Cornell William Brooks
WASHINGTON,
DC -- Today, NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks met with
the leadership of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church;
Congressional Black Caucus Chair and Congressman G.K. Butterfield;
Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black
Civic Participation, pastors, millennial activists and leaders of other
national African American organizations to launch a mobilization plan
for black voter turnout in the November election for the presidential
and down-ballot races.
Issues
that directly impact African Americans are at the center of the 2016
campaign, including criminal justice reform; voting rights; disrupting
the broken education system; entrepreneurship; innovation; income
inequality; and unemployment. The leaders issued a call to action to
the black community to vote at the same levels that elected and
re-elected President Obama in 2008 and 2012, to secure increased
influence over policies impacting black lives at the national, state and
local levels.
“It
is essential for black churches and social justice organizations to
work together to maximize voting levels within the black community this
Fall,” Brooks said. “The stakes of this election demand the kind of
innovation and persistence we can only achieve through collaboration.”
Jacquelyn
Dupont-Walker, Director for the AME church’s Commission on Social
Action echoed this call. "Voter apathy is the greatest threat to
democracy! For that reason, amev-alert.org
has joined with the NAACP and other partners to reach out to every
eligible voter. When they speak with their vote, on or before November
8th, the voice of the people will have resoundingly sent a message that
social justice matters."
This
is the next step in the NAACP’s aggressive campaign to protect black
Americans’ access to the ballot. Yesterday, the organization announced
that its Youth & College Division members and Chance the Rapper will
come together this Fall to register thousands of concert-goers to vote
as part of the #staywokeandvote campaign. NAACP Youth & College volunteers will begin registration drives at the Magnificent Coloring Day Festival on
Sept. 24 in Chicago, with registration drives to accompany concerts
through Oct. 21 in Fairfax, VA, Raleigh, NC, Atlanta, GA, Miami and
Tallahassee, FL, New Orleans, LA, Houston and Dallas, TX and San
Francisco, CA.
The
NAACP and allies have challenged individual state laws in federal court
while calling for congressional action to prevent future attempts to
restrict the voting process from candidates seeking office. Through
volunteer-driven events across the nation, in communities and on college
campuses, NAACP members are aggressively working this Fall to help
register voters and stand against intimidation and discrimination in the
November election.
Last
week, President Brooks and NAACP Youth & College Division Director
Stephen Green were ordered to pay fines and court costs for their
refusal to leave Congressman Bob Goodlatte’s office after they held a
six-hour sit-in protest on voting rights. The NAACP has repeatedly
called on Goodlatte and other congressional leaders to hold a hearing to
restore the voting rights protections that were eliminated under the
U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby v. Holder ruling. Since that ruling, more than 17 states have passed restrictive and discriminatory laws
that make it more difficult for African-American, young, old and poor
voters to cast ballots by requiring IDs and cutting back programs that
led to record African-American turnout in recent elections.
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Founded
in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest nonpartisan civil
rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the
world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities.
You can read more about the NAACP’s work and our six “Game Changer”
issue areas here.
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