FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2025

California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., Commemorates the 60th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Sacramento, California – On Monday, August 25, 2025, California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., commemorated the 60th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by participating in a panel discussion alongside distinguished guests and hosting a tour of the new State Archives exhibit “The Journey to Democracy: Celebrating the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.”

Secretary Weber was joined by civic engagement leaders, including:

Moderator

  • Guy Marzorati, KQED Correspondent

Panelists

  • Honorable Willie Brown, Speaker Emeritus, California State Assembly, Former Mayor, San Francisco
  • Dr. Melba Pattillo Beals, American Journalist & Educator
  • Adam Cain, Inside Programs Associate, Initiate Justice
  • Lexie Tesch, Outreach Coordinator, League of Women Voters of Sacramento Count

 

From left to right: Lexie Tesch, Adam Cain, Guy Marzorati, Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., Willie Brown (not pictured, Dr. Melba Pattillo Beals)

“Clearly none of that was as effective as when Lyndon Johnson, with [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] and others present, signed the Voting Rights Act, because from that moment on, the business of Black votes began to impact who would be making the decisions and enforcing the rights,” Brown said.

“The power of voting is really the power of controlling your life,” Secretary Weber said.

The State Archives exhibit The Journey to Democracy: Celebrating the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act runs through August of 2026.

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