How do you actually win the black vote? ESSENCE’s Black Futures Now contest winners remind us that flattery doesn’t work

This Black History Month, three of our inaugural Black Futures Now honorees joined ESSENCE on a panel to debate voters’ issues in the next presidential election yr.

Maisie Brown is organizing efforts to offer drinking water in response to the ongoing water crisis in Jackson, Missouri, and was named College Woman of the Year by Glamor magazine. Alphonso David is a nationally recognized LGBTQ civil rights lawyer and president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum. Alicia Garza is co-founder of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and Black Lives Matter Global Network and founding father of Black Futures Lab.

What gives our changemakers hope for the future, and particularly the Black agenda, in the context of this yr’s 2024 presidential election?

As someone who works with young people daily, Brown says she and her peers “don’t agree with 99% of what’s going on in the world.” But they should not satisfied with stagnation and lamentation on this state – “my generation has quite a lot of energy. We have quite a lot of really modern ideas. We think globally and really have the energy to do whatever we want to do to get the results we would like.”

Garza echoed this sentiment, stating that “one of the things that I think is so important about the way we have shaped this world is our imagination and the innovation that we bring to every major social issue. There is no problem on this planet that is not impacted by Black people, and not only our creativity, but also our courage to imagine something new, and not just imagine it, but to fight for it and be at the front of the line We fight not only for us, but for everyone.”

David said he was “truly hopeful for many reasons: firstly, because of the resilience of our community despite the constant attacks against us. Secondly, I think there has been an increase in the number of Black-owned businesses, which is really tangible evidence of our progress. Another is Black voters, who continue to play a key motivator in key election races across the country. During this challenging time, leaders across organizations are showing a greater willingness to truly collaborate and advance equality.”

When it comes to selecting the right candidate and what we are able to do beyond going to the polls on Election Day, our panelists gave us specific guidelines to use on the ground.

Brown wants you to “visit your legislators’ websites, see who your legislator is, and look at the legislation that they sponsor, that they write, that they support, and put them on the line for it.”

For David, all of it comes right down to “economic opportunity and economic justice.” “We need to think about the values ​​that we try to reflect in our elected officials and make sure that we vote for people who reflect our values ​​and hold them accountable when they don’t deliver.” By remaining “civicly engaged beyond the election” by attending town halls and candidate forums, you can “hold them accountable.”

“Don’t sit. Politics is not a snack machine,” Garza concluded emphatically. “You have to keep your foot on their necks. And if you don’t like what’s going on… I don’t like it either. But you can also be part of governance, creating rules and changing them. You can either run for office or you can put forward the policies that you want and take those things through committees all the way to the governor or the mayor and say, “You have to sign this bill.” Because this will feed my family.”