Nothing is more fundamental to the U.S. Constitution and our democracy than the right of every citizen to vote. While approximately 66% of the American voting eligible population turned out to vote in 2020*, the one-third (approximately 77 million) eligible voters who did not vote represent the highest proportion of non-voters in a presidential election in one hundred years.** How do we change this dynamic, convince citizens that their vote, their voice matters and is a tool for change?
ClassACT HR73 and JusticeAid are proud to present To The Ballot Box! Our Vote, Our Voice, a ZOOM public forum moderated by MSNBC’s Joy Reid H'91, with Black Voters Matter (BVM) co-founders LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright, and a special presentation by Paine the Poet.
The right to vote and participate in our elections should not be a controversial issue, but it has become one. The forum will explore issues related to these rights, voter apathy, voter suppression as well as how to engage and motivate citizens in local communities and across the country to have a voice, register to vote and vote.
Join us for this vibrant and timely discussion.
Joy Reid, Moderator, Harvard ’91, is an award-winning journalist and TV host of MSNBC’s The Reid Out. She is the author of Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and The Love Story That Awakened America
Cliff Albright, Panelist, the co-founder Black Voters Matter, is a political economist, speaker and activist. He is a 2020 Soros Equality Fellow.
LaTosha Brown, Panelist, the co-founder Black Voters Matter, is an organizer, social justice activist and jazz singer. Ms. Brown was a 2019 Resident Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Paine the Poet, who will be giving a special spoken word presentation, is a spoken word artist, activist, educator, and public speaker from Columbus, OH. He uses his gift of poetry and lyricism to bridge the gap between the “disenfranchised” and the society from which they have been detached.
Black Voters Matter, the 2024 grantee-partner of JusticeAid, works to increase civic engagement and power building in predominantly Black communities.
*Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/07/12/voter-turnout-2018-2022/
** The Hill:
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/561886-whos-not-voting-in-america/
