By Kayla Smernoff
Howard University News Service
Voting runs in Chloe Mason’s family. “I’m ready to vote,” said Mason, a senior majoring in psychology at Howard University with a minor in strategic communications. “My mom has been really proactive in our family group chat making sure we’re informed with resources. It took two minutes to fill out the absentee ballot request.”
“This feels like a really important election,” she added. “Of course, my vote is my voice. So, I’m excited to use my voice this election. The older I get and the more I understand the political climate, the more I realize it’s essential to take action.”
Respect My Vote! wants to encourage more young adults to be as excited as Mason when it comes to taking action at the ballot box. The campaign has mobilized hundreds of thousands of people like her to go to the polls since it was founded by the Hip Hop Caucus in 2008.
To lure more voters and celebrate its 20th anniversary on Wednesday, the caucus stopped at Howard in the same place where the founders started their mission. After a town hall and reception inside the Blackburn Center, Respect My Vote! set up a booth outside for a day party with DJ Akademiks and swag for students who made pledges to vote in exchange for T-shirts.
Howard’s campus population aligns with Respect My Vote!’s target audience of Black voters and young voters of color. “Our campaign aims to collect 50,000 voter pledges and register 25,000 voters across 12 states,” said Joseph Pate, director of media communications for the Hip Hop Caucus.
According to the Pew Research Center, Black Americans account for a third of eligible voters, which reinforces the need for Black people and other persons of color to understand how to vote and the weight of their voting power.
That’s part of what Respect My Vote! tries to do in person and on its website where it provides information on voting rules, registration and who is involved with voting campaigns.
Respect My Vote! is the largest and longest-running hip-hop voter mobilization effort, according to Chris Walton, assistant director of Respect My Vote!
“We’re focused on activating young Black voters to be engaged in the process and to make sure their voices are heard and their votes are respected,” Walton said. “I would say the more things change the more they stay the same, too, because even now we are still talking about issues around climate and human civil rights.”
“The Respect My Vote! campaign also aims to meet people where they are in terms of political education, issue awareness and civic engagement in ways that are culturally relevant,” Pate said. “I think that contributes to its longevity, and instead of focusing on candidates, we focus on the issues and policy solutions.”
For Respect My Vote! and its parent, Hip Hop Caucus, art and activism are intertwined. When it comes to influencing voters and policy, art allows companies and campaigns to reach communities that are inaccessible through other methods.
“Artists have audiences; so, we used art to reach audiences,” explained the Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., president and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus. “Black, brown and indigenous people used code in our culture” to create a knowing, artistic exclusivity, he added.
Respect My Vote! recently created an Artivist Class of 2024. The class includes influencers, artists, singers, dancers and media tastemakers who describe themselves as creative revolutionaries practicing “artivism.”
The artivists are 18 influential creatives encouraging voters to use their power in national and local elections. Their goal is to provide resources and inspiration to people who do not have the information necessary to register to vote or to cast votes.
Respect My Vote! is a nonpartisan organization; its main concern is registering voters who are underserved and underrepresented. The non-biased political views of the campaign do not negate organizers’ concerns about the election and voter registration.
Art and media help to reach voters; however, other barriers limit the ability of young people and people of color to understand their voting power. “That’s voter suppression, and that’s making it hard for people to trust their government and their environment,” Yearwood said.
“I’m always worried about voter suppression,” Mason said. “I grew up hearing the urgency in doing what it takes to get your vote cast.”
“I’m concerned by abortion laws,” she added. “I’m worried about having a government that tries to dictate what a woman does with her body. I’m also concerned about what policy makers are taking steps towards better regulating guns, especially in light of the recent shooting in Georgia. I’m concerned, why are there guns in schools?”
Despite the growth and success of Respect My Vote! even compared to initiatives such as Vote or Die!, the campaign still has challenges. One of the main challenges that organizers cite is funding. Hip Hop Caucus requires donations and funding to continue its work. Corporate sponsorship is difficult to obtain and is sometimes misaligned with the caucus’ desire to be nonpartisan and emphasis on humanity.
The challenges do not deter Respect My Vote! and the Hip Hop Caucus from continuing their work. “Earlier this month, we hosted an LGBTQ State of the Union event with SpeakOut and local leaders like actress Angelica Ross to help strategize and build the vote in Georgia,” Pate said.
Walton said their recent work in Atlanta was fulfilling and effective. “Having that call-and-response beginning to build helps us talk about issues,” he said.
Many young people do not understand the power, the necessity or the opportunities available to them after they vote. “Democracy is not a spectator sport,” Yearwood said.
This is something that Mason understands. “To me democracy is a just society and a world where everyone has equal access and equal opportunity,” she said, “where there’s an open conversation and dialogue to create a safe space for all ideas. I think of inclusivity.”
Kayla Smernoff is a reporter for HUNewsService.com, which was also a media sponsor of the town hall. This Solutions Journalism article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org
