Black Voters Matter (BVM) is an American

501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exe ...

voting rights and community empowerment organization. BVM's stated purpose is "to increase power in our communities" by focusing on

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

getting out the vote "Get out the vote" or "getting out the vote" (GOTV) describes efforts aimed at increasing the voter turnout in elections. In countries that do not have or enforce compulsory voting, voter turnout can be low, sometimes even below a third of the ...

, independent election-related expenditures, and organizational development & training for other

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

groups. Founded by activists

LaTosha Brown LaTosha Brown is an American community organizer, political strategist, and consultant. She is the co-founder of the voting rights group Black Voters Matter, which has been noted for its work on the 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alaba ...

and Cliff Albright in 2016, BVM played a key role in the election of United States Senator Doug Jones of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

in 2017, the

2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia The 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021 (as a runoff), to elect the Classes of United States senators, Class II member of the United States Senate to represent the Georgia (U ...

and the

2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia The 2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021 (as a runoff), to elect the Class III member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia. Democrat Raphael ...

Background

Black Voters Matter was founded by

and Cliff Albright in 2016 "to center stories of community members directly connected to issues" and "to partner with activists already established in local communities." As of November 2020, the group operated in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Georgia,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. In addition to voter registration and get out the vote efforts, BVM focuses on policy advocacy, including expanding early voting, resisting

voter ID laws A voter identification law is a law that requires a person to show some form of identification in order to vote. In some jurisdictions requiring photo IDs, voters who do not have photo ID often must have their identity verified by someone els ...

and upholding and strengthening the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

; organizational development and training of other grassroots groups; and financial support of related election activities. BVM works with non-partisan VoteRiders to spread state-specific information on voter ID requirements. The organization generally focuses in areas where at least 15% of the electorate is Black. Institutional and Corporate partners are collaborating to combine financial, volunteer, marketing and other resources to raise awareness of Black voting rights and address other Black community issues. This include

America Votes America Votes is a 501(c)(4) organization that aims "to coordinate and promote progressive issues." America Votes leads national and state-based coalitions to advance progressive policies and increase voter turnout for Democratic Party candidates. ...

advocacy,

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

(SPLC) awarding multi year grants, The

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a Grant (money), grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the wo ...

, the philanthropic group founded by the business magnate George Soros bestowing a 5 year grant,

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

partnering for the #ReclaimYourVote 2022 campaign,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

’s “ Rock the Vote” support to mobilize student voters,

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

's Own Your Vote raising money for voter education initiatives, and

Ben & Jerry's Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream p ...

is rebranding its Cold Brew Coffee flavor to "Change is Brewing", to highlight the power of Black voters and encourage voter participation by supporting Black Voters Matter activities.

Doug Jones campaign

Black Voters Matter played a key role in the 2017 special election of Doug Jones to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

from

. Jones was the first Democrat to fill the seat since 1992, and Black voter turnout was especially notable in the election, with 98% of Black women casting votes for Jones. During and after Jones' victory, BVM shifted its focus to rural Black communities in the South rather than in urban areas and joined a coalition of Black women's groups working to increase

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

in 2018.

2020–2021 Georgia elections

BVM is credited with increasing Black voter turnout in the

2020–21 Georgia state elections Several elections took place in the U.S state of Georgia in 2020. The general election was held on November 3, 2020, and the runoff on January 5, 2021. A combined partisan primary for president and all other offices on the ballot was held on Jun ...

, including the pivotal 2021 United States Senate runoff elections won by Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

Effects of COVID-19

BVM co-founder LaTosha Brown credits years of organizing for the organization's ability to operate effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election cycle. She explained to ''Time'' in September 2020 that had BVM not developed relationships and recognition with voters throughout 2017, 2018 and 2019, they would have been attempting to reach voters who had never heard of them or built any sort of trust with the organization and would therefore not have had such a significant impact on the election. The organization also substituted in-person events with town halls via

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...

, which were held multiple times a week and drew as many as 1,000 people.

