Black Voters Matter Raises Awareness

Supply: Anoa Changa

Democrats in South Carolina headed to the polls on Saturday because the Palmetto State’s major was held.

Not solely is the first in South Carolina the primary time registered Democrats could have their voices heard in what’s shaping as much as be a extremely consequential election yr, however it’s also largely seen as the primary likelihood for Black individuals to take part within the democratic course of this yr following the Republican major in New Hampshire and the Iowa Caucuses final month.

One of many main organizations elevating consciousness concerning the stakes surrounding the South Carolina major in addition to the 2024 normal election is Black Voters Matter (BVM), which has hit the highway to teach and empower individuals to solid ballots throughout the nation.

BVM’s “We Struggle Again” initiative features a bus tour and three-day convention in Charleston to unite with native activists, social justice advocates and college students from traditionally Black faculties and universities in an effort to assist and help Black voters earlier than and throughout the election season.

The convention additionally served as a suppose tank for attendees to return collectively and talk about points impacting Black communities nationwide. That’s what occurred final week when Tiffany D. Loftin, the Nationwide Director of the NAACP Youth and School Division on the NAACP, led a wide-ranging dialog with younger individuals in North Charleston that lined vital matters to assist form and higher inform opinions on voting.

LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of BVM, mentioned that the “We Struggle Again” marketing campaign is a response to the continuing assaults on voting rights going down throughout the nation. She mentioned she hopes that the vital initiative will uplift Black voters’ crucial function within the upcoming election. At the moment, Black voters make up 50% of the Democratic major citizens in South Carolina.

“All roads result in South Carolina as a result of we perceive how important this second is to the progress of the nation. That is the primary time {that a} Southern state with a 50% Black citizens is positioned to cleared the path within the early nominating course of,” Brown mentioned in an announcement.

The “We Struggle Again” marketing campaign continues BVM’s custom of being an influential presence surrounding elections.

In March of final yr, the voting rights group traveled to Houston throughout an HBCU All-Star basketball recreation to teach school college students on crucial voting points. The occasion was full of scholar panel discussions and engagement occasions, highlighting matters equivalent to psychological well being, police violence, scholar mortgage debt and voter suppression.

In 2021, BVM launched a “Freedom Experience” bus tour to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the unique Freedom Experience and to lift consciousness about voting rights. Organized simply in time for Juneteenth, the BVM tour started in New Orleans and made stops in Jackson, Mississippi and Birmingham, Alabama.