Secretary of State and Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigned in Hoover on Saturday. The Alabama Democratic Conference gathered at the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey Hotel, where Clinton was the guest speaker. Clinton’s comments on racial justice drew plenty of support from those in attendance.
Clinton spent much of her speech hitting key notes with the mostly African-American crowd. She pledged to set aside money to support the nation’s historically black colleges. And Clinton vowed to take on racial discrimination in the criminal justice system, to end what she called an era of mass incarceration.
“And that’s why we all need to say loudly and clearly black lives matter in America,” said Clinton.
But the point Clinton really wanted to drive home was on voting rights. The former Secretary of State again ripped Alabama’s decision to close 31 driver’s license offices—many of them in rural and mostly non-white counties.
“We stand firmly against barriers that are being constructed today to discourage, even intimidate people, from voting.” said Clinton. Clinton emphasized it’s important to convince people that their vote counts.
Clinton also urged Congress to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bill that would restore protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Photo by Phil Roeder 
