Friends,
Sixty-five years later, Hank Thomas, a national hero and original Freedom Rider, got back on The Ride. We are so incredibly honored and inspired.
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Hank was 19 when he joined the Freedom Ride, fighting for equal rights. A mob outside of Anniston, Alabama slashed the tires of the bus, threw a firebomb through a broken window, and held the door shut so the people inside would burn.
The mob scattered when the fuel tank exploded, and when Hank escaped, he was beaten with a baseball bat. Yesterday, we held a ceremony in the spot where he was beaten. This photo was taken at that spot.
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We owe him and the original Freedom Riders our democracy.
Today, the MAGA politicians in charge are going after the right to vote, targeting majority Black and Brown districts, caging families, and using white Christian Nationalism to seize power.
We have just over a week to Election Day, and it’s going to take all of us.
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The Ride continues through to New Orleans, and then we’re taking the fight to Texas to get out the vote for James Talarico, where Donald Trump is putting his thumb on the scale for Ken Paxton, whose own Republican-led House impeached him in 2023 after his top staff reported him to the FBI. Ken Paxton had the whistleblowers fired.
James Talarico is a seminarian, and Paxton’s answer to that is to use a fake AI video of him scribbling in a King James Bible.
Texas hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate in 38 years, and polls say this race is within a point or two. Early voting ends Friday, and Election Day is November 3.
If a few thousand people who would vote for Talacrico and against white Christian Nationalism never make it to the polls or think this is all in someone else’s hands, we lose.
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We don’t get a second chance at Election Day, and we can turn this country around for the common good if we all do our part to defend everything Hank and the other Freedom Riders rode for.
Our buses run on gas, drivers, and faith and hope in democracy — for We the People.
That costs money — and every dollar we raise before Election Day goes straight into getting people to the polls.
Your donation of $25, $50, $100, or any amount helps fuel the buses and the vote in Texas.
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If you’ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
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Hank got back on the bus after being beaten in a country that wanted him gone. But he fought, and he won.
We can give what we have for one more week.
In this together,
Doug
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Vote Common Good inspires people of good conscience to wake up, stand up, and speak up against MAGA politics and Christian Nationalism. We have a proven record of success moving faith voters away from radical candidates and inspiring them to vote their values for the common good. Please consider a contribution today.
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