKay

Key Policies & Events

Red Summer of 1919Tulsa Race MassacreEast St. Louis Riot

All 100 Readings Resistance Collection