The new faces of Alabama’s voting rights fight, and what they’re learning from their predecessors

Published: May. 17, 2026, 7:50 p.m.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@al.com

https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2026/05/the-new-faces-of-alabamas-voting-rights-fight-and-what-theyre-learning-from-their-predecessors.html

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When 18-year-old Angel Purdie spoke during a mass rally that attracted thousands to the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery on Saturday, she made it loud and clear the type of legacy she wants to leave in a state that showed how the power of protest can lead to protections at the polls.

Her family educated her about the hundreds of Black marchers who were assaulted by law enforcement during “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, which led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Wenonah High School salutatorian is also from Birmingham, where a coalition of faith leaders, youth activists and business leaders challenged segregation and forged the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions involving Louisiana and Alabama cleared the way for state lawmakers to reshape congressional district maps in a way that voting advocates say dilutes the Black vote. But Purdie used her time on stage at the All Roads Lead to the South National Day of Action to remind the audience of who they are. When Southerners show up, they show out, she said. And their power can be found in the ballot box.

“The legacy I would like to leave is just making sure my voice is always heard, and knowing that every room that I walk in, I know I belong there,” Purdie told AL.com. “We belong here as a collective. Our voice matters.”

Alabama’s civil rights heritage and collegiate and youth activism creates fertile ground for the state’s Gen Z population to grow into civic leaders, a 2025 report by the Tisch College of Civic Life stated. More than 800,000 people between the ages of 18-29 call Alabama home, making up one in five of the state’s voting-age population. About 41 percent of those young Alabamians are youth of color, with 29 percent of them being Black.

Purdie was one of 21 teens who attended the rally with Alabama Black Women’s Roundtable. Led by Jefferson County District 2 Commissioner Sheila Tyson, the program provides leadership training, civic programming and mentorship to women and girls. Tyson said events like the rally help the girls foresee their future and how everyday decisions are often determined by someone in office.

“They’re going to be the next county commissioner. The next mayor. The next city council member. The next congresswoman,” Tyson said. “It’s so important we train people to take our place. We are producing CEOs, public officials, lawyers, doctors. We are training them early about voting.”

Alabama’s diverse Gen Z demographic is eager to respond to laws fraying the multicultural fabric of their state, the report says. When Alabama’s “divisive concepts” bill was coursing through the state legislature, college students swarmed to the state capitol to express their dissent against a policy prohibiting state-funded institutions from promoting or participating in diversity, equity and inclusion programs. After the matter was signed into law, the protest was moved to federal court after college students joined their professors in a lawsuit against the state.

Purdie’s speech echoed the statements made by the grassroots organizers, U.S. Congressional leaders, pastors and other notable speakers from across the country who travelled to the rally. In between the dancing and chants calling for justice, community organizers encouraged the audience to galvanize their communities to vote and to stay uplifted despite redistricting efforts in Southern states. Reminders about Alabama’s May 19th primary and other elections taking place across the South were repeated throughout the rally.

Purdie is doing her part to increase the power of youth voters. In February, she organized a two-day drive where she registered more than 30 voting-age students at her school. She explained to her peers how elections can influence their environment.

“We were telling them that, of course, we need to vote to make sure our communities are safe, because who we vote in office is how we make sure our communities are getting better,” Purdie said.

During the rally, Purdie felt most inspired by the civil rights elders who advised adults to listen to the youth. Purdie said there is a need for more multigenerational collaboration in her community.

“They talk about passing the torch in the youth to continue the fire for all of us to get out and vote, learn about voting rights and learn how we got here,” Purdie said. “A lot of my peers say they don’t agree with the older generation and the older generation doesn’t agree with them. I think we need to find a middle ground and just connect to understand so we can work together.”

The Tisch College reports said while Alabama’s civic groups have a lot of potential, they are underfunded – making it harder for leaders to reach youth who live in rural areas. Tyson said her organization is funded by the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, but they don’t have a huge budget. Tyson believes funders misunderstand the South’s political landscape leading to financial gaps in many organizations and nonprofits.

“They are purposely not funding the South because they feel like the South is red, but I can guarantee that most of the states they consider being red are purple,” Tyson said. “They just need investments. If you don’t invest in the South, you’re not going to get things out of the South. When they invest in northern states, you see the results. So why not do the same thing in the South?”

For Kierra Burks, the rally became an opportunity to spread civic engagement while helping other Black women as the communications and programming associate of the Florence-based social justice group Project Say Something. Burks and PSS founder Camille Bennett were able to give 10 Black women an all-expense paid trip to the event with funding from The Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium. When Burks and her crew walked to the gate, she was astounded by the throngs of people who traveled to the rally.

“There is so much power in numbers,” Burks said. “If we continue this momentum while also building community with each other, I know that we will overcome this battle.”

