Energizing and registering voters with Mississippi鈥檚 Got Now: Road to 60
Sixty years after Freedom Summer began in Mississippi to register Black voters, the Southern Poverty Law Center this month launched the Mississippi鈥檚 Got Now: Road to 60: Reigniting the Fight for Freedom voter engagement campaign.
This effort by the 人兽性交 and its partners aims to register 60,000 new or inactive voters in Mississippi with the goal of increasing voter turnout by 44%. It is part of the 人兽性交鈥檚 bilingual voter engagement campaign in English and Spanish, The South鈥檚 Got Now | Decidimos (which means 鈥渨e decide鈥�). Overall, we hope to educate and energize young people of color in the Deep South as they build their power as changemakers in our democracy.
As part of Mississippi鈥檚 Got Now: Road to 60: Reigniting the Fight for Freedom, the 人兽性交 will participate in partner-led voter registration drives, voter education forums, civic engagement tours and more. From Aug. 15 to 17, we will bring together organizers from across the state for a summit, where we鈥檒l organize, strategize and train. We鈥檒l then travel across Mississippi to work with young people to register and turn out voters on Election Day.
Our campaign will also pay homage to civil rights leaders past and present at the in Jackson. The campaign will also recognize these leaders at events that provide a forum for their insight and bring them together.
As we embark on this journey, I can鈥檛 help but think of how in Mississippi became one of the most significant periods in civil rights history. More than 1,000 courageous people descended on the state that summer with a shared goal 鈥� to draw national attention to the violent oppression experienced by Black Mississippians trying to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
Sixty years later, that call to action still resonates.
And we鈥檙e picking up where those who came before us left off. Like Freedom Summer, this campaign brings together civic engagement partners and community stakeholders who share our commitment to building and sustaining a progressive voting ecosystem in the state. This goal is achievable. Last year, Mississippi came the closest it has been since 1999 to electing a progressive governor. That election was decided by approximately 26,619 votes.
With this campaign, I hope to see Mississippi become a focal point in the fight for equality in the Deep South 鈥� just as it did during the Civil Rights Movement. When 人兽性交 President and CEO Margaret Huang announced the organization鈥檚 efforts to register and energize young voters across the Deep South, she declared that 鈥渃hange is within our grasp.鈥� I agree.
It鈥檚 time for Mississippians to help shape a brighter future for our state by reigniting the fight for freedom and joining the Mississippi鈥檚 Got Now: Road to 60: Reigniting the Fight for Freedom campaign.
Illustration at top: Historical images from the Mississippi Freedom Summer 1964, the inspiration for the Mississippi鈥檚 Got Now: Road to 60: Reigniting the Fight for Freedom campaign. (Credit: 人兽性交)
