Precis

Meet the formidable women in Georgia who fought for democracy and won. They battled generations of racism and voter suppression, inspiring record black voter turnout. Now their sights are set on the American South.

In Foreign Correspondent’s season return, we meet the formidable women in Georgia who fought for democracy and won.

In last November’s presidential elections, black women in the southern US state of Georgia pulled off the unthinkable. They delivered a staunchly conservative state to Democrat Joe Biden.

Their secret? Record voter turnout.

Now they want to do it again in the Senate run-off elections.

"This vote is a hammer and you can use it. Or maybe it’s a flashlight and you can see your way out of this," says Deborah Scott from Georgia Stand-Up, a non-partisan voting rights group based in the capital Atlanta.

Deborah and her team are part of a movement which has campaigned tirelessly for more than a decade to mobilise minorities to vote.

It’s an uphill battle. Activists believe the state government has been illegally purging tens of thousands off the electoral roll – a tactic they call ‘voter suppression’.

But this just adds fuel to their fire. “The more you suppress us, the more we are coming for you,” says Deborah.

Our US-based reporter Karishma Vyas goes to the Deep South as Deborah and her team gear up for the crucial Senate poll which will decide control of Congress.

We hear from voters who have been purged from the roll, from white militia members who question the validity of their vote, and from the volunteers mobilising young people to turn out like never before.

"It’s been an awakening," says 25-year-old Georgia Stand-Up organiser Ariel. "It’s a great fearlessness because you feel as though anything is possible."

In a timely and inspiring story, we see the black women of Georgia successfully turn out record numbers of voters, even as powerful forces conspire to undermine their democratic rights.

For Deborah and her team, this is just the beginning. They have become a new force in US politics.

"As Georgia goes, so does the rest of the South. We see it as a tipping point," says Deborah Scott.

DC Protests: Trump supporters vs counter protest

Crowd: "Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!”

TV AUDIO: "The Fox News Decision Desk can now project that Joe Biden will become the 46th President of the United States."

TRUMP SUPPORTER: "The wrong people are going to turn this country to socialism, communism, Marxism."

00:00

COUNTER PROTESTERS: "Trump pack your shit. You’re illegitimate."

00:15

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: It’s been a year like no other in America.

COUNTER PROTESTERS: "America was never great."

TRUMP SUPPORTER: "Losers cheat to win."

00:20

Karishma in crowd

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: A country at war with itself.

00:26

Trump rally

TRUMP: "The radical Democrats are trying to capture the Georgia senate seats."

CROWD boos.

TRUMP: "You just can’t let them steal the US senate."

00:33

Following Deborah and her team

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: Two months ago I came to this southern state of Georgia, the final battleground for control of the senate.

DEBORAH: "Stand up… Vote.

00:43

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Tracking a powerful movement that’s changing the face of US politics.

00:52

DEBORAH:  We had to fight for the right to vote.

00:57

Deborah and team on street

DEBORAH: "Are you registered?"

MAN: "Yes Ma'am.

DEBORAH: Alright. Our people have worked and died for this right,

00:59

Deborah

so we’re not gonna let anybody take it away from them.

01:04

Atlanta skyline. Story title: GIVE US THE BALLOT

Music

01:09

Super: ATLANTA, GEORGIA

RADIO NEWS AUDIO MONTAGE:  "Well it all comes down to Georgia, folks…

01:13

Karishma driving. Super:
REPORTER
KARISHMA VYAS

What happens in Georgia is going to determine the future of the United States…

01:17

Atlanta GVs

A clearing trend overnight in southern Georgia that is going to allow it to get fairly cold again…"

01:22

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  It's winter in Atlanta and new COVID cases are spiking at around 5,000 a day. This once vibrant city is eerily quiet.

01:28

PHONE CANVASSER: Good morning Wyatt Clan. This is Queen Larosa, Georgia Stand-Up…We’re just reaching out to voters to remind them …Please Get up, Get out,

01:46

Fulton Country Stand-Up volunteers

cast you ballot so your vote can be counted and your voice can be heard.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Here in Fulton County, election fever is ramping up.

DEBORAH: First of all, is everybody in here registered to vote?

01:53

Deborah addresses volunteers

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  It’s the last day of voter registration for the run-off elections in two senate seats. Deborah Scott, veteran voting rights activist, is rallying her team.

