The biggest lesson for us in this cycle
is much like the last. We must push back
on what donors and others outside our
community tell us are markers of success
for bringing Black men into the fold of
electoral politics.
They constantly tell us that dierent
markers mean success, and we see time
after time that these aren’t true markers of
sustained success, nor are they helpful for
us trying to build long-term change. It is
more critical to the integrity of our work that
we work with donors who understand this.
And donors who want to be in a learning
community with us for our ideas which
come from the expertise of doing this work
day in and day out, not from some poll that
is incapable of genuinely capturing the
sentiments of Black men.
We continue to work towards giving
Black men a voice, not the Black man
that traditionally shows up in our electoral
process. We are talking about brothers who
have never seen their issues centered; we
are talking about brothers who don’t see
themselves in the values of those appointed
(by people outside of our communities)
to be spokespeople. We focus solely on
increasing Black men’s participation in civic
life. Every time it is successful, it is that
work that advances racial and social justice;
we know the more Black men participate
in electoral politics, the more advocates we
will have for our community.
What we would share with other groups
doing this work in this space is to find their
North Star and work hard to understand it
better than most, work towards achieving
it, and stay true to that work. Don’t change
course with the intent of grabbing a lot of
resources. Allow your work to attract the
resources of those that are particularly
interested in achieving the same goal as
your organization.
Black Male Voter Project
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