WATCH: BLACK FUTURES NOW: How To Really Earn The Black Vote
Black Futures Now honorees Alicia Garza, Maisie Brown, and Alphonso David discuss what's needed this election season.
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00:00 We are in a really tough spot in keeping young people engaged and motivated with the candidates
00:08 and the people that we have in power right now because a lot of us just want to segue and just
00:13 do our own thing. They're like, "Okay, this system is messed up. These folks don't care.
00:18 These folks are old and sitting in their ways. Why don't we just do something else on our own?"
00:22 And so I think that if y'all don't want a huge revolution of folks just going to their own way,
00:28 there has to be some type of accountability system and material form of our views
00:35 and our opinions actually being accounted for in the policymaking process.
00:38 Hello, everyone. I am Raina Reid-Rayford, a contributing news editor at Essence magazine.
00:51 I am so excited to be here. It's Black History Month, and at Essence,
00:56 we're celebrating with our inaugural Black Futures Now list, which highlights select
01:01 changemakers across the country who are fighting for our economic and racial justice.
01:06 We have three of our honorees and formidable Black activists here with us today.
01:11 Macy Brown, who was named College Woman of the Year by Glamour magazine.
01:16 Alphonso David, nationally recognized LGBTQ civil rights lawyer, who is the president and CEO of the
01:23 Global Black Economic Forum. And Alicia Garza, co-creator of the Black Lives Matter movement
01:30 and the Black Lives Matter Global Network, in addition to being the founder of the Black Futures
01:34 Lab. Thank you for joining. So let's jump right into it. And first up, this question is for all
01:42 of you. What gives you hope about our Black future? For me, what gives me hope about our Black future
01:50 is that I work with a lot of young people every single day. I'm constantly talking to high school
01:57 kids. I'm constantly in schools. I'm on a college campus. A lot of my peers and a lot of the kids I
02:03 talk to are not okay with 99% of what's going on in the world. And it doesn't just stop with them
02:10 not being okay with it. They have so many goals and aspirations of being in the positions to have
02:16 the power to change what they really, really dislike and don't think is fair in this country.
02:21 And so I think that my generation has a lot of energy. We have a lot of really innovative ideas.
02:28 We are more global thinkers, I think, than a lot of our parents or grandparents are. And we're not
02:35 afraid to really push the boundaries of what is deemed acceptable or what we think could happen
02:42 in a country like the United States. And so I think that we're really energized to do what we
02:46 have to do to get the results of what we want. Oh, I'm obsessed with you, Macy. And I could not
02:53 agree more. One of the things that I think is so important about the way that we have kind of
03:01 shaped this globe is our imagination and the innovation that we bring to every major social
03:09 issue that there is. There's no issue happening on this planet that has not been impacted and
03:16 influenced by Black folks and our, not only our creativity, but our courage to imagine something
03:23 new. And not just imagine it, but to fight for it and to be at the front of the line fighting,
03:30 not just for us, but for everybody. I couldn't agree more with Macy and Alicia about where we
03:36 are. I'm really hopeful about our Black future for a lot of reasons. First, we often talk about
03:46 this, but I think it, particularly at this moment, the resilience of our community,
03:52 despite the ongoing attacks against us, inspires hope for me. Second, I think there is a growth
04:01 in Black-owned businesses and there continues to be new barriers that we break across industries,
04:09 which is really tangible proof of our progress. Another is Black voters. Alicia does this day in
04:17 and day out. Black voters continue to serve as a major bellwether, I think, in key electoral races
04:24 across the country. And in this time of challenge that we confront in so many different spheres,
04:31 there's an increased willingness of leaders across organizations to really collaborate
04:36 and advance equity. So for those and many other reasons, I am very hopeful about Black future.
04:42 Great. So Alphonso, you just referenced investing in and supporting Black businesses
04:48 and also the tools that grant access. So in the back of my mind, that makes me think,
04:53 buy Black, but what are other actionable steps that we can take on a day-to-day basis?
