Anderson@Large

Joy to the Polls

As a long-time voting rights advocate, it was a joy to drop off my mail-in ballot at the City Commissioners satellite election office on Saturday during a pop-up party organized by Joy to the Polls.

The satellite office is in the former Fays Theatre, a storied venue where jazz greats, including Duke Ellington, performed. City officials likely don’t know the history of the building.

The party will continue on Tuesday, October 29 with Party to the Polls Purple Tour in City Hall Courtyard. There will be yoga, breakfast and pole dancers, as well as Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and KJ Martin of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Voters can drop off their ballot at the official drop box or vote on a voting machine in City Hall, Room 140.

From now until Election Day, voters will “form a big strong line” at polling places around the country. In battleground states, they will be dancing in the street in Philadelphia, PA and the Motor City.

Countdown to Election Day 2024

We are in the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election. Early voting is already underway. As of October 19, 2024, 13,042,952 votes have been cast nationwide, according to the Early Voter Tracker. The count includes in-person early votes in battleground states:

• Arizona: 323,720
• Georgia: 1,200,550
• Michigan: 1,005,743
• Nevada: 15,857
• North Carolina: 777,835
• Pennsylvania: 787,900
• Wisconsin: 305,344

With the polls neck and neck, every vote matters. Remember, polls don’t count. It’s the people—you—who decide the outcome. So, make a plan to vote.

Your vote is your voice. Make some noise.

National Voter Registration Day 2024

In the sprint to Election Day, you will be told the 2024 Election is the most consequential election since, well, the last presidential election. This election lives up to the hype. The choice is between going back or embracing hope and opportunity.

National Voter Registration Day, the country’s largest single-day voter registration drive, is September 17, 2024. Since 2012, more than five million Americans have been registered to vote on this civic holiday.

Your vote matters. If it didn’t, conservatives would not be trying every trick in the book to block access to the ballot box. You can register to vote here.

If you are already registered, confirm your status to make sure you are #VoteReady. On Election Day, be careful how you vote.

National Voter Registration Day 2023

In the coming months, you will be told the 2024 Election is the most consequential election since, well, the last presidential election. The hype notwithstanding, the right to vote is the right that secures all other rights. If voting didn’t matter, conservatives would not try to block access to the ballot box.

National Voter Registration Day, the country’s largest single-day voter registration drive, is September 19, 2023. Since 2012, more than five million Americans have been registered to vote on this civic holiday.

Your vote matters. You can register to vote here. If you are already registered, check your status to make sure you are #VoteReady. And on Election Day, be careful how you vote.

March on Washington: 60 Years Later

Thousands gathered in the nation’s capitol to mark the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Organizers said the march was “not a commemoration, but a continuation” of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The march was convened by Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network and Martin Luther King III, board chairman of the Drum Major Institute. Co-Chairs include the NAACP, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and the National Urban League.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has on display the original three-page “I Have a Dream” speech that Dr. King delivered on August 28, 1963. NMAAHC Director Kevin Young said:

The words of all its speakers resonate six decades later, and we serve as witnesses to the bravery and dedication of its organizers. To be able to show visitors the copy of the “I Have a Dream” speech King read and improvised from while at the podium is an honor and privilege.

Dr. King’s speech will be on display until September 18, 2023 in NMAAHC’s Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation 1876–1968 Gallery.

Election Day 2022

The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on February 3, 1870. Section 1 of the Reconstruction Amendment reads:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 8. Be careful how you vote.

Pass the CROWN Act

March is Women’s History Month. The Bible says a woman’s hair is her crown and glory. But for Black women, their natural hair is vilified. The current debate over natural hair has its roots in slavery. First enacted in 1786, Tignon laws forced free and enslaved Black women to cover their hair.

Fast forward to today, Black hair is still policed. Black people face discrimination and micro-aggressions because of the hair that grows naturally from their head and how they choose to style it.

One of the earliest challenges to modern Tignon customs happened in 1987. Cheryl Tatum was a cashier at Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Virginia. The personnel director, Betty McDermott, told Tatum to unbraid her hair because company policy banned “extreme and unusual hair styles.” McDermott said:

I can't understand why you would want to wear your hair like that anyway. What would the guests think if we allowed you all to wear your hair like that?

Afros are protected under the Civil Rights Act. But if a Black woman wore a regal updo, she could face hair discrimination in all but eight states.

Viewed through the white gaze, natural hair is considered “unkempt” and “unprofessional.” But it’s not just Black women. Black men and Black children also face hair discrimination. A Black teenager was told to cut his dreadlocks or forfeit a wrestling match.

Beyoncé won 2021 Grammy for Best R&B Performance for “Black Parade.” A Black woman or girl could face hair discrimination for wearing the natural hair styles depicted in her music video.

Black voters delivered the White House and the Senate majority to Democrats. They should deliver for Black people and end hair discrimination by passing the CROWN Act, Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.

For more information, visit The Crown Act.