Members of the Defend Black Voters Coalition chose Detroit’s Huntington Center as their backdrop earlier this month when they issued a warning about the dangers of “voter suppression legislation” backed by Republican state lawmakers.
The building behind them, formerly known as the TCF Center, was a powerful symbol of what could happen if elections indeed are undermined. It’s where conservative poll challengers tried to interfere in Michigan’s tumultuous vote count during the 2020 election.
The coalition called on Michigan-based corporations General Motors, Ford, DTE Energy, and CMS Energy to pledge to end campaign contributions to state lawmakers who are working to make it harder for Black people in Michigan to cast ballots.
“We’re calling on you to stop the voter suppression you enable by cutting off these legislators,” said Jennifer Disla, co-chair of the coalition, a multi-racial group in Michigan formed to protect democracy, and co-executive director of Detroit Action.
It’s a strategy they said is necessary when corporations voice support for Black communities and voting rights publicly while quietly giving money to members of Republican-controlled state legislatures who are trying to institute voting restrictions.
And while it may seem like an indirect way to appeal to state legislators, the activists are building on a recent pattern of increased consumer consciousness and pressure for corporate accountability when it comes to what they call anti-democratic drives to make voting more difficult.
In April, the leaders of three dozen major Michigan corporations, including GM, Ford and DTE Energy, issued a joint statement denouncing voter suppression.
But the four Michigan companies targeted in the new campaign have together donated more than $694,000 since 2016 to the state lawmakers involved in the push to make it harder for Black people to vote, according to an analysis by the coalition.
So far, none of the corporations have said they will take the pledge.