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(CNN) - In an epic struggle over voting rights, the future political influence of the diverse generations now aging into the electorate could pivot on the fate of legislation the House is expected to consider this week. Even as Republican-controlled states, drawing on former President Donald Trump's groundless claims of massive fraud in 2020, are advancing a wave of proposals making it […]
\t On Friday, internet and international calls were cut off across the West African nation in anticipation of the election results, according to locals and international observers in the capital, Conakry.
\t This was the third time that Conde matched-up against Diallo. Before the election, observers raised concerns that an electoral dispute could reignite ethnic tensions between Guinea's largest ethnic groups.
The key to a Democratic win in November is voter turnout, which former first lady Michelle Obama knows all too well.
In an interview conducted by TV showrunner Shonda Rhimes for Harper’s Bazaar, Michelle Obama said, “Some folks don’t see the impact of their vote on their day-to-day lives—if the trains still run, the kids are still going to school, and they still have a job, what difference does one vote really make, right?
Obama also pushed people to see beyond just the president when voting, “So every single person out there needs to ask themselves, do they trust the folks in charge to make the right call?
She also gave talking points for people how to dismiss their vote, “When I’m talking to young people, I like to ask them a simple question: Would you let your grandma decide what you wear on a night out to the club?
Not many people want someone else making their decisions for them, especially when that person might not see the world the same way as they do.”
It's impossible to have an honest discussion about Africa's underdevelopment and poor performance in the global stage without recognising the ignominious role played by religion.
An Africa which though still trapped in a nonremedial cycle of crippling poverty and excruciating underdevelopment, no more kills her twin children or sacrifices her people to the gods.
There is no better time than now to cut loose from the shackles of religion and join the rest of the civilised world in emphasising spirituality.
During the 2018 midterms, 53% of voters were women. Yet for some, a distrust of the system and other barriers keep them from the polls.
Why is there so much concern about the potential for lower voter turnout in communities of color, particularly among Black and Latino men? A good portion of the answer lies in the results of the 2016 Presidential Election, when, for the first time in twenty years, the nation saw a drop in the turnout rate for Black voters.
The post Obstacles vs. Apathy: Increasing Voter Turnout in Communities of Color appeared first on The Bay State Banner.
“As the mayor of Georgia’s largest city, I expressed opposition to Gov. Brian Kemp’s recent order allowing certain businesses—dine-in restaurants, gyms, hair and nail salons, barbershops, tattoo parlors and bowling alleys—to reopen before health experts say doing so is safe.
However, Lightfoot is grappling with many young people being non-compliant with the shelter-in-place orders her city is aggressively enforcing in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in its neighborhoods; black neighborhoods, in particular.
As the nation’s third largest city’s first black woman and first openly gay mayor, she has had to struggle with the virus’ disproportionate impact on the black community.
Dr. Henry Louis Taylor, a professor of Urban and Regional Planning and the director of the Center for Urban Studies at the University of Buffalo, said we should not give these mayors a pass or holding them partly responsible for the catastrophic impact the pandemic has had on the black communities in their cities.
Given these African American mayors’ knowledge of their black communities and its social demographics they should have been better prepared for the deadly pandemic regardless of what the federal or state leaders did, Taylor said.
Republicans are worried that voting by mail may increase turnout, particularly among low-income and minority voters.
Republican voters in states that already have widespread vote by mail support the program overwhelmingly.
Some sensibly argue that vote by mail might actually help Republicans this fall because older voters — who tend to be more conservative — are more likely to be reluctant to expose themselves to the virus by going to crowded voting places.
Wisconsin Republicans in control of the state legislature blocked the Democratic governor’s effort to allow widespread vote by mail in the primary.
Purging voters, blocking vote by mail, requiring official voter ID, closing precincts, limiting early voting, limiting the hours that voting booths are open, blocking same-day or automatic voter registration, gerrymandering to segregate the minority vote — the list goes on.
… campaign to spur African-American residents to register … board to oversee the African-American voter registration campaign.