02:10

DEBORAH:  "We want serial voters, because what is voting? Power.  There are two kinds of power, there’s organised money and there’s organised people. We don’t necessarily have organised money, but we can organise people. What we’re really trying to do is build  power for our communities…

02:23

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Deborah is part of a formidable force of black women leaders in Georgia.  They’ve registered over 800,000 voters in the last two years.

02:43

DEBORAH: "If somebody says who should I vote for, what do you say?"

GUY: "That’s up to you."

DEBORAH  "That’s up to you….

02:52

Can everybody say non-partisan."

GROUP: "Non-partisan."

DEBORAH: "Your job is to just make sure they get to the polls."

02:59

Volunteers hit the street

DEBORAH: "Does everybody have a coat, take your coat with you. It’s going to be cold! Do you have a coat?"

DEBORAH: Your vote is your ticket to play in this game. What's the saying? Either you're at the table or you're on the menu. You need to be at the table

03:04

Deborah 100%

so that you can decide what is best for your family and community.

03:20

Volunteers in minibus

RADIO: "Today is the last day to register to vote in Georgia. You must register by the end of the day, today. And even if you think you’re already registered, double check and confirm."

03:26

Volunteers on streets

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  In November, Georgia, a traditionally republican state, voted for a democratic president for the first time in 30 years. A record number of African-Americans voted. Now the focus is on getting them to turn out again.

03:39

VOLUNTEER: "Hi How are you….good. Are you registered to vote?"

MAN: "No ma'am, I’ve only been out of jail for 6 years."

03:55

VOLUNTEER: "I think you can vote as long as you’re not on probation. This here will tell you how you can register."

04:05

MAN: "I’m gonna make sure give one to my man over here."

VOLUNTEER:  "Alright, do that, okay."

DEBORAH:   "We want them to come out and vote early.

04:12

Deborah on video call

Can we say early folks?. Early! Early in the morning!"

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Historically, people don’t turn out to vote in run-offs. Deborah needs to change that.

DEBORAH:  Of course, the base of everything we do is Black women.

04:19

I said, Black women do your thing, because we know that when black women work together we get it done!

04:34

Ariel films Deborah

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  25-year-old Ariel A'nette Singleton is Deborah's most promising protégé.

ARIEL:  It's been an awakening, and it’s a great fearlessness,

04:42

Ariel 100%

because you feel as though anything is possible.

04:51

Ariel prepares Deborah for filming

ARIEL: "Just say you can visit our website, Stand-up.org or follow us on Instagram, twitter and Facebook."

ARIEL:  Seeing the numbers, especially black youth coming out in record numbers.

04:54

Ariel 100%

I mean that just says something about our generation.

05:06

Youth volunteers board bus

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Since Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Georgia has seen a surge in young people registering to vote, up by 35 percent.

05:09

Youth volunteers in office

ARIEL: "You be on social media point in Dekalb county, okay?"

05:22

ARIEL: I have a power, I have an entitlement. It’s by law; I know have this right. This is mine.

05:26

Ariel 100%

And I'm going to do it, whether you say I can or not.

05:32

Local right-wing pro-Trump protest at Capitol in Atlanta

05:34

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  A crowd assembles at the capitol building in downtown Atlanta.

05:40

EVANGELICALS sing: "Build a city, oh great defender of the righteous."

05:45

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  They’re not interested in the senate run offs, they’re focused on Donald Trump’s loss in November.

05:50

Vox pops with protestors

MAN:  Every single legal vote should be counted and everyone should just have one vote.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  And you believe that’s not the case?

MAN: I don’t believe that happened.

05:57

WOMAN: I believe some votes were counted that were not legal.

06:03

Militia on side of road overseeing protest

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Protecting the protesters today is the Three Percent security force. Their leader, Chris Hill is known as General Blood Agent.

06:06

Chris Hill 100%

CHRIS HILL: What we’re seeing  right now unfolding before our very eyes is our country going sideways. It is fraud, 100 percent, it is our constitutional rights being taken away from us.

06:19

Militia walk across street to protestors

CROWD: "God bless America."

06:27

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  The militia is armed to the teeth. they’re allowed to be; it’s an open carry state.

CROWD cheers

06:30

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: There are more than 300 militias like this across the United States.

MILITIA GUY: Everyone from 18 to 45 years, according to the Constitution,

06-:39

Militia guy addresses crowd/Induction of militia members

can swear in right now and you can become the fighters of this country and defenders in the last stand we have.

