 For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thousands of people from across the United States took to the streets of Washington DC on June 26th for a demonstration. The rally was organized at the National Mall by Black Voters Matter along with 50 civil rights and racial justice organizations that support DC's statehood. Black Voters Matter is an organization that aims to expand ballot access to Black communities and other disadvantaged groups in the southern United States. The demonstration in DC was the last stop of a nine-city, eight-day ride that began in New Orleans. Black Voters Matter had set out a cross-states rally called Freedom Ride for voting rights to Washington DC. The ride, which began on June 18th, aimed to mobilize opposition to laws which threatened to infringe on voters' rights and ballot access. The bus tour also honored the freedom riders who organized the bus trip demanding an anti-segregation 60 years ago. It is so important that less of DC's statehood because DC's statehood is a voting rights issue. When you come to this town that is minority, majority, and we don't have two senators, you are talking about suppressing the Black vote and it's time for that to end. For more than 200 years, Washingtonians have been stripped of their rights as Americans. Let that sink in. Here we are in the shadow of the Capitol of the United States. The demand for DC's statehood is a long-standing fight of civil rights groups in the United States. After the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the founders of the country decided to make the Capitol a federal district and not part of any state. Organized have continued to rally in the streets and in the legislative area to advance in the demands for DC's statehood. In 1985, a constitutional amendment that would have given DC several rights of a full state failed. Last year, with the Black Lives Matter movement in full strength, the DC statehood question came to the fore. DC has more than 700,000 residents, nearly half of whom are Black and lean heavily Democratic. The lower chamber of the U.S. Congress on June 24th had approved a bill that would make DC the 51st state in the country. To attain statehood, the bill has to be passed in the Senate and then would require the President's approval. Though Joe Biden has signaled his support, it might be difficult to get support in the Senate as it has a 50-50 distribution of Democrats and Republicans. Even if the bill gets approved by the Congress, major obstacles still lie ahead. Experts point out that statehood is possible only when the 23rd Amendment is repealed, which would require the support of at least 38 states. The 23rd Amendment gave citizens of DC the right to vote for President, but cemented its status as a district with no congressional representation. I registered a vote and vote for your representation, but I, as a Black woman living in the District of Columbia, along with my 700,000-plus neighbors, do not have representation in these buildings behind us. Taxation without representation must-