You’ve probably heard it countless times, but it can’t be said enough: 2020 is an extremely pivotal presidential election year.
As such, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) has launched “a bipartisan registration and get-out-the-vote campaign partnering with national and local grassroots and voting rights organizations to provide tools and resources that will empower Black women to vote this November.” OWN is the leading network for Black women, so targeting this particular demographic makes sense. What also makes sense? The name of the initiative: #OWNYourVote.
The initiative highlights key issues that directly affect Black women such as racism, discrimination, social security, affordable healthcare, education, mental health, the economy and more.
More info via OWN’s press release sent to The Root:
OWN YOUR VOTE is designed to help Black women make a voting plan for this critical 2020 election cycle, by recognizing obstacles to voting including challenges around COVID-19, mail-in ballots, voter suppression, transportation, and changing protocols and poll locations; connecting the everyday issues critical to Black women to the issues appearing on the ballot; empowering this key voting block to own their voting story, and make a plan to ensure success at the polls; encouraging local community activism and leveraging personal networks; and collaborating with the voting rights partnership community to support mail-in voting, voter registration, volunteerism, transportation, and safety procedures.
OWN is partnering on the campaign with national and local organizations including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Action Network (NAN), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Color of Change, Advancement Project, Fair Fight Action, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Black Women’s Roundtable, The National Urban League, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, The Links, Incorporated, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Woke Vote, Higher Heights Leadership Fund, When We All Vote, Sistahs in Business Expo, Vote.org, The King Center, and more to come. Target markets for the initiative include the key battleground states with a high concentration of OWN viewers including Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, South Carolina, Virginia, Texas, and Ohio.
“COVID-19 and the racial justice movement have highlighted the need for urgent policy reform to balance disparities that exist regarding affordable healthcare, systemic racism, and racial discrimination.” Tina Perry, president OWN said in a statement. “We are proud to announce this important bipartisan social initiative that supports and empowers Black women to use their voice to face the issues in America they find paramount this election season. When she votes, she influences elections, and it has never been more critical to use OWN’s wide-reaching platform to ensure our core audience has the tools needed to register and cast an informed vote this fall.”
Per usual, Black women show up and show out at the voting polls, so this initiative won’t serve as a plea but more as a reminder (and pep rally) for most of us.
For more information about the #OWNYourVote initiative, head to ownyourvote.tv.
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