06:50

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  A fellow far-right group uses the protest to recruit and induct more militia members.

06:59

MILITIA GUY: "Enemies foreign and domestic, without any mental reservation. So help me God! You are no longer just an American civilian. You are now part of the American militia."

07:04

Antifa moves in

ANTIFA: "No Trump. No KKK. No fascist USA." "Heads up! Heads up! Heads up! Heads up!"

07:22

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  The sudden arrival of a new group causes concern for the militia.

07:30

Karishma in crowd

On my right, we have a whole bunch of Trump supporters rallying as well as fully armed militia, and on my left we have black clad, fully armed, Antifa.

07:37

ANTIFA: "Trump and Klan go hand in hand."

07:50

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Antifa are far-left anti-fascist protesters.

07:57

The two groups are itching for a fight, but the cops are holding the line.

08:11

ANTIFA: "Hey man, my taxes pay your salary."

08:16

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  But just as the protest is winding down, the mood shifts.

08:30

Antifa members on street

08:36

Antifa guy behind tree

ANTIFA GUY:  "I’ve got one in the chamber, bro."

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Guns are drawn, cocked and ready. it appears the militia is trapped,

08:45

Three Percent militia in parking garage

in a parking garage.

ANTIFA GUY: "C’mon guys, ain’t y’all supposed to be beating your wives today? Like goddamn, go home. Go eat some fried gator or some bullshit."

08:57

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  They’re blocked in this parking lot and I’ve heard that they’ve tyres smashed, so they can’t really leave.

09:08

MILITIA GUY: "Fuck you, fuck your daughter."

09:17

Freeway and cityscapes

RADIO:  "To Georgia now, where early voting is underway to decide who will fill those last two senate seats and ultimately decide which political party will control the senate."

09:22

Stand-Up office. Deborah addresses volunteers

DEBORAH: "Alright, this is the beginning of early voting. It’s supposed to stop raining, but the temperature is gonna drop."

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Voter registration has closed.  These activists now need to get people to show up at the polls.

09:31

ARIEL: "You can let people know that NAACP with Lyft are giving free rides to the polls."

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: And make sure they can vote unencumbered.

09:47

Security briefing role play

DEBORAH: "Andrew, tell us about security; if somebody gets in your face, what do you do?"

ANDREW: "If somebody is approaching you and you feel 1000% that you’re being threatened, you say ‘Excuse me, brother – or sister – please back up’ and at that point you look around. A lot of these individuals are actually carrying firearms on them, and they’re pulling out these firearms out."

DEBORAH: "If it starts getting crazy, just go back in the van.

09:56

We don’t want to get in the middle of it, we don’t want be on the news for the wrong thing."

ARIEL: "Right, that’s it."

DEBORAH: We keep saying this is the most important election of our lifetime, but it’s probably going to get bad before it gets better.

10:18

Deborah with bullhorn waiting to depart

DEBORAH: "When y’all get to your first site, take pictures, walk around, get out of the van, find the entrance, find out what’s going on. Be careful, be careful, be careful."

DEBORAH:  You would think that

10:31

Deborah 100%

every man and woman has the right to vote,

10:41

Voter Care bus

but that's not the case. There’s been a concerted effort to make it harder on some people.

10:44

Polling place

DEBORAH: "Let’s do, let’s do it…

10:50

Deborah handing out bags to voters in line

Happy voting day, thank you for voting."

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: It's not just about getting people out to vote. Civil rights groups here are also fighting voter suppression. 

10:55

Voter line/Inside polling station

DEBORAH:  "Put your mask on, because we've got to keep you safe."

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  They say the government is preventing certain communities from voting.

11:07

DEBORAH:  The voter suppression tactics that we've seen, from closing of polls

11:15

Deborah 100%

to changing polling locations to purging,

11:19

Inside polling station

based on race and based on class, is really running rampant here. It’s really depressing when you realise that

11:23

Deborah 100%

people have worked hard to keep people down.

"We are here because we love voters. We will

11:32

TV cameras film Deborah addressing voters

vote! We will vote! No matter what they throw at us, we’re reminding people that we are here for you. We want to make sure that this is a free and fair election."

11:42

Drone shot. Suburban street

11:56

Kids on street

KID: "Don't forget to vote!"

12:01

TAYELOR MCCURDY:  They purge you from the polls. You can be registered to vote, you move counties, next thing you know you’re just purged from the polls completely.