04:59 So there was a report issued last year from SCORE. It's in partnership with the Small
05:04 Business Administration. And it talked about Black business owners and specifically that
05:10 there was a reported 23% uptick in annual revenue growth, twice as fast as overall businesses in the
05:19 U.S. So Black-owned businesses, small Black-owned businesses, also added employees, doubled the rate
05:26 of other U.S. businesses. So buy Black is certain critical, but I think we should also acknowledge
05:33 our collective impact in mentoring young Black entrepreneurs, participating in local community
05:40 initiatives, advocating for policies that support minority-owned businesses, advocating policies
05:47 that support minority-women-owned businesses. And to that end, as some folks may know,
05:54 the Global Black Economic Forum entered into a partnership with the National Minority Supplier
06:00 Development Council. And that's an organization that certifies minority-owned businesses so they
06:05 can do business with government, with the private sector. And we entered into a partnership with
06:11 them to support entrepreneurs and business owners and those business leaders to make sure that they
06:17 have increased access to opportunities and information and networks and capital and
06:22 training. And the partnership is going to amplify the resources that are available to them
06:27 and break down the barriers that we're seeing in the supply diversity space.
06:31 And that's incredibly important. And I also think that each day we can do certain things within our
06:39 own individual capacities to support and amplify Black entrepreneurs, Black businesses, both in
06:46 terms of products and services that exist in our communities. Speaking of reports,
06:51 Felicia, the Black Census Project organized the largest census of Black people in history. Can
06:58 you tell us more about how the data from that informed the organization's Black voter agenda
07:03 ahead of this year's presidential election? Absolutely. Well, first of all, we are so proud
07:09 of us, right, for making the Black Census the largest survey of Black people ever conducted
07:16 in American history. And we're really proud of it because it really reflects the diversity of
07:21 our communities. We didn't just talk to activists. We didn't just talk to Black people who are
07:26 already engaged. We talked to Black people from every demographic that you can possibly imagine.
07:31 One of the things that is so important about the Black Census is that it really gives us a snapshot
07:37 of keeping a pulse on our community and what we care about at any given moment. And we do a lot
07:43 of other polling and data collection from our folks all year round, right? So we really are
07:50 able to also compare and contrast what were people feeling and thinking in 2023 and what are people
07:57 thinking in January, what are people thinking in February. And I'll tell you, across all those
08:02 polls, across the Black Census, the number one issue that keeps Black communities up at night
08:09 are economic issues, wages that are too low to support a family, access to being able to be a
08:16 part of a union. We're also looking at people who are increasingly a part of the app economy, right?
08:25 And looking at the cross influence of wages and working conditions, right? Being classified as
08:32 independent contractors when actually you're doing a lot more work than that and you should get paid
08:37 for that. And so one of the things that is important to us is that when we go out and talk
08:42 to Black voters in rural communities, in small communities, folks who are 35 to 55, folks who
08:50 might have voted once in the last four election cycles, we're not talking to people about support
08:56 the Democrat or support the Republican. We're talking to people about the issues that are
09:00 impacting them every single day. We're talking to folks who are upset about fines and fees,
09:06 getting nickel and dimed, right, all the time, not being able to access services because you have a
09:12 warrant, because you couldn't pay fines, right? These things are important to Black voters.
09:16 And unfortunately, far too often, people who are seeking political office don't talk to our
09:24 communities about the things we care about. They talk about the things they think we care about,
09:29 right? You know, they want to talk to us about criminal justice reform, which is really important,
09:35 but that is an economic issue. And oftentimes candidates and politicians aren't making that
09:40 connection. And so I think it's necessary that we kind of shape all that into the policies that we
09:48 want to fight for. Yes, it is about Black businesses. It's also about structural equity,
09:54 right, and making sure that the rules are set up and designed for Black people to thrive and to get
10:00 ahead and not be left out and not be left behind. That's why this year we are creating a Black
10:06 economic agenda that we are taking out to Black voters that is designed from the data in the Black
10:12 Census Project. And we're talking about everything from care and caregiving as an economic issue,
10:19 health care and housing as an economic issue, wages and the right to organize in a union as
10:25 an economic issue. And those are the things that are getting people motivated to stand in long
10:31 lines, be asked for ID just to be able to contribute to our democracy. And we look forward
10:38 to engaging in this with all of you. So last thing I'll say is thank you to all the people
10:44 who contributed to the Black Census. Because of you, we now know that Black voters and Black
10:50 communities across the country will have our voices heard and we need your help. So look out
10:55 for the Black economic agenda coming very soon and take it out to your community. Take it to
11:00 your family. Talk about that over the dinner table and make sure that what's in that economic agenda
11:07 is enough to make you think, "So the people who want my vote, how do I push them to make sure
11:13 they're not just appealing to me on a cultural level?" I don't want you to do the latest dance
11:18 craze. I don't want to see your TikTok dance. I want to know what you're going to do to put money
11:22 in my pocket, keep a roof over my head and make sure my family is safe and can make decisions
11:28 for ourselves. So in addition to the economy, recent polls also show that youth ages 18 to 34
11:37 are viewing climate change as an issue of great concern during this election cycle.
