Florida's 5th Congressional District was more than a map to its residents. It was the product of a long century-old struggle to gain power in the influential halls of Congress. Now the district has been erased, leaving its Black residents in limbo.
, and his fellow protestors, the journey was an opportunity to let the most powerful people in Florida know that the district’s Black voters would not allow this “plain ol’ racist” legislative action to happen without their voices being heard.
Corrine Brown, a Democrat rooted in Jacksonville, joined fellow Democrats Carrie Meeks and Alcee Hastings who won in South Florida districts. The wishbone-shaped district resulted in Black residents making up 50% of the voting-age population, giving them a decisive say in the election outcome. Up until the Legislature's vote this month, the district’s Jacksonville voters knew when they filled Souls to the Polls caravans or showed up on Election Day, they were voting to send a Black representative to Congress.
It’s also Lawson’s home county. He grew up in Midway, a bedroom community of about 3,500 people off Highway 90, starting as a young boy making $3 a day working in tobacco fields and rising to star athlete and coach, then state lawmaker. Local officials there said they’ve enjoyed access to Lawson and appreciate that he understands where they’re coming from, both as a Black Floridian and as someone with a stake in the area.
This moment felt bigger than just redistricting, he said, pointing to recent policies pushed by DeSantis: a bill cracking down on protests in the wake of Black Lives Matter demonstrations after the death of George Floyd; a voting rights package that a judge recently said was part of a long line of Black voter disenfranchisement; a new law limiting talk of race in schools and workplaces. By the time Frazier made it to Tallahassee, dozens of people had gathered by the old Capitol.
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