… enlighten and motivate the African-American community on the importance … get involved. The African-American community is diversified …
On Monday, May 4, The Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) and the Voting Rights Alliance held a tele-townhall titled, “The Fight for the Vote 2020: Our March to the Ballot Box.”
Panelists included National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., TJC Founder, and President Barbara R. Arnwine, Esq., Moms Rising CEO Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, and Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey.
The panelists tackled robust voter outreach and registration strategies, media, and specialized outreach to purged voters and those on inactive lists, creating voter contact systems, onerous absentee ballot requirements, and voter identification.
“We have to be concerned that while we sit here tonight, there are tactics, strategies, and efforts afloat in too many of these states to suppress the vote and to make people fearful of voting such was the case 50 years ago,” Chavis continued.
“Confusion itself can be a voter suppression tactic, so we’re trying to cut through all of that noise to make sure there’s no confusion,” Hailey noted.
Washington, D.C. – The NAACP has launched its #WeAreDoneDying campaign, aimed at exposing the inequities embedded into the American health care system and the country at large.
From COVID-19 to running while Black in America, the abuse faced by people of color, particularly African Americans is devastating, according to organization leaders.
The campaign is a call-to-action and highlights the NAACP’s policy interests and supported legislation for African Americans and other people of color, a large demographic that is often left out of recovery effort conversations.
The integrated and interactive content will create actionable steps for people to feel empowered by demanding action from their state’s elected officials on issues such as health care, education, criminal justice, economic justice and voting rights.
“The NAACP Empowerment Programs’ 111 years of advocacy and fighting for the rights of Black people positions us to lead the fight for our community’s interest during this time of uncertainty.”
I didn’t really know much about book genres or categories; I just knew I had this story about this Black queer kid growing up.
Looking back now, it made sense, because I have always shown love to Black children, especially Black queer kids and Black girls, who are thrust in a world to face so many forms and oppression at such a young age.
You know, the world doesn’t give Black people empathy and so I could have written about all the wrongs my dad did, but I’d rather write about how he and other family members were trying to do the best they could with the tools they were given.
“All Boys Aren’t Blue” would always be timely, but looking at Black queer children such as singer Lil Nas X and Zaya Wade, along with adults such as Billy Porter, who have been mistreated by the public for stepping outside of the hetero norm, this book is even more critical.
But I also want to say that this book is more than just pain, because white people love reading about Black trauma and often shun Black joy, so I wanted to show all the sides of my life because I had and have happiness and lean into mine as much as possible.
By Johania Charles Miami Times Staff Writer - Election Day came and went in Miami-Dade without much fuss. Despite social media scaring people into grocery stores to prepare for isolation if violence materialized, the streets [...]
[Premium Times] The senatorial seat became vacant following the death of the former occupant, Bayo Oshinowo, earlier this year.
The Collective Political Action Committee has announced a campaign to register 250,000 African American voters on Juneteenth.
According to a release, The Collective, a group dedicated to electing black candidates, will launch its “Vote to Live” campaign, an attempt to register 250,000 African American voters.
The Vote to Live campaign is a data driven voter engagement program to reach African American voters through digital advertising, mail, and text messaging.
On Thursday June 18, The Collective will launch an extensive digital voter registration campaign using online ads aimed at reaching unregistered Black voters.
“The Black vote is powerful and when we vote, we change the course of history,” The Collective’s Founder and President
Quentin James said in a press release.
I am angry because I am tired of seeing Black people in America continually be subject to the same behaviors by those in “positions of power.”
It’s pathetic that in the year 2020 we are still asking for fair treatment in the communities, schools, justice system, and workplace.
I am a professionally trained lobbyist and community organizer that has worked in and around politics and policy for almost 17 years at the local, state and federal levels of government and one thing that I am constantly reminded…I am Black!
So, if you have a police force that continually abuses Black people that tone is set by the Police Chief and you have a Mayor and City Council that are allowing it.
In 2016, Black voter turnout was 59.6% in the Presidential election and lower than that in some local races.