11:43 So Maisie, your response to the ongoing water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, where you organized
11:48 efforts to deliver drinking water to residents who couldn't get to distribution centers,
11:53 reminded many of us that advocacy truly does start at home. So how do we ensure that people
12:00 feel heard and what are ways to better support local efforts? So right now in Jackson, quick
12:08 overview for folks who don't know, there was a period of time in 2022 where folks did not have
12:14 access to clean water. As in water was not pumping. If it did pump, it was brown or black,
12:19 or it was very, very light. We had a ton of folks who were just going without, you could not cook
12:28 with it. You could not, you know, if you didn't live or you had a car and could spare an hour or
12:33 two to wait in line for maybe a case or two of water, it was a really dire situation. And so
12:39 one of the biggest issues that we had is that people wanted to support the efforts that were
12:45 happening, but they didn't know where to start. They didn't know what the reputable organizations
12:50 were. They didn't know who the reputable people that were there to send money, to send resources.
12:57 And so I think that when it comes to local efforts, one thing that we as local organizers
13:02 have to do better of is coming to one consensus and dialing back on just a large scale, hey,
13:10 we need help, but giving people actionable steps as to what they can do. And so for me,
13:15 noticing that so many folks wanted to help, but didn't know where to start, I created a Twitter
13:20 thread. So I created a thread of all the reputable organizations, all the reputable folks you could
13:26 trust, folks who were sending proof of what was being purchased and what was being given out.
13:30 And so I think that as local organizers, something for us to do is to make sure that we're all on
13:36 the same page. We want to make sure that our messaging is the same. We want to put out the
13:40 same newsletters with the same organizations, with the same people, because it's very hard to get
13:46 help than direct aid streamlined when folks have nowhere to really turn to. And so when we talk
13:52 about making sure that folks' voices are heard, one of the things we have to do first is to show up.
13:57 At the Mississippi State Capitol right now, there are a lot of laws that are being pushed through
14:04 committee rooms that are being argued on the floor, and those galleries are not full of regular
14:10 people. Those committee rooms are not overflowing into the hallways. Most folks here do not know
14:16 what happens until it's on the governor's desk ready to be signed. And so I understand social
14:21 media as a platform to voice our concerns, and that's something that I use all the time.
14:27 But when it's time to show up, we have to physically be there. They have to see people
14:32 care. They have to answer your questions in the hallways or once they get out of those galleries.
14:37 They have to see people have a genuine concern and have questions for them, because far too often
14:43 they're able to go through this entire process not having to answer to anybody. And so when we
14:49 talk about wanting to make sure our voices are heard, first we have to show up. Second, we have
14:53 to follow up. Those legislators have to respond back to you at some point. They can't ignore you
14:59 for so long, however many times you have to come up there. And so once you bring that issue to them,
15:03 they say, "Well, I'll get back to you. I'll have this person get back to you." Follow up two weeks
15:08 later and say, "I thought you were getting back to me. What did you come to? What conclusion did
15:12 you come to? As a voting constituent who got you here, that's helping to pay for you to be here,
15:18 what are you going to do about the issues that I care about?" And I think that if us as a community
15:23 decided what those issues are that we're really going to push, that we're going to show up to
15:28 the city council meetings. We shouldn't just show up to the city council meeting when it's something,
15:32 some type of spectacle, when it's something really, really interesting happening, going on.
15:36 Everything day-to-day that affects you should be something that's a little interesting. And so I
15:41 think that we have to first show up. We as an organization, I work for a non-profit voting
15:48 organization here in Jackson. We have to keep educating people. We have to keep registering
15:53 people. A lot of folks just don't know how impactful our presence is. A lot of folks don't
15:58 know just how impactful our vote is. And I think that we really get those things highlighted for
16:04 folks and easy to understand that we'll see a lot more people confident in showing up and voicing
16:10 their concerns and asking questions and really holding the people in office accountable. Because
16:15 that's really the most important thing, especially we can do in a state like Mississippi right now.