12:05

Tayelor and volunteers on suburban street

TAYELOR: "So we can hit this on our way back up."

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  29-year-old Tayelor McCurdy is volunteering for Deborah's organisation today.

12:12

Tayelor interview on street

TAYELOR: You could have voted in a primary election last year and now all of a sudden you can’t vote anymore.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: Do you know anyone that’s happened to?

TAYELOR: It’s happened to me.

12:23

Tayelor and volunteers canvassing on suburban street

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Tayelor says this happened just before the November elections.

12:32

TAYELOR: I actually went in to make sure that I was registered to vote and saw that I wasn’t. And I know that I registered to vote, and poof, no longer;

12:36

Tayelor interview on street

purged from the polls.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: Could they give you an explanation of why your name was not on the voter registration anymore?

TAYELOR: Nope, never an explanation. Just gone.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Just disappeared for no reason.

12:45

Tayelor and volunteers on suburban street

TAYELOR:  Never an explanation. Black people have always been politically active, but you have to consider the lengths that people will go to, to keep Black people out of those spaces. It’s a fight for us. It’s a huge fight for us.

12:56

Drone shot. Atlanta

Music

13:12

Barbara Arnwine at Atlanta capitol, press conference

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: Civil rights groups are taking this fight to court. They’re suing the state of Georgia, alleging they wrongfully purged tens of thousands of voters from the rolls.

BARBARA ARNWINE:  "Why is it that every time we have a purge case, it’s mainly black and brown people who are on these lists?"

13:17

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: The government claims voters were removed legitimately. Barbara Arnwine and other civil rights lawyers dispute this.

13:35

BARBARA:  "We had to sue Georgia over and over and over again."

13:43

Barbara, La Tosha and group march to the office

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: After days of being unable to get a meeting with state officials they try again, in person.

LA TOSHA: "I would like to sit down with you all, we don’t want to get the

13:48

La Tosha speaks to Chris Harvey

run-around the block. We want to sit down and have a meeting. Have our experts sit down with your experts and get it resolved. We don’t want this to continue. We’re in the middle of the election and want to resolve this as soon as possible.

13:58

Atlanta street GVs

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  This case joins more than seven other voter suppression cases currently before the courts in Georgia.

14:11

DEBORAH:  Atlanta Georgia USA, we’re in the South. The US South has a history of voter suppression. They have a history of

14:24

Deborah 100%

abuse of black and brown people.

14:31

Archival. 1960s civil rights movement

CIVIL RIGHTS PROTESTORS: Freedom now, freedom now.

14:33

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR: While we know that the vote is the key to democratic government, we are ready now to march on the ballot boxes, until every situation that keeps us down at the bottom of the economic ladder is changed, we’re ready to march on ballot boxes. When we look around and we see that glad day, when all of God's children will be able to cry out, 'free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, we are free at last'.

14:43

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed. It was one of the greatest achievements of the Civil Rights Movement,

15:18

Karishma driving

but in 2013 the Supreme Court wound back the legislation.  Civil rights groups claim many states have reintroduced obstructive voter practices.  There’s only two weeks left to vote, but turn out is soaring despite COVID and the cold. 

15:32

Motorcade

But here in Cobb County there’s a problem.

16:03

Barbara at polling station

Lawyer Barbara Arnwine is furious that almost half of the polling stations here have been closed.

BARBARA ARNWINE: We have counties in Georgia

16:08

Barbara with Karishma at polling station

where 35% of all the African-Americans have no car.  If you don't have a lot of polling sites, you're going to have long lines. Why should somebody have to wait in line for three hours to vote? If you're a working person, even though they're supposed to give you time off, they usually only give you an hour.

16:18

Queue at polling station

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  She believes black and brown voters are being targeted.

BARBARA ARNWINE: They closed not one white polling place,

16:38

Barbara with Karishma at polling station

but all the other ones they closed were in brown and black neighbourhoods.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  So they didn't close a single polling station in predominately white neighbourhoods?

BARBARA ARNWINE: Not a single one.

16:44

Queue at polling station. Deborah talks to those in queue

DEBORAH: "Please stay in line, please stay in line and vote, no matter what it takes. You gonna vote? Whatcha gonna do? Vote!, Whatcha gonna do? Vote!"

DEBORAH:  We see people waiting in line four, five, six, seven, eight, nine hours to cast their vote, because they know that their vote matters and, if they continue to go back to the polls every time, that they'll build a democracy that they really want.

