Arizona Native American Veterans Fought For Our Right to Vote And Won
James Parrish, Jr., Navajo Nation, a member of his local veterans and community farm board helps to get the word out about voting rights and Arizona redistricting.
Happy Veterans Day!
My father James Parrish Jr., a citizen of the Navajo Nation, is a veteran of the U.S. Army, and is now semi-retired working to bring water and reinvigorate traditional farming methods to his home community of Kayenta, AZ. Dad also volunteers for our Northeast Arizona Native Democrats team to help get the word out about voter registration, redistricting, and championing voting rights. It’s a family affair.
As we honor our vets I can think of no better way to celebrate my dad and other veterans’ service than to help protect voting rights.
Today’s holiday was originally called Armistice Day to mark the end of World War I. There is irony here: even then Native people served in the military at higher rates than any other community and yet returning veterans were not legally U.S. citizens. That did not happen until 1924.
After the Indian Citizenship Act other voting challenges remained. Frank Harrison and Harry Austin, two Fort McDowell Yavapai-Apache veterans, filed a lawsuit to stand up for the right of Native people to vote and won. On July 15, 1948 the Arizona Supreme Court confirmed that victory in Arizona.
These connections are why Veterans Day, citizenship and voting are all sacred to us.
Team Kayenta, AZ at the community flea market. Navajo Nation.
Seventy-three years later, in 2021, we are still fighting voter suppression from the Republican legislature. Last year, the Arizona Native voting bloc flexed their collective power and turned Arizona blue. Ever since, Republicans have been scheming and doing everything they can to create barriers and make it harder for us to cast our ballot, especially in northeastern Arizona.
Our Native organizers are working hard to counter this threat. We are registering more community members to vote, educating voters on Arizona’s extreme voter suppression laws, collecting petition signatures for referendums and for Democratic candidates, and getting more folks involved in the redistricting process.
Our year-round community work is critical to the maintenance and protection of voting rights for everyone. While it’s always important to have folks show up on election day, it’s also always better to keep voters engaged after election day.
We can defeat Arizona Republicans in 2022. Everything will come down to turnout and how much support Democratic candidates receive from Native and rural Democratic voters.
So let’s roll up our sleeves and do everything we can to help elect Arizona Democrats up and down the ballot and invest in local field organizers and the ground game now.
Our Democratic candidates need us. Senator Mark Kelly, Representative Tom O’Halleran (CD-01), State Senator and Democratic Caucus Leader Jamescita Peshlakai (LD-07), State Representative Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren (LD-07) and many others are fighting for key seats. We also have a number of Democrats running for state legislatures, city governments, and local offices that need us.
We are ready to WIN and help transform the face of power in 2022.
Please donate to help hit our monthly goal of $20,000 and help send Republicans packing in 2022. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/navajoconativeorganizing
Please consider making your donation recurring.
Let’s win this in 2022! Ahé hee’ Thank you. — Jaynie
Jaynie Parrish
Executive Director, Navajo County Democrats
Stay connected with us and help amplify the work. Share with your friends and family.
www.navajocountydemocrats.org
neaznativedemocrats.org (project of Navajo County Democrats)
