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“When you vote, your voice is power,” said Niccara Campbell-Wallace, executive director of the Rolling Sea Action Fund.
This week, former longtime Congressional Black Caucus PAC aides launched an initiative to engage Black voters ahead of the 2024 presidential and midterm elections.
Democratic strategists launched on Tuesday the Rolling Sea Action Fund, which will engage Black voters by providing money for advertisements, on-the-ground organizing and community engagement events in swing states and locations with vital congressional races.
The Rolling Sea Action Funds’ goal is to ensure Democrats regain control of Congress, and by proxy, the current House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is elected the United States’ first Black speaker of the House.
Niccara Campbell-Wallace, executive director of the Rolling Sea Action Fund told theGrio that this effort will empower and mobilize Black voters.
“Right now we need to make sure that we protect and fight for freedom in our democracy,” she said. “We see that the other side is all about division and polarizing topics, and we need to come together as a country because when we work together, we are the most powerful, powerful people ever.”
Campbell-Wallace believes that in order to increase voter engagement, Democratic strategists need to visit Black communities across the nation “frequently” in order for them to “understand that we are here to support them.”
Music mogul Kevin Liles is also a member of the Rolling Sea Action Fund. In a statement provided to theGrio, Liles said Black voters are important fixtures in the electoral process and have played a major role in past elections.
“In recent years, Black voters have reminded America of our power to shape and protect our democracy when we are engaged and energized,” said Liles.
“Rolling Sea is a commitment to leave no stone unturned, further empowering our community by reaching Black voters in authentic ways where they are,” he said.
Campbell-Wallace told theGrio that although it is imperative that Black Americans vote in the next election, they also need to hold their congressional members accountable once elected to office.
“It’s not just vote – it’s vote and hold your member of Congress accountable,” she said. “Vote and make sure you’re getting engaged with your community.”
Following a huge Democratic voter turnout for the 2020 election, Republican leaders passed laws to suppress the Black vote by implementing what critics call discriminatory congressional maps seeking to minimize the power of Black voters and blocking voting rights legislation.
“When we turn out, they create laws that keep us from turning out. Suppressing the vote for mail in ballots to now trying to raise the voting age to 21 in some states,” Campbell-Wallace said.“When you vote, your voice is power and we’ve seen that. That was evident after the election of Barack Obama. I want to give the power back to the people, because I think we’re missing that a little bit.”
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