It has been a few weeks since we all experienced the Political Super Bowl, better known as the midterm elections.
How are you feeling?
Do you feel energized and ready to give the good fight? Or are you suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Did you feel like we were re-living the 2016 election again?
Was the midterm election a bad dream or a frightening thought for you?
If the answer is YES, what will you do now?
Your involvement in the democratic process does not end after Election Day; the work still needs to be done and EVERYONE needs to get invested.
Let’s shake off the shock and get to work!
I took a moment to speak with my fellow civil servant-in-arms, Nicole Yearwood about the mid-term elections. I wanted to discuss some steps, that I believe, the black community should consider.
It was impactful and empowering to have this conversation with my dear friend, Nicole. I can summarize our conversation into TWO important steps that we all should think about and take:
CIVICS MATTERS:
I will continue to say this ad nauseam and you will probably want to throw something at your computer or mobile screen, but here it goes, CIVICS MATTERS.
Before the establishment of When We All Vote, there was and continues to be Educated Voter (www.educatedvoter.net). Founded in 2015 by Nicole, Educated Voter has been sharing free, non-partisan voting and civic-related information including, but not limited to, voter registration deadlines, election dates, and redistricting on the Educated Voter social media accounts.
One of the things I have observed with the black community for many years is how misinformed, both young and old are, as it pertains to voting.
In addressing this matter, Educated Voter also offers voter education workshops for groups, from employees to community volunteers, on how to work with their elected officials and advocacy.
If you aren’t ready for an Educated Voter workshop, take a moment and read or listen to Ari Berman’s “Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America,” which chronicles the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the 21st Century.
Please let me know if you complete the book for Nicole and I agreed that we both didn’t get past the foreword because too much truth serum was being shared.
Anyhow, here is the one key actionable step that will keep the wind beneath your political stride:
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Join a PAC. Yes!
A PAC (Political Action Committee) in recent years received a bad rap due to corporate or labor union involvement. However, in the past five years, there has been a surgency of PACs that are financed by the general public.
This may rub folks the wrong way, but for political campaigns, you must put your money where your mouth is. Instead of buying the latest Jordans, Lebrons, or Gucci bag, you can put as little as $1 to a PAC.
If you want your agenda to move and gain traction, invest in it and get behind a PAC.
There are many PACs out there that may be of interest to you such as The Collective PAC (collectivepac.org) whose mission is to build black political power; Black America’s PAC (bampac.org), a registered unaffiliated non-partisan PAC or the Color of Change PAC (votingwhileblack.com) that focuses on building independent black political power, amplifying black voices, electing candidates who share our values, and holding them accountable to our communities.
“No group is more monolithic than the black community,” Nicole said. If we can put our differences aside and work together to create a strong agenda, the sky is the limit.
If we don’t do this, we will remain stuck.
Photo by Elliott Stallion courtesy of Unsplash
