Rev. Steve Allen
Hickory – Indivisible Citizens of Catawba Valley is partnering across the greater Hickory community to hold a “March for Voting Rights” on June 27 in downtown Hickory.
“In the words of the late great Congressman John Lewis, the Indivisible Citizens of Catawba Valley, or ICCV, has been getting into ‘good trouble, necessary trouble’ over the past 16 months,” said ICCV Chair Deb Johnson. “Now with the all-out assault on voting rights — like we’ve not seen since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s — it’s time to get back on the streets to defend everyone’s right to vote.”
On June 27, a day of national action led by the All of U.S. 250 coalition, ICCV will hold its “March for Voting Rights” starting at 9:00 a.m. The march will have three starting points: (1) Piedmont Wagon on City Walk (parking available at The Premier at 109 11th St. NW), (2) Ridgeview Rec Center (park at Ridgeview Rec or at Mt. Pisgah Church), and (3) St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 629 8th St. NE (parking at church and on adjacent LRU campus). All routes utilize Hickory trails – both City Walk and Historic Ridgeview Walk.
The marchers will converge at Sally Fox Park at 1st Ave. NE for chants and singing and a formal program that starts at 10 am. Rev. Reggie Longcrier of Exodus Missionary Baptist Church will introduce keynote speaker Rev. Steve Allen of Greensboro. Rev. Allen has been an attorney, the first elected Black Superior Court Judge in Guilford County since Reconstruction, and most recently, pastor of Greensboro’s Shiloh Baptist Church and resident of the Pulpit Forum of Greensboro.
“I’m so excited to hear from this lifelong advocate for voting rights, civil rights, and equity,” Johnson said. “He knows better than most how important this struggle is. As Rev. Allen says, ‘We cannot allow the clock to be turned back. We’ve shed too many tears and too much blood to turn back now.’”
ICCV is a non-partisan grassroots organization working to uphold the U.S. Constitution, reclaim our democracy, and through its mutual-aid efforts help provide for “the least of these.” Learn more at www.indivisibleccv.org.