16:54

Deborah interview

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Do you know who is behind suppressing the vote, that particularly targets black and brown communities?

17:36

DEBORAH: I do know it's an ideology. I know that it's

17:43

Super:
Deborah Scott
Georgia Stand-Up

steeped in racism. I do know that a lot of white men are upset right now. There's a shift in power. When you've been in the power class for all these many years, and then you start to see that that's disrupted, I think that there's a fear there's going to be a power shift, and they'll be at the bottom.

17:48

Music

18:09

Rally preparation

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  While voters are struggling against suppression, candidates and election officials are facing outright intimidation.

18:17

Warnock rally

REVEREND RAFAEL WARNOCK: "They’re trying to divide us and our job is to remain focused and awake, because the stakes are so high. You can’t control everything that a new day brings, but my dad taught me a lesson. Your job is to just be ready. So I’m going to ask you tonight -- are you ready?"

CROWD cheers.

18:26

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Reverend Rafael Warnock is one the Democratic candidates for the senate.  He’s the pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist church, where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.

18:50

Atlanta GVs.

This is one of several messages left for him at the church.

19:02

PHONE MESSAGE AUDIO: "There is no leadership in that _______ church, and I don't use the word _______.  You think you're fucking smart walking around talking shit about everybody. You ain’t gonna be so smart when you’re beheaded. You won't be so smart when people drag out on the street and destroy your ass…

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:   Even Republicans haven’t been spared. Trump supporters are threatening conservative election officials, and their families.

19:07

Gabriel Sterling press conference

GABRIEL STERLING: This an election, this is the backbone of democracy, and all of you who’ve not said a damn word are complicit in this. Mr. President, stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone’s gonna get hurt, someone’s gonna get shot, someone’s gonna get killed!

19:32

Rural Atlanta. Three Percent initiation

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  On the outskirts Atlanta the Three Percent militia are initiating new members.

CHRIS HILL:  "Know ye, to replace the special trust and faith, and to strictly charge our members surrender obedience to orders that may be given from time to time,

19:50

General Blood Agent commanding. You guys are a ranked, patched, vetted member, trusted member, welcome member of Three Percent security force. Guns up."

MILITIA: "Guns up!"

CHRIS HILL: "Hand salute, ready two, fall out."

20:05

Militia members congratulate each other

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: Chris Hill founded this group in 2014, alarmed by the progressive policies of President Obama.

CHRIS HILL: Our country has been stolen from us.

20:30

Chris Hill 100%

The only thing left is the right to bear arms and that’s being taken away. The only thing we have left is free and fair elections. We’re here for when that fails.

20:42

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Are you going to vote?

20:50

CHRIS HILL: It’s almost insanity to keep voting and expecting a different result. We did not have a free and fair election. There was rampant fraud.

20:53

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: The African-American community is worried that their names have been purged from electoral rolls. Do you believe they're legitimate grievances?

21:01

CHRIS HILL: I haven't seen any evidence of that. I'm not aware of anything like that, that have been suggested. I would hope not. And ah, yep.

21:11

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  If the Democrats win the senate runoff, what is your fear?

21:25

CHRIS HILL: The fear is that we would be on a countdown towards extinction in this country.

21:31

Militia Guy interview

MILITIA GUY: I honestly believe we are currently engaged in what you would call a cold civil war.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: Are you prepping for that? Are you prepping for a civil war?

21:35

MILITIA GUY: Yes.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: Next year?

MILITIA GUY: Next week.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: Next week?

21:45

MILITIA GUY: I want this to be said. It may be tomorrow. It may be 10 years from now, but there's too much fuel on the fire.

21:54

Chris Hill

CHRIS HILL: We're weeks away from catastrophe unfolding in the United States of America.

22:03

Trump rally

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  The senate race is incredibly tight. The night before the run offs, Trump makes a last minute dash to Georgia.

22:13

Trump speech at rally

TRUMP: "There’s no way we lost Georgia, there’s no way. (cheers) That was a rigged election."

TRUMP SUPPORTERS chant: "Four more years! Four more years!”

22:25

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  He continues to flame unproven conspiracies about election fraud.

22:33

TRUMP: "8,000 dead voters. 400,000 previously unreported mail in ballots magically appeared!"