16:19 Come on. So unfortunately, this has to be our last question. It's a bit of a mouthful. So
16:28 what is the best way to find out which candidates? And I hope there's at least one
16:35 at the local and federal levels that are advocating for the issues we've discussed here
16:40 today, because these days it can seem like political campaigns are all boiling down
16:45 to talking points and soundbites. How can we determine if a candidate's actually going to
16:50 walk the walk that they talked about during their campaign? And what's something we can do to ensure
16:55 that the narrative is going to match the policies that we want so that we can ensure that when we
17:01 do get to the table, our voices are heard. What should we be doing besides showing up at the polls
17:06 on voting day? Well, I know here in Mississippi on our legislative website, you can look at every
17:11 single legislator and see exactly what bills they've introduced at any point in the process.
17:18 For me, I'm looking at what are you talking about? What are you caring about? Are you even writing
17:22 bills? Are you just voting gay or nay? What are you doing? And so I don't feel like we do a good
17:27 enough job of keeping a track record of what folks are actually doing at the Capitol for those few
17:31 months. And so one step I know here, and I'm sure the websites are very similar in other states,
17:37 who are these legislators? Where are they from? What types of bills are they introducing?
17:42 What are their votes on certain bills? What are they supporting? I think that campaigns are
17:48 important. It's important to see what people care about before they get elected. What are people
17:53 doing while they are there? And I think that despite just showing up at polls, again, like
17:57 showing up at the Capitol, we have to say, are you worthy of being reelected? What have you done in
18:02 the past two years? What have you accomplished in the past four years? What bills have you
18:07 co-sponsored? What bills have you written? How have you positively impacted this district? If the answer
18:12 is nothing, that should make the answer kind of clear. And so I think that we just, we have to
18:17 start asking questions. I mean, I went to a committee meeting today, they got done with
18:21 a presentation and nobody had any questions. I had 10 within the first 15 minutes, because I'm
18:26 trying to see why is nobody questioning this? Why does nobody, is nobody think this is a little
18:30 sketchy? So I think that so much keeps being able to happen in front of our faces without any pushback,
18:38 which is why it seems like it's so easy to do. So go to your legislative websites, see who your
18:42 legislator is, first of all. A lot of folks don't know who represents them. Find out who that is.
18:47 Look at the legislation that they're sponsoring, that they're writing, that they're supporting, and
18:52 hold them to the stake for it. Because they assume you don't understand the bill making process in
18:57 general. So make sure you understand that and you hold them to the stake for it. And I think that
19:02 right now we are in a really tricky place when we talk about progressive legislation and policy
19:10 and engaging young folks for us to still care about what's going on, because a lot that's going
19:15 on we don't agree with. And so I honestly feel like we are in a really tough spot in keeping
19:23 young people engaged and motivated with the candidates and the people that we have in power
19:30 right now, because a lot of us just want to segue and just do our own thing. They're like, "Okay,
19:35 this system is messed up. These folks don't care. These folks are old and sitting in their ways.
19:40 Why don't we just do something else on our own?" And so I think that if y'all don't want a huge
19:45 revolution of folks just going to their own way, there has to be some type of accountability system
19:52 and material form of our views and our opinions actually being accounted for in the policymaking
19:58 process. Everything she said and more. What I will say that just to add to what Macy just said,
20:06 which was so artfully outlined, as we think about, and Alicia mentioned this before,
20:12 as we think about what we care about and what we actual, what affects our lives,
20:18 this is about economic opportunity and economic justice. When Martin Luther King gave a speech
20:24 on the March on Washington, the wage gap was eight to one between black and white. Today is 12 to one.
