Today is National Black Voter’s Day, and the Hip Hop Club officially began its activities 2024 Respect my vote! Campaign. The campaign goals to mobilize Black and Brown communities ahead of certainly one of the most significant presidential elections in recent history.

Founded in 2008, this nonpartisan initiative engages voters through digital, social and streaming platforms. In addition to registering voters and inspiring them to participate in elections, the initiative also focuses on essential issues affecting marginalized groups, resembling the economy, climate change and environmental justice.

“For the last 16 years, respect my voice! is committed to educating and mobilizing voters of color,” said the Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., president and CEO Hip Hop Club. “We will continue to do this crucial work and help our communities decipher changing voter laws across the country. This election cycle is one of the most important our country has ever faced, and we will do everything we can to make voting accessible to all.”

This yr’s campaign comes at a time of accelerating urgency for voters of color, especially in states where the election was decided by slim vote margins. The Hip Hop Club set a goal of collecting 50,000 voter returns and registering 25,000 latest voters in battleground states like Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

A singular aspect of this yr is the deal with returning residents — individuals who have been incarcerated or had criminal convictions and infrequently mistakenly consider they ever lost the right to vote. The campaign provides resources to assist returning residents navigate the complex voting eligibility laws in their states. Many people could also be eligible to vote but not comprehend it, and this initiative goals to vary that by ensuring that everybody’s voice is heard.

This yr’s efforts are supported by a partnership with GroGroup’s VOTE BET Media initiative, which increases voter engagement across digital and social platforms. The hip-hop club can also be taking its message on to the streets as a part of the nationwide Respect My Vote! Tour, stopping in major cities like Atlanta, Detroit and New York to foster community conversations about voter rights and the importance of the upcoming elections.

For a campaign that has been wildly successful for greater than 15 years, the mission stays clear: to respect the vote and use it as a method to create real, lasting change.

It looks as if every week there is a recent revelation that a white politician has worn blackface previously.

A photo of a British Columbia city councilor dressed as Grammy winner 50 Cent for a Halloween party in 2007 is now circulating on social media.

The photo of Colwood councilor Ian Ward was first published on a private family blog run by his ex-wife got here to light September 13. In addition to his black painted hands and face, Ward appears to have gold teeth and is wearing a Washington Bullets basketball jersey, a gold chain and a wig.

The costume took 45 minutes to finish, in response to a November 2007 blog post that has since been deleted. Archived on the nonprofit Wayback Machine.

“Wednesday was Halloween, so after spending 45 minutes that morning transforming Ian right into a black man with stage paint and giving him a ride to work (it was funny as hell, but scared the shit out of Liam, who cried each time Ian said something to him) , I met up with a bunch of mothers for cookies and coffee, and then all of us dressed up our little ones in costumes and headed to the park to take some cute photos. Liam acted like a monkey and looked absolutely cute…” his ex-wife wrote within the post.

If the photo is not bad enough, Ward’s long apology on his now-deleted account, X attempted to shift the blame elsewhere, portraying himself as a victim of “cowardly anonymous trolls” and citing “cancel culture.” He believes the photo was sent out as a “political” attack after his family blog was hacked and “made public.” It is unclear whether the blog was ever private, and CTV Vancouver News said it was only made public in August 2024.

Ward has openly advocated for Israel for the reason that Hamas attack on October 7 last 12 months, and in a single deleted apology he pointed the finger at “anti-Semitic, anti-law enforcement, left-wing extremists” led by a “local failed musician.” After saying he had reported the alleged burglary to police, he began apologizing, admitting the photo was “embarrassing.”

“I have no defense other than to say that times are changing and people are changing,” he wrote in his statement.

But for the reason that story broke, Ward has kicked his damage control into high gear and is talking to news outlets to clear his name. In an announcement emailed to Black Press Mediawrote: “In the meantime, youars, I have grown significantly as a person, and this episode is not representative of who I am today and how I approach systemic racism and racial issues.”

“While I can honestly say that I had no malice or overt prejudice in my heart at the time, this is still painful for many and I admit my error,” Ward continued. “It’s offensive and shameful. “I apologize to everyone who was directly or indirectly affected by this event,” he said, before promising to “work to be a better person.”

Although blackface still exists, this type of mocking caricature faded throughout the civil rights era, and by 2000 it actually seemed that almost all people understood that it was fallacious. When Time revealed that one other Canadian politician, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he wore blackface several times within the Nineties and early 2000s, when the case got here to light five years ago, a storm broke out.

Ward was elected to Colwood council in 2022, and this just isn’t his first brush with controversy.

The politician has been criticized previously for his inflammatory language against Gaza and Islam. In one, now deleted Post X in December 2023 he wrote: “Islamaphobia = a weak term to defend against legitimate criticism of a backward ideology.”

Municipal spokeswoman Sandra Russell provided an announcement to CTV News Vancouver regarding Ward’s recent blackface incident.

“The City of Colwood does not support City officials making public statements or actions that may be perceived by some as divisive or offensive,” she wrote, adding: “Our Code of Ethics directs us to be respectful in all interactions and to guard personal dignity, self-esteem and the great of others.”

However, she confirmed to the news website that no punitive measures can be taken against the councilor since the photo “was taken in Coun.” Ward’s personal capability, not his communal capability.”