Imagine this: your locally elected officials are doing their job, passing laws that you and your neighbors support.

But then, Republican politicians elected hundreds of miles away – and who aren’t accountable to you or your community at all – overrule you, claiming they have final veto power over anything you and your local government decides.

The people of Washington, D.C., don’t have to imagine that, because it just happened. And unless Congress finally makes D.C. a state and repairs this injustice, D.C. residents are stuck living under “taxation without representation.”

Make no mistake: this is a form of voter suppression. Some partisan politicians and other proponents of the status quo want to deprive Washingtonians of their right to equal representation – because they think it could give them a political advantage.

And, as local advocacy group DC Vote notes: “With a majority Black and Brown population, the fight for D.C. statehood cannot be separated from the fight for racial justice.”

There’s a bill in Congress right now to fix that – and I need your help to move it to President Biden’s desk. Tell Congress to stop denying D.C. residents equal representation and make D.C. our 51st state today.