Cofounder of the black voter matters organization, and shes here with us today to talk about the black voter and the 2020 elections. Louisiana dash shah latasha, good morning. Guest thank you for having me. Vo host first, tell us what the black Voters Matter Fund is. Guest the organization started in 2016 because we wanted to shift the dynamics around how we were hearing the National Media talk about black voters. More importantly, we wanted to build more power in our communities so we could have more influence on policies impacting us. So we started the back Voters Matter Fund because what we felt is that in order to really have a robust democracy, you have to have an edge gauged electorate. And engaged electorate. And we would do work to engage voters on the ground level, on the local level so that they should shape policies and representation for their communities. Host so wt did your organizing approach look like this year . What didin you do out on t ground to get mor black voters to not only register, buto show up and vote . Guest you know, there are a couple thingsgu that we did. One, we didnt start this year. We have been doing we started in 2016, and we never stopped. One of our themes is cant stop, wont stop because we think that what happens is often times, particularly in the black community, you often see people come around election time, right . And its kind of like if you have a friend, you have a friend that only calls when they want something, youre not really that excited to see them. So for us, what we felt is a way to build power is we have to build a base. We have to continue to engage communities. And the third thing that we learned is all politics are local. So we started working with many of these communities including from georgia and the other 11 states were working in is to support local referendums. So weve been building our support over time, for the last four years. In addition to that, we actually show up and support them so as they are working around the School Board Races or other races or really being able to educate people around voting and the process of voting. We support them on that. We actually provide grant dollars this election cycle, 600 blackled, grassroots organizations, we were able to make an investment and give resources to so that they could run their own programs. In addition to that, we were able to give them tools from phone banking to text messaging campaigns, and we were able to really create like a coordinated campaign so that we were working in concert with each other all across the region, all across the country in thehe states that were working in. So i think the things that have made the difference is, one, really recognize that all politic it is are local and really being able to build the capacity of groups where they exist. The second thing is the way that we talk about voting. We talk about voting beyond the idea ofat voting is about participation. But for us, voting is about a power. And really being able to educate and connect our community on how voting is not c a panacea, its not going to solve all of our problems, but it is certainly a leverage of power. And we with want people to use their agent so that we can have agency so that we can have more influence in selecting the representation for ourle communities, really to hold people accountable and take folks out of office that need to be removed and shape policy as well. And then the third thing is we thought it was really important for us to influence narratorship. I know as a black southerner, i was extremely frustrated that even in the National Media platforms you would hear the south talked about as if we were just like a football team. Theres a red team and and a blue team, right . No. I am part of the Humanity Team that,he fundamentally for me, nt who i am as a label, who i am as a human being. And wart of what with we want in our part of what we want in our communities is better schools, more access to resources, Economic Development opportunities. We want what all other americans want. And so this is really important that were really shifting the flower tuf of who we are in the south narrative of who we are in the south and a new coalition of people in the south that are rising to really be able to shape this country and to shape our states the way that we want them to be so that theyre more accountable to us and that we actually benefit from the fruits of our labor. Host now, do you consider your organizatn a partisan organizati . Are you regtering just black democratsings democrats, or are you registering black republicans, black dependents, black libertarians and youre encouraging everybody to slote . Guest black voters matter is [inaudible] our goal is to, that black voters matter thats what our entire goalte is, to really provide Civic Education and engagement so when were with rolling people, we dont ask what party they belong to. What were interesting in is really being able to talk to bblack people around their process, around their agency and really understanding the political process. We do have other organizations that we work, we have a c4 organization that often times [inaudible] black votes matter fund [inaudible] if not necessarily just because of a particular party, but because the community were usworking with has decided that this particular candidate is the best candidate for our agenda. Our focus is on building independent black political power in apo way that we can leverage and make some l changes and shift in our commuties. Host now, were youble to see any specificesults from yourtrategy that you with said youve been working on since 2016 . Can you point to any specific results from the 2020 election . Guest absolutely. I think weve got me are