Eric Christopher Webb, DDiv., CPLC
Director of Communications
/Editor of The Sphinx
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
ewebb@apa1906.net
Cell: 443-635-5911
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Expresses Deep Disappointment in U.S. Supreme Court Decision Limiting the Voting Rights Act
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. expresses profound disappointment and concern regarding the recent 6–3 decision by the United States Supreme Court that reduces the influence of minority voters and could subsequently reduce Black representation from Black majority districts, in Congress.
The decision, pushed by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, further limits a key protection of the landmark Voting Rights Act, significantly raising the bar for challenges to election maps that limit the equal opportunity of minority voters to elect candidates of their choosing, even if lawmakers did not intend to discriminate.
“As an organization who has long stood at the forefront of African American’s fight for civil rights and social justice, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. recognizes that rulings such as this one are part of a larger agenda to disenfranchise and undermine the rights and livelihoods of African Americansand other communities of color,” said Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. General President Brother Lucien J. Metellus, Jr. “For more than half a century, the Voting Rights Act has stood as a cornerstone of American democracy—safeguarding the fundamental right to vote and ensuring historically marginalized communities’ ability to choose its representation, ultimately impacts every aspect of one’s life from legal protections to economic opportunities. This latest ruling represents a significant backward step. This is not about ‘colorblind’ democracy. This is to empower states to use the 2026 version of poll taxes and literacy tests, and Alpha will not stand for it.”
The Fraternity, which will continue to advocate for Congress to restore the protections through the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, as well as other policies, and practices that ensure every eligible voter’s voice is heard, calls upon its College and Alumni Chapters to educate themselves on how election maps are drawn in their states, and work to ensure local leaders promote fair maps. It will also work with our Voteless People Is A Hopeless People General Committee as well as its Commission on Political and Civic Engagement to develop strategies to end partisan gerrymandering.
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About Alpha Phi Alpha
The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American men, was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and is headquartered in Baltimore, MD. The Fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African American community’s fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; late former Congressman Adam Clayton Powell; late former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; legendary activist, actor and performer, Paul Robeson, former Ambassador Andrew Young; late former Senator Edward Brooke; scholar, Cornel West; Senator Raphael Warnock; Congressman Steven Horsford, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus; General CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; six other members of the U.S. Congress, numerous state, and local lawmakers across the United States, as well as President of Liberia, His Excellency Joseph Boakai, Sr. The fraternity, through its more than 720 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, and other parts of North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.