20:31 So the gap continues to increase. And as we think about an electoral season,
20:39 check out the candidates' platforms, participate in town halls, candidate forums, ask about their
20:46 platforms around economic justice, around closing the racial wealth gap. Stay civically engaged
20:53 outside of elections, right? Because if you vote, but you don't hold them accountable,
20:58 then that becomes a separate issue. And there's a stark representation gap between black elected
21:05 officials and those who are not actually representing our communities. So we need to
21:11 think about the values that we're seeking to be reflected in our elected officials and make sure
21:17 that we vote for people who are reflective of our values and we hold them accountable when
21:23 they don't deliver. I agree. And I think there's a lot of things that we can do. I always say that
21:34 what really matters is what happens the day after the election. Right. So voting is not enough. And
21:41 we all know that voting is one thing that we do to flex our power. But if we were going to channel
21:49 our ancestors, right, the one thing we know that these folks did was they kept their foot on
21:54 people's necks all the time. They did not let up. And so there's lots of ways for you to not let up.
22:01 You can go to committee meetings or you can not. You can go to town halls or you cannot. You can
22:05 stay in conversation. You can send letters, do phone calls. But the main thing is to stay engaged.
22:12 I think sometimes we think about politics like it's a snack machine, right? And you put your
22:18 quarter in, you press B12 and then you get your Snickers and then that's it. But that's not really
22:23 how it works. And the way that we know that is because our enemies, right? And the people who
22:28 don't want us to have the things that we need, they also are standing on business and they don't
22:33 let up. Not for a second. Even when they lost, even when they lost in 2022, they just regrouped,
22:40 right? Cause they really know that they want to keep their power. So if we want to keep our power,
22:46 we really have to like, take this approach that, um, we don't keep our foot on their necks,
22:52 no matter what, like we not going nowhere, no matter what y'all try to do, no matter what y'all
22:56 try to say. Last thing I'll offer here. I know that politics is not inspiring. And I know that
23:03 we want somebody to inspire us the way that Barack Obama inspired us, some of us, right?
23:08 But the truth of the matter is politics is the business of making rules and changing rules.
23:14 And it's not always exciting, but I can tell you this, um, abstaining does not change anything
23:21 that's happening in this country. Sometimes we mix up the boycotts, right? That folks did to
23:28 put pressure on companies to do better by us with boycotting democracy and boycotting democracy.
23:36 All that does is it leaves more space for your opponents to do what they want, how they want,
23:42 when they want, just ask Macy, what's going on over there in Jackson, Mississippi. These people
23:48 over here are like, Oh, I don't want you to participate. I hope you don't please stay home.
23:53 Please be nihilistic about it. Please don't think that you can change anything because we are over
23:59 here changing stuff while y'all feel like you can't change anything. So abstaining is not a
24:04 strategy, right? Um, I do think that for some of us that do this work all the time, um, you know,
24:12 we, we hope right. That our friends, our neighbors, our family members would do the same work that
24:18 we do. And I think the truth of the matter is lots of people don't, but you can govern like
24:25 in your community. That's what, you know, neighborhood councils do. That's what neighborhood
24:29 watches do, right? It's like regular people coming together to make rules for themselves.
24:34 And so you can do that as well. And then you can transfer that to the people that you give your
24:39 vote to like, Hey, check this out. I gave you my vote, but I'm on your neck. I'm on your neck
24:46 every single day. And what that means to me is you're going to earn my vote. You're going to
24:51 earn my vote by showing me what you do when you're passing rules. I'm also going to show up and
24:56 propose some rules that I want you to move. We have a policy Institute where we train our people,
25:02 how to make the rules. You don't got to wait for somebody else to do the things you want,
25:06 come and learn the rules so you can make the rules and then change how the system works.
25:10 So people don't get left behind. So those are three concrete things you can do. Don't sit out,
25:15 politics is not a snack machine. You got to keep your foot on the next.
25:20 And if you don't like what's going on in the white house, that's cool. I don't like it either.
25:24 If you don't like what's going on in your state house, that's cool. I don't like it either. If
25:27 you don't like what's going on in your city council, that's cool. I don't like it either,
25:30 but you know, you can also be a part of governance by making the rules and changing the rules.
25:35 You can either run for office or right. You can bring the policies that you want and move those
25:41 things through committees all the way up to your governor or your mayor, and then keep your foot
25:45 on the next to sleep outside the house. You go sign this bill because this is what's going to
25:50 feed my family. That was four ways. Congratulations again to our Black Futures Now honorees.
26:03 And thank you so much, Maisie, Alfonso, and Alicia for joining us. And thank you Essence for tuning
26:10 in.