'Voting While Black' Is Giving African American Voters The Attention They Deserve In This Election

[KamaAina]

https://www.bustle.com/articles/192605-voting-while-black-is-giving-african-american-voters-the-attention-they-deserve-in-this-election

In 2012, 66 percent of African Americans voted in the election, compared to 64 percent of whites. That was the first time in history that blacks had a higher turnout than whites in a presidential election. Yet the conversations in this election cycle have largely ignored black voters. (For example, the words "black lives matter" were not uttered at a single presidential or vice presidential debate.) So as the candidates and other policymakers continue to assume that these voters are not engaged in this election, the #VotingWhileBlack campaign is giving them the political attention they deserve.

The campaign was started by Color Of Change PAC, a nonprofit organization that talks to black voters about the political issues that affect their communities and encourages them to focus on down-ballot candidates, too. Arisha Hatch, the director of Color Of Change PAC, tells Bustle that this organization and the #VotingWhileBlack campaign works to "build black, independent, political power."
"I don't think that black millennials aren't engaged; I think we're changing what engagement looks like."

And establishing this black power is an important elevation from the presence of and activism for black lives. "As Black people continue to vote at historic levels, it becomes harder and harder for candidates and elected officials to ignore a cry for justice and safety in our community," Hatch tells me. "Black voters are the key to this election cycle."...

So she's focused her efforts on #VotingWhileBlack to create a powerful, political space for black millennial voters: "We have a lot of work to do in building allies who will stand with us in this moment when they know that there's just something morally wrong happening."

Maybe next cycle we can add #VotingWhileDisabled.