The mini-activation will aim to reach Black youth and young adults through voter outreach and digital organizing from July through November 2022.
JULY 4, 2022 – Ahead of the 2022 midterms, Better to Speak has kicked off its Freedom Summer mini-activation under the State of the Young Black Advocate outreach campaign.
The mini-activation theme pays homage to the Freedom Summer Project of 1964 and aims to continue its legacy by organizing Black youth and young adults 18-30 to get registered to vote and also register our peers and community members to vote ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
Our campaign goal is to get 500 people registered to vote and/or connected with a political home organization by the November 8, 2022 election.
Our strategies to accomplish this goal will include…
Connecting and organizing Black youth and young adults to/with programming and content related to the 2022 midterms – created by Better to Speak and our partners
Directing our audience to our online voter registration tool hosted on our community mobilization platform Impactive to check and/or update their registration information or register to vote for the first time
Curating and publishing a database of organizations that serve as political homes for Black youth and young adults for folks to learn more and explore potential membership
Hosting in-person and virtual voter registration activations and community events in partnership with other Black-led/Black youth-led organizations or community organizations in target states
Amplifying the voices and stories of young Black cultural workers – including community organizers and leaders, storytellers, artists, musicians, etc. – who are using their work in support of the 2022 midterms, democracy, and Black liberation more broadly
Holding space for culturally-relevant political education that engages Black youth and young adults, and connects them with community networks that are or have been building long-term infrastructure for voting and community engagement beyond election cycles
We are also excited to announce that Better to Speak’s Freedom Summer activation is supported by the Andrew Goodman Foundation – a nonprofit that works to engage and mobilize young people to use their voices and votes for our democracy. AGF has generously awarded founder Kési Felton with a stipend that will support Better to Speak’s digital advocacy efforts for the Freedom Summer campaign.
AGF was founded in honor of Andrew (‘Andy’) Goodman, an organizer with the Freedom Summer Project of 1964 who was killed – along with “two other civil rights workers, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner” – by the Ku Klux Klan for supporting Black Americans’ right to vote.
The foundation continues Goodman’s legacy with programming that includes youth leadership development, voting accessibility work, and student voting rights advocacy.
If you’d like to get involved, we are currently compiling a list of Black-led organizations, leaders, or initiatives that meet the following criteria:
Located in the following states in the Southeast: Georgia, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana; and East Coast: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington D.C., and New York.
Values-aligned, yet non-partisan organizations
Currently working on voter outreach, registration, education, or other electoral work with a specific focus on Black folks, women, and/or youth voters.
Founded/created/led by Black folks – ideally led by Black folks ages 18-30
LEARN MORE + TAKE ACTION
Join us on our community action platform Impactive to learn about new actions related to the Freedom Summer mini-activation!
Freedom Summer launched in June 1964 to register as many Black voters as possible in Mississippi
50 Years Ago, Freedom Summer Began By Training For Battle – Code Switch – NPR
The 1964 Democratic National Convention and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
About Better to Speak
Better to Speak is a Black youth-led community media platform working to transform silence into language and action.
Through content, community engagement, and communications, Better to Speak works to amplify the voices and stories of Black people and communities, equip them with the storytelling tools, and cultivate a cultural narrative of self and community actualization. Learn more at www.bettertospeak.org.
ABOUT STATE OF THE YOUNG BLACK ADVOCATE
Better to Speak’s State of the Young Black Advocate community outreach and narrative power-building campaign will seek out the perspectives of young Black leaders to inform peer-driven community programming in 2022 and, ultimately, build narrative power among Black youth and young adults.
