Last Updated on July 6, 2022 by BVN
Aryana Noroozi |
With the 2022 Midterm Elections approaching, reports show that over 55 million Americans are unregistered to vote, and approximately 10 million are African Americans who are eligible voters.
The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and the Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) are committed to understanding why voter mobilization is still “lacking notably among Black Americans across the nation.”
During the national convention marking the 195th-anniversary celebration of the Black Press of America in New Orleans, leaders of the NNPA and the TJC announced a get-out-to-vote campaign (GOTV) aimed at registering and mobilizing GOTV for 10 million more African Americans to vote in time for the 2022 midterms.
“What if those 10 million were registered? We wouldn’t have worried about Donald Trump or the craziness of what the U.S. Supreme Court is doing now,” said NNPA CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.. “Elections have consequences. The overturned Roe v. Wade, the overturned gun laws – are consequences of elections.”
The TJC has recorded 72 voter suppression tactics preventing citizens from casting ballots. The organization cites strict voter laws in many Republican-led states, deceptive practices like robocalls, early voting cuts, and voter intimidation. “[Anti-voting rights organizations and individuals] have trained 10,000 people to be poll disruptors to go to only Black polling sites,” said founder and president of TJC, Attorney Barbara Arnwine.
TJC’s mission is based on creating systematic change that achieves racial, gender, economic and social justice and human rights through public education and engagement initiatives that attend equally to the individual as well as social systems and structures.
With more than 235 African American-owned newspapers and media companies serving as members, the NNPA represents the Black Press of America.
Votercade
In their collaborative GOTV campaign, the two groups are utilizing a multivehicle
“Votercade.” Their teams will be traveling in COVID-safe tour buses and hitting swing states ahead of the November elections to register and mobilize voters.
Chavis said artists from Roc Nation, the company run by hip-hop magnate and business mogul Jay-Z, would accompany the votercade in some cities.
Music superstar Stephanie Mills also pledged to “get on the bus with the Black Press and the Transformative Justice Coalition.”
“That call and response from our brothers and sisters are vital. It’s movement time, it is time to Get-Out-The-Vote” said Dr. Chavis. “In 2022, we will make the critical difference in the midterm elections in terms of increasing Black voter participation throughout the country.”