seats. I think the big many reseats. A lot of people did a lot of work in georgia. Working with a coalition of groups in georgia to make a difference. Georgia has always been soon as a state that what you saw in particular when you look at who participated in the election, you know, there were more black voters that participated in this election than voted for president elect biden than voted for obama. We wanted to increase engagement. When you look at many of the county areas in georgia, often times theres a lot of focus and emphasis on the urban areas and the metro center. But when you look at the numbers around, it was the state. We looked at the survey had a lions shower of the votes, but you also saw an increase in savannah, albany and other places, the black voters of georgia that are a little bit more rural. When you look at how, i think, a lot of the messaging, when you look at young people, that young people on the national their percentage of voting, National Percentage of voting this election was 17 . In georgia it was 21 . So it worked. So the bottom line is part of our work is to get people to get engaged. Part of what we believe is that america currently, theres 45 almost half of the country dont bother to participate in the election cycle. With dont believe its because people dont care. We believeve people feel disconnected from the process because they dont feel a sense of power, they dont feel a sense of their own agency or understand how voting in that election is going to help advance or change your lives. So a lot of the work were doing is to really be able to engage in those populations and young people and other marginalized populations that are often times not talked to, right . Or not even sought for their support. So our work, what we are very proud of is that we think the outcome in georgia to have such a high turnout, the outcome of more young people voting, of more people of color voting, we believe that actually resulted in work from organizations like ours and others that i could go on from new georgia project to georgia standup and others that have been created in the space to really be able to increase our Voter Education and our engagement strategies that is centered around peopleme and thr power, not necessarily political candidates and a party. Host let me remind our viewers that they can take a part in this conversation. Were going to open up our regular lines again, that moons democrats, youre at 202748800. Republicans, youre at 2027488001, independents, call 2027488002. And you can always text us at 2027488003, and were always reading on social media, on twitter cspan wj and on facebook at facebook. Com cspan. Latasha, i know part of your story starts with your run for office in 1998 for Alabama State board of education. Tell us about what happened in that race and how it affects what you do now. Guest you know, its interesting, its amazing that that was 20 something years ago ago. And i think about voter suppression. Thats when i knew voter suppression, but i actually experienced it in that particular race. I wasas a young woman, i was 28 years old, i was running for state board of education. I had done a lot of education reform and Youth Leadership work, so i wanted to make an impact in the state and really be able to lift up policy issues that i felt like our community needed. And so i ran for office. I was certainly the underdog. I ran against a 12year incumbent who happened to be a minister, who was a favorite, who had been a favorite for years. And here i am, a young woman, young single woman never running, had never ran for office in my life. Quite frankly, didnt know much what i was doing other than i knew the cause, i knew the cause that i was supporting. And so, matter of fact, i ran my campaign out of kink i coes, and kinkos. That was the campaign office. So as i ran and the campaign was able to do organizing on the ground, i also learned a valuable lesson in that race as well is that organizing works. When we were talking to people, it worked. So i went all around the state and talked to people in all of the areas that i was working in and, ultimately, what wound up happening is probably about two weeks before the election i got a phone callef to come and, to come and see someone who was very powerful in the state only to discover at that point is that the ap poll had us running neck and neck. Which is really remarkable given that i was coming against such a strong incumbent. And so on election night, the race was so tight that they couldnt call it, right . It took them seven days. Every day it went back and forth. So i understand how these drawnout processes, it took them seven days to call the election. On the seventh day, they called the election, and the results were that my opponent had 117 more votes than i had. So i accepted it. I conceded, i accepted it, i called him and congratulated him andte was prepared to move on fr the next seat. And so in the state of alabama, i was running in the state of alabama. In the state of alabama, you have, i think, theres after the election results, the state certifies the election. And so the state certified the election result at 12 noon. I got a phone call at 12 05 from my mentor to tell me to, senator hank sanders said that the head of the Democratic Party was to give me a call. I said, well, okay. So he called me and he said, l atasha, i just want to let you know im so sorry to make the call to you, but theres a sheriff in one of the counties that you ran, which is Wilcox County which is a county that i actually had carried. I did very, very strongly in that county. The sheriff said that he found 800 votes that he had placed in the safe that he forgot. And i guess he remembered three minutes after the race was certified. So me in my peevety, i said, oh, thats great. So count the votes. Because, in my mind, thats another chance. So i just wanted those votes counted. 