Bus tours

The Black Voters Matter Fund and its partners have participated in several bus tours throughout the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

and prominent swing states to "galvanize voters and stop voter suppression." The bus's first tour, "The South is Rising", visited rural areas of four states. In 2019, it made more than 20 trips, and in 2020, the "We Got Power" tour visited Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and California." Initial plans for 2020 were more expansive, but due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, BVM moved a lot of their contact to virtual town halls. A large QR code was painted on the side of the bus to disperse voter information without necessitating close contact. Brown estimates that BVM made contact with at least 10 million Black voters during the 2020 election cycle bus tours. In 2022, BVM's campaigns were broadly covered by print and television media. The “Take the Field Tour” campaign was primarily focused on historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Texas with the objective to empower students to take up issues such as voting rights, campaign finance reform, and the elimination of student debt on college campuses nationwide. The "We Won't Black Down" campaign and bus tour goal was to promote democracy in action ahead of the 2022 general election. The national tour included stops in states: North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. The tour bus does not operate only for national- and state-level elections; like BVM itself, tours take place for local-level elections in individual towns and cities. As BVM organizers explained to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' in March 2021, working at the local level enables them to support individuals who may eventually seek state and national offices.

Local support

BVM actively supports infrastructure for grassroots organizations in rural Black communities pursuing voting rights initiatives, providing financial support, training, candidate development, and networking. In the 2020 election cycle, BVM supported more than 600 Black-led grassroots groups in 12 states. As of November 2020, they had invested in over 500 Black-led community organizations, and describe advocating for voting rights "in a way that's about power and not just about participation."

Humanitarian aid

Throughout its tenure, BVM has initiated

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

projects in the communities it serves. When widespread closures began due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

, the Black Voters Matter Fund established a COVID-19 fund and raised just under $400,000 to serve high-risk communities and to pressure governors not to reopen before it was safe to do so. Following the 2020

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

, the BLM Fund donated over $250,000 to bail funds for individuals arrested while protesting the murder and

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

in the United States. Following the

2021 Texas power crisis In February 2021, the state of Texas suffered a major power crisis, which came about during three severe winter storms sweeping across the United States on February 10–11, 13–17, and 15–20. The storms triggered the worst energy infr ...

, the fund donated $50,000 to a snow and water emergency fund for Texas communities. A 2020 profile by ''

The 19th ''The 19th'', sometimes stylized ''The 19th*'', is a nonprofit, independent news organization based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2020 by CEO Emily Ramshaw and publisher Amanda Zamora, both former ''Texas Tribune'' staffers who served as ...

'' explained that "the organization is focused not just on the race—registering and turning out thousands of voters—or even on the candidates themselves, but on feeding nearly 20,000 families, offering free coronavirus testing and continuing to support struggling areas of the state, whether they end up casting a ballot or not."

