Selma is Now and the Fight for the Ballot is Ours: A Panel on Voting Rights

The historic struggle for the Voting Rights Act is not over — it is being fought right now. This panel connects the sacrifices that secured federal protections to today's renewed fights over ballot access and democratic participation. From what has been dismantled to what remains unfinished, our panelists will examine the growing anti-democratic trends threatening our communities and the question on everyone's mind: how do we fight back?

Moderator

Bacardi Jackson is the Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida, making history in May 2024 as the first Black woman to lead the organization. A Yale Law School graduate and seasoned trial attorney with over 20 years of litigation experience, she previously served as Deputy Legal Director of the Children's Rights Practice Group at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), where she fought to dismantle the school-to-Pr*son pipeline. She is the inaugural recipient of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund's Distinguished Young Leader Award and has been recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer since 2020.

Panelist

Daniel Tilley, Esq. has served as Legal Director of the ACLU of Florida since April 2019. He joined the organization in 2012 as a staff attorney with a focus on LGBTQ rights and served as lead counsel in the landmark consolidated cases that brought marriage equality to Florida in January 2015. He earned his law degree from the University of Georgia, where he was a member of the Georgia Law Review and received the Spurgeon Public Interest Fellowship.

Additional panelists to be announced.

This free, in-person event is part of the 2026 Africana Arts & Humanities Festival and is intended for adult audiences.

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