Voting Rights Act at 50, Hollywood's Diversity Problem, and Lifestyle Branding

Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. Since then, there’s been a near-constant battle over it. Just yesterday, an appeals court found that a strict Texas voter ID law violated the Act. It required a government-issued photo ID in order to vote, which many minorities don’t have. This is just the latest challenge to the Voting Rights Act. And here in California, Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced that around 45,000 non-violent felons will be getting back their right to vote. He called it “a matter of conscience.” Then, Los Angeles is home to the highest number of homeless veterans in the country, and Mayor Eric Garcetti has pledged that every homeless veteran in L.A. will have housing by the end of the year. New legislation proposed today in Washington may help with that. Finally, Hollywood is a tough place for women and minorities. A comprehensive new study makes it clear just how far the bias behind the studio gates extends into the movies themselves.

Banner Image: "LyndonJohnson signs Voting Rights Act of 1965" by Yoichi Okamoto