800 votes, you know there was legitimate votes, sure. He said, well, its not that simple, the race has been certified. I said, what do you mean . Said, we cant count the votes because the race has already been certifieded. At that particular moment, i felt completely powerless. Theres nothing that you can do. So heree was a person who had votes, you know, that conveniently remembered, and he was entrusted by the people to really be able to protect those votes. And hee conveniently remembered seven days after and three minutes after the race was certified. You know, thats when i first came face to face with vote sup prosecution. And nothinge ever happened, you know . Suppression. Well, you can actually, you can see legal remedy. What we know off the top is those cases are very, very hard to be overturned. But at the time, i didnt have a lot of money. I was a firsttime candidate who had done very well at running a grassroots campaign. So there were three things that i learned. The first thing i learned is how insidious, like, voter suppression, how common it was. As i i Start Talking to other candidates and other people, particularly in those rural areas, i really recognized that vote suppression was an issue. I was dedicated that i was going to fight. That if people voted, they should actually have their vote count. So i became a major proponent for the rest of my life around making sure that peoples votes count. The second thing i learned in that process too was that how if we have to create more accountability measures. Those who have been bad actors in thiss, process, we have to hd them accountable. We have to lift those stories up and really be able to let people know. And then the third thing i learned in that process is that organizing works. As a young woman who did not know what i was doing, had never run for public office, i was running against an incumbent, you know . But what i did know how to do, i knew how to organize. Knew that if you go to the people and talk to folks, be able to listen to them, to connect to their issues, that in fact you can make a difference. And all those things that are part of the shaping of my work as i look 20 years work 20 years later. Im still doing work thats informed by that experience id had, and its actually fueled my commitment of why i fight so hard forgh Voting Rights and to make sur that every person has their voice and their vote counted. Host lets let some of our viewers join conversation. Well start with hah ron da on the independents line. Good morning. Caller good morning. Im africanamerican, and i believe im not republican or democrat. I cana think on my own. Andcr the democrat party, they have brawn washed brainwashed black people because most black people vote democrat. They voted for joe biden. Joe biden is the biggest racist there is. He has said many racial things. He was for segregation, he dswas [inaudible] kkk that were segregationists. He said that [inaudible] black said youre not unless you vote for him. He said that we all think awe like. So alike. So how can you call donald trump a racist when joe biden is the biggest racist there is . And even if you overlook his racial statements, he is [inaudible] guest so a couple of things i think are really interesting. I think when were talking about alcomparison, even what shes raising a around, what youre raising around biden, you talk about 20 years ago. I can give you examples around donald trump just a few months ago, just a couple of weeks ago who aligned himself with the proud boys who said to stand down and stand back which is known by even the fbi as a white supremacist group. Being a woman who has done work around ending structural racism, i dont take that lightly. The idea that you will align yourself with a white supremacist is a problem. Donald trump has a consistent, long history around discrimination including in his own, in his own properties. But you know what . Donald trump is gone, so im not going to spend a lot of time talking about donald trump, because we got rid of him. Aside from that, what i would like to raise is part of what black people have voted for is theres an assumption that were voting for something other than what were voting for we make a tactical strategy, and black folks voted for black people. Black folks made a decision. The majority of us made a decision despite a lot of the miss information because some of the information that the caller was raising im not familiar with, i have not heard of. Ive even checked into some of that, ive seen some of that online, and some of that cannot be substantiated. What i do know is theres an africanamerican woman that is on the ticket, kamala harris, that will be the Vice President elect. That makes me happy. As a black woman who ive dedicated my life to making sure that we expand representation, that makes me happy. When i look at some of the policy issues, right, things that i want, when i looked into the biden platform, that resonated with me. When i looked at who biden surrounded himself, i saw black women on his campaign, i saw black people on his campaign, black that i suspect and admire like suh e moan sanders simone sanders. Mi that makes a difference to me. So for me, the candidate when were doing work and we do this with black voters matter, our work is not necessarily around just the candidate or the party, our work is about us, that were making a tactical decision of who can we represent, who can we support that is, one, going to help reduce the harm happening to our economy, that will be more accountable to our community and have