Burks has been a freedom fighter for voting rights since she was 17. Now 23, she has built a dense resume full of civic and social activism. She learned how to ignite her Gen Z peers’ excitement to vote during a voting rights training at the Transformative Justice Coalition. Those tools came in handy while she was a program director at Ace Alabama, where she ran voter education sessions at high schools in Jefferson County. She launched a Project Say Something fellowship educating students about the purpose of state-level congress members. Fellows also spoke out against bills and witnessed the legislative process during a visit to the state legislature. Burks also developed the People’s Classroom, where Alabamians of any age can receive beginner-level civic education.

At the rally, Burks bumped into former student fellows who expressed interest in bringing their peers to legislative sessions to learn how politics inform their lives.

Burks said the fellowship boosted teens’ confidence in handling political matters.

“They were nervous to talk to legislators at first because they were like, ‘They’re these prestigious people.’ But then they talked to them, and [the students] were just like, ‘That’s it? They didn’t make no sense. Nothing they said has a legal basis. They just made a law based on their opinion.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ So that riled [the teens] up, and they was like, we gotta like pay more attention to who we elected to be here.’”

Along with her civic engagement work, Burks is currently a law student at Faulkner University in Montgomery. So she became very interested when the crowd cheered for the plaintiffs of Allen v. Milligan, the case that led to the creation of the state’s second majority-Black congressional district. Khadidah Stone expressed her displeasure about Gov. Kay Ivey’s decision to have a special session for redistricting instead of other matters affecting Alabamians such as the 50,000 citizens who were taken off SNAP or the sewage crises in Lowndes County.

“She doesn’t care about the quality of lives of everyday Alabamians,” Stone said. “Instead, she decided to take away our Black political power to choose who we want as representatives.”

Burks was inside the Alabama State House when Republican legislators rushed through two bills to hold special primary elections under changed voting maps in a matter of a week. A regular during the legislative session at the beginning of the year, Burks knows proposed legislation doesn’t move through the government that quickly. Watching the political frenzy on top of dealing with anti-protest tactics from the state illustrated to her what she already knew.

“I’ve always been someone who has never felt the fight for voting rights was over because I’ve always been like, ‘If our vote did not have power, they wouldn’t try so hard to stop us from using it,’” Burks said. “The fact the Supreme Court just opened the door – it’s like the whole entire justice system that fought for reform and made it to where it is trying to be equal and fair for everyone is a joke. A complete joke. I feel like it’s like go time when it comes to not even just voting rights, but like just Black rights, period.”

Those rights include the youth vote. The Tisch College report states multiple Alabama electoral policies make it harder for Gen Z voters to bring their advocacy to the ballot box. The absence of in-person early voting complicates the process for students juggling both work and school. Teens are more likely to miss deadlines in a state where same-day registration is also non-existent.

Researchers believe these barriers have affected the state’s youth turnout rate, which has trailed behind the national average by five or eight percentage points during recent elections. One exception was the 2016 presidential election, when the state’s rate was two points higher than the country’s.

Burks has seen how non-civic related policies have hindered students’ knowledge of voting. She said today’s teachers are navigating red tape in their classrooms due to the state’s “divisive concepts” law. During some of her school visits, Burks found herself educating students about prominent civil rights leaders and how they had to fight to get the right to vote.

“I remember going into an elementary school, and those children didn’t even know who Martin Luther King Jr. was,” Burks said. “It was very sad to be like, they honestly didn’t know…no divisive concepts could be allowed in the classroom, and divisive concepts would be like race, gender, religion. How can you talk about Martin Luther King Jr. if you can’t talk about race?”

After Burks builds the historical foundation, then she would move on to describing voter education in relatable ways. Food was her go to in most classes. One time, she

compared voting to telling a teacher what type of pizza students preferred during a party.

“I don’t even know that you want pepperoni pizza because you didn’t even show up to tell me that you want pepperoni. So now we got pineapple pizza,” Burks explained. “That’s just how I feel, like I used to use food a lot with the kids.”

Once students started to get an understanding about how to voice their wants and needs through a voting process, Burks said a light switch started to flicker on in students’ minds. They started having conversations about how to research political candidates’ responsibly, different types of lawmakers and what they are responsible for in society. That’s where Burks started to see the rewards of her work.

“I’ve had several students, both in high school and college, who received that ‘aha’ moment from and then decided, ‘I want to start something in my community. I want to get my friends involved. I want to look into this as a career path, or I want to attend a legislative session.”

Burks said the voting rights fight can be draining, but it’s the elders who keep her going, she said. Many of them withstood the heat on Saturday while holding up signs saying “No Jim Crow Maps,” “Protect Our Vote,” and “60 Years Later…Still fighting.”

“The people who fought for the same Voting Rights Act that’s getting demolished now are still alive. They’re still here,” Burks said. “Whenever I feel down, I go to them and they give me all of the energy I need. It’s like they give me the blueprint like, ‘This is what you need to do. This is what we did so tweak this. You can do it.’”

If the original foot soldiers of civil rights can continue the path of liberation during decades of oppression, then Burks believes she can keep going too.

“I feel a very strong sense of responsibility to continue on the fight for those who fought before me,” she said.