Community activist Marshan Camese gave a fiery testimony before Louisiana lawmakers during a state Senate hearing on redistricting on Monday, May 12, 2026.
Seated before Louisiana lawmakers, Camese delivered the kind of testimony that doesn’t just enter the record – it enters the bloodstream of a community. His remarks cut through political choreography and forced the room to confront the lived consequences of policy, power, and the narratives that shape public life.
His testimony was not the polished language of a lobbyist or the cautious phrasing of a political insider. It was the voice of someone who has lived inside the systems he was describing — someone who understands how legislation lands on real bodies, real families, and real futures.
Camese called out the modern MAGA movement, the legacy of the Confederacy, and the political forces still working to strip people of power, dignity, and basic rights.
Speaking plainly and directly, he challenged lawmakers to reckon with the forces he sees eroding dignity and democratic participation. His words named the modern political currents – including the rise of MAGA extremism and the lingering legacy of the Confederacy – that continue to shape the state’s political landscape. In doing so, he refused to sanitize the truth for the comfort of those in power.
Camese’s testimony underscored a central theme: the struggle for political voice in a state where many residents feel their rights are increasingly under threat. He spoke to the ways political actors use fear, misinformation, and historical revisionism to maintain control, and he urged lawmakers to confront the real-world impact of these tactics.
His remarks resonated because they articulated what many Louisianans – and many Americans – feel but rarely hear acknowledged in official spaces: that democracy is not an abstract ideal but a daily practice, one that requires courage, clarity, and accountability.
Observers in the room and online described the speech as “fearless,” “blistering,” and “the truth spoken without apology.” The video quickly went viral, amplified by viewers who recognized the urgency of his message and the rarity of such candor in a legislative chamber.
Camese’s testimony also served as a reminder that public comment periods – often treated as procedural formalities – can become powerful civic interventions when people speak from conviction rather than calculation.
While Camese did not shy away from naming the political forces he believes are undermining democratic participation, his testimony was ultimately a call to action. He urged lawmakers to legislate with integrity, to protect the rights of marginalized communities, and to resist the temptation to govern through division.
His message was clear: the future of Louisiana depends on leaders willing to confront hard truths and reject the politics of fear.
In a state grappling with debates over voting rights, representation, and the role of history in public life, Camese’s testimony arrives at a critical time. It reflects a broader national struggle over who gets to shape the narrative of American democracy – and whose voices are dismissed or diminished.
By speaking plainly about the stakes, Camese reminded lawmakers and residents alike that democracy is strongest when people refuse to be silent.
– The Urban News
May 18, 2026
May 18, 2026
Following is the video (and a partial transcript) of Marshan Camese’s calling out of the machinery of power.
The state of Louisiana in 2025 deported multiple children, one of whom was born in New Orleans and had brain cancer. Donald Trump got the pro-life, Bible-thumping Republican Party to say, “Yes, we want more of that.” As a matter of fact, send Gregory Bovino down here to harass more people.
So I have no doubt in my mind that the map is going to pass. If y’all could give us less than zero seats, you would do it.
Y’all do this under the orders of somebody who said the Civil Rights Act was harmful to white people, that it caused reverse racism.
RFK said that Black children are over-medicated on anti-depressants and that they need to be re-parented on different farms, all of them.
Pete Hegseth constantly brings Doug Wilson to the Pentagon to give a prayer service. Doug Wilson is the same pastor who said that slave owners were on strong spiritual ground.
I don’t have any belief in the morality of anybody who followed Donald Trump. If you weren’t with this map, you wouldn’t be underneath this president. You wouldn’t be in your party. You would stand up. You would stand against it. You would speak out about it.
So as far as I’m concerned, if you’re here as one of these Trump Republicans, you already showed us who you are. You showed us what you want to do.
And I believe the country as a whole is rebuking your party. Y’all are in a death spiral.
That’s why y’all have to redistrict. That’s why y’all have to cheat. That’s why Trump had to go to Texas and say he’s entitled to five more seats.
It’s because y’all know what y’all are doing is abhorrent.
We’re letting our people die in Iran based on the false pretense that Tulsi Gabbard and Joe Kent say it isn’t real. Y’all are okay with all that. So I’m positive y’all are going to be okay with the maps.
But the beautiful thing is, the children that y’all have made and the people who are younger than y’all don’t support any of this racism that y’all want. The MAGA party is the last breath of the Confederacy, and I’ll be happy to see millennials and Gen Z bury y’all. There will be no more of your party. The midterms are going to come. Y’all are going to get wiped out.
Trump is going to get dragged out of the White House, and I’m going to love every second of it, because y’all loved every second of the suffering that he caused to everybody in this country and worldwide.
We’re starving Cuba. We bombed Nigeria. We’re holding Zimbabwe, Zambia hostage for their minerals. We don’t want to give them aid support. The pro-lifers who say all life is special, y'all are letting kids die of AIDS.
What part of your Bible says that? Point out the scripture. I think everybody would love to see it. And we would love to see y'all in the midterms.
– Marshan Camese
May 12, 2026
May 12, 2026
In closing, the first few minutes of the video below shows the exchange between Marshan Camese and Republican Senator Blake Miguez after Camese delivered his speech. It’s been described as an “epic takedown and last laugh” on Camese’s part.
Related Off-site Links:
Louisiana Senate Passes New U.S. House Map That Would Eliminate Majority-Black District – David A. Lieb, Jack Brook, and Jeffrey Collins (Associated Press via PBS Newshour, May 14, 2026).
New Orleans Resident Marshan Camese on His Fiery Speech Over Redistricting – The Root (May 15, 2026).
Viral “Last Breath Of The Confederacy” Speech Puts Louisiana Man On Political Map – Anthony Orrico (The Huffington Post, May 18, 2026).
Man Who Went Viral Over Redistricting Speech Considering Run for Office – James Bell (Black Information Network News, May 19, 2026).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Rep. Justin Jones: Quote of the Day – May 7, 2026
• Rep. Justin J. Pearson: Quote of the Day – May 8, 2026
• Compelling Similarities
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