at least a track record of engagement in our Community Around the things that we care about. So the fact of the matter is i think that we are, to keep going back and forth around two candidates that i think are distinctively different because, yes, i understand weve shown in america you know what, america is way more than one race in this country. Theres quite a few of m em. But i also know as someone whos dealt with that issue that there is a distinction between even racism and white supremacy. And we have to be able to draw that distinction and that line and create a very dangerous it creates a very dangerous environment for me, my community and the people that i love and care about. And theres an unraveling of democracy. One of the pieces that i think dangerous around donald trump and as we continue to see, he continue to do as we speak is to unravel democracy. As a person whos a native of selma, alaska, for people who were alabama, for people who were beaten on the bridge 55 years ago because we understood that having a democratic government was far, far safer for us. Fundamentally, he has done everything to unravel democracy. Is so i am certainly, certainly happy that with the results that we have, and i certainly think that black people, most black folks are sophisticated vote ors enough to know the difference between racism and white supremacy, were also sophisticated enough to know that there are many people who seek to exploit black pain, that will come up with misinformation just as a dog whistle not because they really care about racism. When weil heard that coming from the trump camp, thats not like they really care about racism. We see his actionses every day. But he would also use that as an opportunity to exploit black pain. And the third andnd final thingi would say is i think there has been a movement of folks, a intergenerational, interracial coalition that has been building ourselves, has been warranted, has been organizing so that we literally can shape whoevers in politics, that we can actually put pressure on whoever is elected in office to make sure that our agenda and our issues are also considered and part of the agenda going forward. Host lets go back to our phone lines. Weve got a lot of calls waiting here, so lets go to robert from price, utah, on the democratic line. Robert, goodh. Morning. Caller hey. First thing, jesse, you are the sharpest dress or theyve got. Youre looking good. Ms. Brown, im hearing and, you know, i dontnow, but im hearing that black men are not as enthusiastic about voting democrat as they may have once been. Im wondering if theres an effort i mean, nobody would understand black men more than a black woman. So is there an effort to focus on that and get the guys back into camp . Because were going to need everybody. Youre looking at the numbers. Yo know, the overall numrs over the, of t nation is, you know we cant afford t lose anybody. I was wondering if youre making an effort to do that, and thank you, and ill take tt off the air. Guest thank you for theai question. What i will say is i think that theresn issue around just men in general. When you look at, when you look at black men let me offer kthis. Black n voted for biden at a higher perntage than a other Constituency Group inhis country. Whiteup men, white women, latin, native americans. Black men voted at a higher Percentage Rate for biden than any other Constituency Group in this country with the exception of black women. And im raising thatecause i do think that there is sething to unpack. But i think there are three kind of core pieces. One, 80 of suppo for any candidate or any party is actually extraordinary. We dt see that with any other Constituency Group, right . So ihink even while theres a focus around, a focus around what howid that come about, i think we just need to acknowledge that. So this victory, while it was certainly led by black women and black women, have just been on the vanguard, black men were not that far behind us, and they wereertainly in front o every other gup in this country. The second tng i would say, too, is that there is a frustrationn the political proces across the board in this country that we all feel it. And there has been a frustration with black men, with black people consistently around even when weve been talking to folks around will our issues be centered, will the Democratic Party be respoive to us, will any of the parties be responsive to us . We are literly going to be able to see the shaping of when weve seen how the criminal Justice System has devastated our community and and has exploid our community, there is discontent in our community, and it is discussing content that actually is rooted in Something Real andeal experiences. Is part ofre what i often s is that i do think that, as i was saying to the previous caller, is that there has been an effort, a concertedffort that has been documented by the Republican Party to exploit black pain. There has always been a white power structureys that has been willingwe to go through wtever it needed to go through to exploit bla pain because it does exist. These same people who haveeen creating commercials t really be able to tap into the frustratns and thehe anger and the disappointment of bla men are the same people who are literallyeading efforts i can takerump in particular. Like, when were talking about the platinum plan, but 80 , 80 of black businesses did not receive any stimulus burglar dollars. Stimulusollars. Sodo i think theres three thin. I think tts one. I think t second is around the discontent. Think the third piece is often times the reason that were doing the work that wereoing is because people dont talk to, that often times folks are not going to listen to what are the concerns