In 1995, Lonnie Bristow, a board-certified doctor of internal medicine, became the first African American President of the American Medical Association (AMA) in its 148 year history. Bristow, the son of Lonnie Harlis Bristow, a Baptist minister, and Vivian Wines Bristow, a nurse, grew up in Harlem, New York where he attended public schools and entered Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia at the age of sixteen where he played quarterback on the varsity football team. He left Morehouse after two years, joined the U.S. Navy for four years and then received his bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York in 1953. Bristow earned his M.D. from New York University in 1957. Growing up seeing his mother work as a nurse encouraged his interest in the medical profession. After completing medical school he established an internal medicine practice in San Pablo, California.
Bristow, who joined the AMA in 1970, served as an alternate delegate, a delegate, a member of the executive committee, and a member (and later chair) of the Board of Regents before being elected president of the 300,000 member association for 1995-1996. His work as president focused on many of the issues he addressed throughout his career including sickle cell anemia, coronary care, and socio-economic issues impacting health care. His goals included reforming the profession by expanding the range of care doctors give to their patients, putting patients’ needs ahead of monetary interests, and improving the doctor-patient relationship. He also saw his election as president as highlighting the advances of African Americans in the medical field over the past 148 years of the AMA, including most of that period when black doctors were not allowed to join the organization. African Americans were accepted for the first time in 1968. Bristow also saw his work as a testimony to the role of education and hard work in generating acceptance. He frequently addressed audiences of future medical professionals of various backgrounds, encouraging them
by Najee El-Amin - In 2016, Mississippi’s voter turnout rate took a nosedive as 70,000 eligible citizens did not show up to cast a ballot. Activists have been trying to figure out why this happened and how to get African Americans, a powerful voting bloc, energized and back to the polls. Their efforts are coming […]
On Thursday, Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin joined the national Co-Chairs of “HBCU Students for Biden” to discuss Vice President Biden’s policies and to answer questions.
“A couple of weeks ago, Vice President Biden released what he called ‘Lift Every Voice’, a plan for black America,” said Woodfin, a Morehouse College alum.
Woodfin, who has already endorsed Biden for U.S. President in the November general election, said the vice president wants to make public colleges and universities tuition free for families with income below $125,000.
In response to a question about what is at stake in this election for African Americans Woodfin said, “just the belief that we can succeed … And I think in America it’s hard to believe that you can, a black man can be running down the street running down the street and something happens to him and he will never be able to return home to his family.
Other issues at stake, Woodfin said, is “health care . . . [and] the ability to have opportunity to participate in the American Dream, to have a level playing field as it relates to obtaining an education, not just in college but K through 12.
Some of you have had to overcome serious obstacles along the way, whether it was an illness, or a parent losing a job, or living in a neighborhood where people too often count you out.
This pandemic has shaken up the status quo and laid bare a lot of our country’s deep-seated problems — from massive economic inequality to ongoing racial disparities to a lack of basic health care for people who need it.
It’s woken a lot of young people to the fact that the old ways of doing things just don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; and that our society and our democracy only work when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.
And each time we came out stronger, usually because a new generation, young people like you, learned from past mistakes and figured out how to make things better.
When you need help, Michelle and I have made it the mission of our foundation to give young people like you the skills and support to lead in your own communities, and to connect you with other young leaders around the country and around the globe.
Don’t Let High Turnout Distract You From the Reality of Voter Suppression
Kentucky and Georgia are having historic turnouts, but that doesn’t mean voters aren’t facing major obstacles
Voters cast fill out their ballot during Tuesdays Kentucky primary on June 23, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Photo: Brett Carlsen/Getty ImagesKentucky and Georgia’s historic voter turnouts for primary elections are a tremendous victory, one that speaks to the backbreaking work of thousands of volunteers, organizers, and candidates (many of them Black, Indigenous, and of color) who drove out the vote in their districts.
Though there appeared to be few issues during Election Day, poll workers temporarily locked out several Jefferson County voters who were unable to reach the polling place by 6 p.m. due to traffic leading to the Expo Center.
And now Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is refusing to mail absentee ballot applications to voters for the August runoff and November general election.
And though it may be true that Kentucky and Georgia broke records in their primary voter turnout, it is also true that these states, and many others, can do far better in November.
