By Roosevelt Wright, Jr.
It was an uphill battle in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, where the right to vote for Black citizens was not simply denied—it was actively crushed under the weight of Jim Crow laws, violence, and political maneuvering. Yet, despite the threats of arrest, economic retaliation, and the ever-looming specter of the Ku Klux Klan, the leaders of the local NAACP, along with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), waged a relentless fight to open the ballot box to the Black community.
A Movement Led by Courageous Men
For two decades, the late Reverend S.L. Pierce stood as a towering figure in the fight for racial justice in Monroe. As the primary leader of the local NAACP until 1952, he shepherded voter registration drives and organized community efforts to push back against systemic disenfranchisement and lynching.
White supremists dominated the Louisiana Legislature…