in the community. People, i remember we would talk to young men in detroit that said they werent going to vote. We listened to them and asked em, well, what is it that you care about . Really engaged in a conversation with them . They said, give m the paper let me register vote. Part of it is theres a constituency base, i do thi we got caug up in the super theres a group of folks that their issues are not being engaged in. So i do think suddenly, as you said, we want to bring everybody along and really create nation thats going to wk if for all of us. Weve gotot to talk to tse folks, weve got toddress their core issues, rights . We cant overlook it, and we cant justrite off them being with anoer party. Weve got to understand what is that saying to us right now, and i think its saying weve got to do more. Host dave is calling from clarksville, tennessee, on the republican line. Dave, good morning. Caller hello. Your guest who was just talking about racism, did you know that the Late Supreme Court justice rgb, her 160 law clerks, and only one was black. Enough said. Guest im glad he said that, because out of all of the judges that donald trump selected, he did not select a single black person. Not one. Host lets go to paula whos calling from washington, d. C. On the democratic line. Paula, good morning. Caller first and foremost, id like to thank you for your work, your hard work and being diligent and getting us through this election. The one thing i would like to say is that it just, in hindsight were still looking at it, but i feel like it is disheartening still that so many people voted for a man like Donald Trumphe second time around. Thear first timeou kind of accepted tha becauseven though most people knew who he was, you do want to give anyone a fresh start in any endeavor especially if youre low call loyal to your country. But thissecond time, i a not understanding how people,e, especially people of color, could votepe for a candidate suh as donald trump. And i just wanted to hear your thoughts on that. And also just to speak on how you reached o to the younger voters, the 825s 1825s, because they were dengaged in 2016, obviously, and just to speak on that. And ill take the comnt offline. Thank you. Caller thank you so much for at question. You know, part of, i think, part of the problem that we areoing to have tovercome is were going to have toet out of boxes. Were going to have to get out of boxes and labels. Even whe people try to label me, i want my Voting Rights. Thats not a liberal issue. If there is a white male, you wantinyour Voting Rights is not considered liberal if i want a quality education, thats not a liberal agenda. I deserve that. I pay my taxes, i should have access to the same thing that everybody else has. I oft think that what happens is weve got this political paradigmhat were looking at politics, and wre looking at peoples lives as if youe on the red team or the blue team, democrats or republicans. Thbottom line is that im on the i hue panty Team Humanity am. If americans go to wk, they should be able to get paid a fair wage for thebl work. They should really be able to benefit from the fruits of their labor. Im raising this because i think al of us have bee held hostage within this context of what is partisan. And so if youre on this team, youve got toind what is wrong with the oth team instead of having the courage anding being honest about what is right and what is wrong. There areha some things being de even by thisurrent president that is just wrong. It doesntatter whether youre a democrat or republican. Im not saying this because im im saying this because i love humanity. D im a human being. And anytime somebodys putting little children in cages, then something is t fundamentally wrg withdr them. Im not okay with tha i donts care what label you put on me, i will never be oy with that. I am not okay with standing by someone that there are women who came over here seeking asylum, and they were given hysterectomies becse they had a different color passport. So as i do i my work, what i say weve got to shift this whole political paradime with this phrase, ive beenaying it,or the love of humanit before everything weot did. That literally i was making a vote for the love of humanity. I w supporting policy for the love of humanew. What would that look like . I was supporting candidates for thlove of humanit wee have to be crageous. Fundamentally what i think is happening in this country, where we are, where we are right now is we all have beenomplicit, right . The republicans can blame the democrats all day, the democrats can bmes republicans all day, but t bottom line is if covid19 didnt show us anything else, its tt were interconnected, right . On some level what i do is going to impact you and what you do is going to impact me. So i am hoping we will rise above wheree are right now and we will get to the place that we can move beyond these boxes of partisanship and reay focus on making decisions and supporting policies tt are literally going to advan humanity, not just a limited agenda for a limited amount of people. So wrong with everybo having health care . And so,nd in terms of you question related to young people what think happened and its exciting is that we had young people on our team. We were supportin young people. Our work in pennsylvania and pennsylvania was a key election this cycle was led by a young woman, brittany smalls, who is unde the age of 30. We have30 women who ran our work in alabama under the age of 30, the woma who ran our work in louisiana under the age of 30. Unfortunately we are out of time so i really appreciate you coming on and would like to thank latasha brown, founder of black votes of matter but we will have you back on and we