92 Year Old is “Fed Up and Fired Up,” Fighting Hard for the Right to Vote in a Lawsuit

By Staff Blogger

If you thought the Civil Rights Era was over, think again. The state of North Carolina is becoming pivotal ground for what is amounting to be one of the most important civil rights battles of the century: The right to vote.

Standing tall and proud amongst those who are carrying on the fight is 92 year-old Rosanell Eaton. Eaton vividly remembers the first time 

Black people had to fight vehemently for their right to vote. At the tender age of 21,  she became one of the first African Americans to register to vote in her North Carolina county.

What many younger generations do not understand is that the first time Eaton voted, she had to take a literacy test. The test, which required her to recite the preamble of the Constitution, was not uncommon. In fact, many areas used the tests to deny Black citizens their Constitutional right to vote.  Now, she finds herself facing yet another “test”: North Carolina’s strict Voter ID law.

The new law requires that citizens have accurate and up to date government issued IDs in order to vote. For Eaton, this will prove to be a difficult task. The legal name on her birth certificate is different from that on her state-issued driver’s license and voter registration card.  Trying to rectify this will not only be timely, but costly. It is important to note that many Blacks of her generation from rural areas were often born at home and sometimes information, such as the spelling of names and birthdates, were recorded erroneously on birth certificates.

Rosanell  Eaton is lending her voice, her energy and her passion to a lawsuit that is calling into question the inherent and explicit biases of the new law.

ThinkProgress reports that, “Eaton participated in Moral Monday protests in North Carolina before the law passed, expressing opposition with fellow North Carolinians to a raft of new state conservative policies that would hurt the poor, women, minorities, and the environment. During one Moral Monday event, her daughter Armenta told ThinkProgress on her behalf, “She thought things were smooth sailing. She’s seen the good, bad, and the ugly. Now she’s seeing the ugly again. She fought for civil rights, she was a civil rights worker, and now she sees that it’s going backward.”

Before an enthusiastic crowd, Eaton proclaimed, “Here I am at 92 years old doing the same battling.”  She continued, “I have registered over 4,000 citizens in the state, and at it again, alongside Republicans’ efforts to eliminate and cut early voting. … We need more, not less, public access to the ballot.” She concluded, “At the age of 92, I am fed up and fired up.”

Let us hope that the law is changed while she, and so many others who paved the way, can enjoy the fruits of their labor.