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Fifty years later, during the U.S. Bicentennial, the week was expanded to a monthlong celebration when President Gerald Ford officially recognized February as Black History Month.

Each February, we recognize the achievements of Black people and the central role they鈥檝e played in our nation鈥檚 history. This year won鈥檛 be any different.

Earlier this week, Google took the internet by storm when it released its .

Consistent with what we typically see during Black History Month, the commercial highlights the life and legacy of Black people and moments that have captivated our attention over time 鈥� those who have had an irrefutable influence on American history and those who are continuing to shape our future. In addition to music icons, poets, scientists and inventers, the commercial concludes with the most searched movement, the civil rights movement, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr鈥檚 iconic speech.

Though the commercial ends there, we know the fight for civil rights did not.

In fact, today we鈥檙e still fighting not only for racial and economic justice but for a fundamental right that鈥檚 central to democracy itself 鈥� access to the ballot box.

It is fitting, then, that this year鈥檚 theme for Black History Month 鈥� from Dr. Woodson鈥檚 Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) 鈥� is . As ASALH notes, this year marks the centennial of the 19^th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, and the sesquicentennial of the 15^th聽Amendment, which gave Black men the ballot.

Those amendments made sure that Black men and Black women had the constitutional right to vote. But that wasn鈥檛 enough. For many, those rights existed on paper only. Beginning in the 1890s, the Jim Crow era brought a wave of new state statutes in the South, including poll taxes and literacy tests, that were specifically designed to disenfranchise Black voters.聽

Amazingly, some to this day 鈥� like those that bar voting by people who have been convicted of certain crimes 鈥� effectively silencing the voices of millions of Black men and women in the Deep South.

And that鈥檚 just one part of the challenges we鈥檙e facing today.

Since 2013, when , numerous states have systematically and aggressively enacted laws aimed at suppressing the votes of Black people.聽

since then. States have purged voter lists. Even earlier, we鈥檝e seen heavily gerrymandered congressional and legislative districts that dilute the voting power of communities of color.

That鈥檚 why the Southern Poverty Law Center made a commitment to fight for voting rights by forming a new legal and advocacy team to focus solely on protecting the right to vote.

In Alabama, we鈥檝e helped more than 2,000 returning citizens navigate the state鈥檚 convoluted process to restore their voting rights. Last March, we celebrated in Louisiana as many returning citizens became eligible to vote for the first time under a law that we helped pass in the state legislature.

And, in Mississippi, we鈥檙e fighting in court to end that state鈥檚 lifetime voting ban for people with disqualifying offenses.

As we reflect on Black history this month and the accomplishments of notable African Americans, let us not forget those who fought and died for our right to vote.

And let us remain vigilant in the protection of this precious, fundamental right. 聽

. And please, if you encounter resistance to registering or casting your ballot 鈥� including purges, absentee ballots, or any other situation 鈥� let us know.

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