22:39

Election day, Georgia. Stand-up volunteers on street/ at polling station

Newsreader:  "Good morning, it’s the last day of voting in Georgia…"

22:47

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: It’s the final day of voting… In a matter of hours the polls will close and the count will begin.

DEBORAH: "How was your voting experience today? Do you have a mask?…I got one for you. Hold on."

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: It's early, but Deborah and her team are already at a polling station.

23:10

Deborah with Brendan

DEBORAH:  "Okay, you got it. Okay. Whatcha gonna say?"

BRENDAN: "This election day, my name is Brendan Nelson, I’m here with Georgia Stand-Up. What I’d like to say, let's do it again, let's do it again. You gotta get out here and vote today. Yes ma'am, power to the people!"

DEBORAH:  "Alright, go over there and do that."

23:30

Deborah walks through carpark

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: It took Deborah 16 years of hard work to get here.

DEBORAH: "Voter suppression, voter depression.

23:49

It’s all about empowering black people and that’s why we’re here."

23:55

Young people with signs run across street

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  And people are using their vote. This is on track to be the largest African-American turn out Georgia has seen for decades.

23:59

Deborah interview at polling station

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: Every election is about politics, but this election also feels to me about race.

DEBORAH: Well, any time you have an election in the South, it’s about race, whether people say it or not. People don’t want Black people to vote. When Black people and brown people vote, things change.

24:10

Vox pops with voters

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: What did you see that made you want to vote?

24:28

MALE VOTER: There’s people dying in record numbers that didn’t have to die.

24:30

FEMALE VOTER: Looking at how everything is in the White House, man, it makes me feel like I’m back in Mississippi.

24:35

FIRST TIME VOTER: Everybody wants to help save the day. Everybody want to be a hero. That’s what it was.

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter: You’re a hero today because you voted.

FIRST TIME VOTER: Hey, I’m a hero today. I’m a Georgia voter.

24:41

Deborah on phone

DEBORAH (on phone): "How many more hours to go?"

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  Deborah can finally see the finish line.

DEBORAH: "Jesus take the wheel. It’s almost over, It’s almost over… Alright, I see some little ones over here…"

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  But even now she’s focusing on the future.

24:50

Deborah with girls

DEBORAH (to girls): "Now you can’t register until you’re 17 and a half. How old are you now?"

GIRL:  "Ten."

DEBORAH: "Ten!...So 2027 you’re gonna what? Get registered to vote, and then you gonna vote.  That’s your power. You got the power to choose presidents."

25:11

Freeway

RADIO:  "It's shaping up to be a long night for election officials in Georgia."

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  The count is so close that it isn’t until the next morning that the results become clear. Both Democrats win their senate seats.

25:32

REVEREND RAFAEL WARNOCK:  "82 year old hands that used to pick somebody else’s cotton

25:50

Warnock on Zoom

went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator. So I come before you tonight as a man who knows of the improbable journey that led me to this place in this historic moment in America could only happen here.

25:53

DEBORAH: "For the first time in history,

26:19

Deborah at Stand-Up meeting

Georgia has elected a Black senator. That really means a lot. We were a part of making history. Stand up and what?..."

EVERYONE: "Vote!"

DEBORAH: "Stand up and what?"

EVERYONE: "Vote!"

DEBORAH: "Stand up and what?"

EVERYONE: "Vote!"

26:23

Atlanta skyline

KARISHMA VYAS, Reporter:  But as Deborah celebrates in Georgia, a different kind of history is unfolding in the nation’s capital.

26:42

Deborah watches insurrection footage with Ariel

DEBORAH: "Oh smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke!... Why aren’t they doing anything? No one is in handcuffs right now. I’m not advocating for anybody to get shot, but if these were Black people, they would be dead.

26:58

Even on a day like today, where we can celebrate the first Black senator in a state like Georgia, that on that same day this is what happens. So two steps forward, ten steps back."

ARIEL: "Don't stop fighting for your power. Don't stop fighting for what you need."

27:15

DEBORAH:  "Can't stop, won't stop."

27:33

Deborah closes up office, turns the lights off, drives in rain

DEBORAH:  As we say, 'As goes Georgia, as goes the rest of the South.' We see it as a tipping point. I think this is only the beginning of shifting of values here. If you do the work, if you register people to vote, if you see them as human beings with wants and desires, they see that this vote is a hammer, and they can use it.

27:44

Credits [see below]

28:23

Out point

28:48