Dear MoveOn member,
“We encourage everyone to go and register to vote. Now. Today. If you truly believe that Black Lives Matter, then vote.” - WNBA statement, August 26, 20201
The world hasn’t been the same since May 25, 2020 when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on the neck of an unarmed George Floyd for nearly nine minutes, killing him. This came on the heels of the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Aubrey, two unarmed Black people killed by the police and a former law enforcement official, respectively. The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013, after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who killed an unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and in the seven years since, has grown to a global movement that seeks to fundamentally restructure race and justice, not only in the U.S. but across the globe. Black Lives Matter has grown to be one of the strongest, most effective social movements of all time, winning the support of elected officials, entertainers, academics, sports icons, and people of all races.
This week, we commemorate the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. We’ve come so far since 1963, even electing our first Black president (who accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination on the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington), but events over the past seven years, and especially in 2020, have made many of us realize that we still have so far to go. With COVID-19 disproportionately impacting Black and brown communities, massive evictions looming, and a racial uprising, it’s easy to believe things might not be much better than they were in 1963. But we can’t give up hope.
We’re seeing people rise up and take to the streets, the internet, and risk their jobs all in the name of Black freedom and justice. Just this week, we’ve seen players in the WNBA, NBA, and in MLB use their influence to strike and postpone playoff games in order to bring attention and awareness to the unjust murders and shootings of Black people by agents of the state. Four years ago, Colin Kaepernick began his peaceful protest, and it ended up costing him his job. Many other everyday, non-sports icons have risked their livelihoods and their physical and mental health in the struggle for Black liberation, and we cannot allow those sacrifices to have been made in vain.
This November, we are facing the most important election of our lifetimes. There is too much at risk to sit at home and not make our voices heard at the ballot box. Art is a powerful tool. Which is why MoveOn has partnered with Amplifier Art and cutting-edge artists to inspire young voters, people of color, and first-time voters to make their voices heard by voting.
As the 2020 primary elections have shown us, voter suppression is still very much alive and well. Add a global pandemic on top, and you’ve got the makings of a disaster for democracy. This election is about more than keeping incumbents in office or replacing them with new people; it’s about voting our values. We’re going to the polls to say that Black lives matter, love is love, and health care is a human right.
As Martin Luther King Jr. said in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington:2
“We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality…. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Click here to get the new free “Be the Vote” sticker.
Thanks for all you do.
–Mary, Evelyn, Avery, Michael, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "WNBA players join Bucks in protest; Wednesday games postponed in aftermath of Jacob Blake shooting in Kenosha," CBS Sports, August 26, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/143119?t=12&akid=272456%2E40999114%2EYUQyPn
2. "'I Have a Dream,' Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom," The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, accessed August 26, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/143120?t=14&akid=272456%2E40999114%2EYUQyPn
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