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , last1=Danney , first1=Micah , title=LaTosha Brown's Alabama roots inspired the work she’s doing for Black voters , url=https://www.alreporter.com/2020/08/24/latosha-browns-alabama-roots-inspired-the-work-shes-doing-for-black-voters/ , work=Alabama Political Reporter , date=August 24, 2020 , access-date=22 April 2021 , archive-date=January 7, 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107005535/https://www.alreporter.com/2020/08/24/latosha-browns-alabama-roots-inspired-the-work-shes-doing-for-black-voters/ , url-status=live {{cite news , last1=Fouriezos , first1=Nick , title=The Soulful Singer Making Sure Black Voters Matter , url=https://www.ozy.com/the-new-and-the-next/the-soulful-singer-and-black-futurist-imagining-a-new-america/339138/ , work=OZY , date=June 17, 2020 , access-date=22 April 2021 , archive-date=January 7, 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107005548/https://www.ozy.com/the-new-and-the-next/the-soulful-singer-and-black-futurist-imagining-a-new-america/339138/ , url-status=live {{cite news , last1=Connley , first1=Courtney , title=How Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown and other Black women changed the course of the 2020 election , url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/06/black-women-continue-to-be-the-democratic-partys-most-powerful-weapon.html , work=CNBC , date=November 6, 2020 , language=en , access-date=January 6, 2021 , archive-date=January 7, 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107005536/https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/06/black-women-continue-to-be-the-democratic-partys-most-powerful-weapon.html , url-status=live {{cite news , last1=Epstein , first1=Rachel , title=LaTosha Brown Says a New South Is Rising , url=https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a34621522/latosha-brown-black-voters-matter-interview-2020/ , work=Marie Claire , date=November 10, 2020 , access-date=January 6, 2021 , archive-date=January 7, 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107005538/https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a34621522/latosha-brown-black-voters-matter-interview-2020/ , url-status=live {{cite news , last1=Berry , first1=Deborah Barfield , title=Black women's groups step up efforts to energize African American voters in the South , url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/09/black-women-civic-groups-ramp-up-efforts-south/762662002/ , work=USA Today , date=July 9, 2018 , access-date=January 6, 2021 , archive-date=January 7, 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107005604/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/09/black-women-civic-groups-ramp-up-efforts-south/762662002/ , url-status=live {{cite news , last1=Evelyn , first1=Kenya , title=How Black voters lifted Georgia Democrats to Senate runoff victories , url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/07/georgia-senate-runoff-black-voters-stacey-abrams , work=The Guardian , date=January 7, 2021 , access-date=January 7, 2021 , archive-date=January 7, 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107112639/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/07/georgia-senate-runoff-black-voters-stacey-abrams , url-status=live {{cite web , last1=Alter , first1=Charlotte , title=How Black Political Organizers Shored Up the Democratic Base , url=https://time.com/5889888/black-voters-michigan/ , website=Time.com , access-date=23 April 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20200921165153/https://time.com/5889888/black-voters-michigan/ , archive-date=21 September 2020 , date=18 September 2020 {{cite web , last1=González-Ramírez , first1=Andrea , title=LaTosha Brown Is Only Getting Started , url=https://gen.medium.com/latosha-brown-is-only-getting-started-9465dd28d0a0 , website=Gen , access-date=24 April 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210424165307/https://gen.medium.com/latosha-brown-is-only-getting-started-9465dd28d0a0 , archive-date=24 April 2021 , date=4 December 2020 {{cite web , last1=Kelly , first1=Mary Louise , title=Black Voters Matter Co-Founder: Black Voters In Georgia Fuel 'New Southern Strategy' , url=https://www.npr.org/2021/01/06/954001010/black-voters-matter-co-founder-black-voters-in-georgia-fuel-new-southern-strateg , website=NPR , access-date=24 April 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210424225925/https://www.npr.org/2021/01/06/954001010/black-voters-matter-co-founder-black-voters-in-georgia-fuel-new-southern-strateg , archive-date=24 April 2021 , date=6 January 2021 {{cite web , title=Black Voters Matter! Virtual Town Hall with LaTosha Brown , url=https://www.metrostate.edu/calendar/black-voters-matter-virtual-town-hall , website=Metropolitan State University , access-date=24 April 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210424231247/https://www.metrostate.edu/calendar/black-voters-matter-virtual-town-hall , archive-date=24 April 2021 {{cite web , last1=Haines , first1=Errin , title=‘Black Voters Matter’ in Georgia’s Senate runoff elections , url=https://19thnews.org/2021/01/black-voters-matter-latosha-brown-georgia-runoff-elections/ , website=The 19th , access-date=24 April 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210424232222/https://19thnews.org/2021/01/black-voters-matter-latosha-brown-georgia-runoff-elections/ , archive-date=24 April 2021 , date=4 January 2021 {{cite web , last1=Asmelash , first1=Leah , title=Why this bus tours the South to get disenfranchised voters to the polls , url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/01/us/black-voters-matter-latosha-brown-trnd/index.html , website=CNN , access-date=24 April 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210424234158/https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/01/us/black-voters-matter-latosha-brown-trnd/index.html , archive-date=24 April 2021 , date=2 November 2020 {{cite web , title=Our Purpose , url=https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/our-purpose/ , website=Black Voters Matter , access-date=29 April 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210429125458/https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/our-purpose/ , archive-date=29 April 2021 {{cite web , last1=Mason , first1=Melanie , title=Black voters showed they matter in Georgia. Here’s how activists are trying to keep it that way , url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-03-28/black-voters-in-georgia , website=Los Angeles Times , access-date=2 May 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210502010627/https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-03-28/black-voters-in-georgia , archive-date=2 May 2021 , date=28 March 2021 {{cite web , last1=Ross , first1=Janell , title=A radical way to mobilize black voters in 2020: Work on issues, not voting , url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/radical-way-mobilize-black-voters-2020-work-issues-not-voting-n1068681 , website=NBC News , access-date=2 May 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210502012331/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/radical-way-mobilize-black-voters-2020-work-issues-not-voting-n1068681 , archive-date=2 May 2021 , date=20 October 2019 {{cite web , last1=McGinnis , first1=Cory , title=Chauvin trial used as motivation to register Black voters , url=https://abc13.com/black-voters-matter-george-floyd-derek-chauvin-trial-we-got-the-power-campaign/10460722/ , website=ABC13 Houston , access-date=2 May 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210502013052/https://abc13.com/black-voters-matter-george-floyd-derek-chauvin-trial-we-got-the-power-campaign/10460722/ , archive-date=2 May 2021 , date=30 March 2021

External links

Official site
Election and voting-related organizations based in the United States Political organizations based in the United States Voter registration Civil rights organizations Suffrage organisations in the United States Voter turnout organizations