Pasadena Church to Host Activist for Discussion on Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Ruling

First United Methodist Church, Pasadena will host social justice advocate John Thompson Parker on Sunday, June 28, at 11:30 a.m. for a public discussion of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act, according to a press release issued by the church.

The event will take place in the church’s Church Lounge at 500 E. Colorado Blvd. and is from the church’s Church and Society group, the press release says. “All are welcome for this important discussion,” the announcement states.

Parker will speak about what the press release describes as “the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of the Voting Rights Act and how racial gerrymandering has disenfranchised Black communities.”

The discussion comes roughly two months after the Supreme Court’s April 29 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, in which a 6-3 majority struck down Louisiana’s congressional map. Civil rights organizations including Common Cause and the Campaign Legal Center have said the ruling significantly narrows Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the federal law’s central protection against voting practices that result in racial discrimination.

Parker is the coordinator of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice, a Los Angeles–based organizing group at 5278 W. Pico Blvd., according to Ballotpedia. He is affiliated with the Socialist Unity Party and is on the June 2, 2026 primary ballot as the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for California’s 37th Congressional District, which covers parts of South Los Angeles.

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Parker moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1998, according to his Ballotpedia profile. He has previously run for U.S. Senate and is also affiliated with the Struggle-La Lucha newspaper, the press release notes.

In a statement published May 7 in Struggle-La Lucha, Parker said of the recent court action: “What we are witnessing in Louisiana right now is not just a legal dispute. It’s a coordinated attack on the fundamental right to vote, and it’s being led from the highest court in the land.”

First United Methodist Church, Pasadena, was founded in 1874 and occupies a neo-gothic sanctuary completed in 1924 in the Playhouse District east of Old Town. The church serves people from throughout the city, neighboring communities and the surrounding San Gabriel Valley, the press release states. The congregation describes itself as a Christian community that “seeks intentionally to welcome ALL persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, age, physical or mental capacity.” Sunday Service is at 10 a.m.

The church lists social justice and racial reconciliation among its public concerns, according to its website. In March, FUMC hosted members of San Gabriel Foothills Indivisible for a conversation on faith-based grassroots organizing, Pasadena Now previously reported.

For more information, the church can be reached at (626) 796-0157, or Communications Director Ashley Slade at Ashleys@fumcpasadena.org.

The event falls four weeks after California’s June 2 primary — in which Parker is a candidate — and comes as voting-rights organizations across the country respond to the Callais ruling.