All posts in Voting Access
Social Media as a Tool to Mobilize Communities of Color
How can social media tools be used to engage and mobilize low-income communities of color?
As the world of social media continues to grow, more and more community-based organizations are seeking answers to this question.
Having recently attended a free social media training for non-profit organizations in addition to speaking with some of our grant recipients about their use of new media, I have found a growing number of groups establishing a voice and space within the social media sphere. Furthermore, some groups, like the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and ColorofChange.org, two Kapor Foundation grant recipients, are figuring out creative ways of using new technologies to engage and organize communities of color around voter participation.
The Shift of Race and Class in the SF Bay Area
The latest volume of Race, Poverty, and the Environment: the National Journal for Social and Environmental Justice published by Urban Habitat is an important must-read of the month. It includes a wealth of information on some of the most pressing issues affecting communities of color locally and nationally.
In this issue you will find discussions on the changing landscape of race and class within Bay Area cities and suburbs, the increasing wealth gap, local job creation and redevelopment plans, and what all of this means for social justice organizing in the Bay Area.
Many Kapor Foundation grant recipients contributed to the journal, including: María Poblet of Causa Justa :: Just Cause who writes Challenging the Wealth Gap with New Majority Organizing; and Andrew Dadko and Rui Bing Zheng of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE) who write The Fight for Good Jobs and Clean Air at the Port of Oakland.
Wrap Up of “The Word on Election RAP: Why It Matters and How We Can Engage”
This past Wednesday, the Kapor Foundation hosted “The Word on Election R.A.P.: Why It Matters and How We Can Engage,” a briefing about the importance of election reform, administration, and protection (RAP) issues on low-income communities of color in California.
Held at the Public Policy Institute of California, the event included the perspectives of leaders from community-based organizing, civil rights and “good government” groups, as well as elections administration officials. Panelists and moderators included:
The Word on Election R.A.P.: Why it Matters and How
This week we’re gearing up for and looking forward to our upcoming briefing, The Word on Election R.A.P. (election reform, administration and protection): Why it Matters and how we can Engage, happening this Wednesday in San Francisco.
The Word on Election RAP: Why It Matters and How We Can Engage will be an opportunity to define and discuss the impact and importance of election reform, administration and protection issues on low-income communities of color, particularly in California. This briefing brings together community-based organizing leaders with leaders from civil rights and “good government” groups as well as election officials to explore the possibilities, challenges and needs of communities of color to monitor, influence, and provide leadership around how elections are run.
Changes in the New Year
Like many, I’ve looked at the arrival of 2012 with a sense of unease, knowing that the turbulence of a potentially nasty election season will soon begin in earnest. Then I had the good fortune to read a blog post by author and ideas man Seth Godin, The Chance of a Lifetime (thanks for the tip, Shawn Dove!):
A friend asked me the other day, “…given the sorry state of so much in the world, what’s possible to look forward to?” The state isn’t sorry. It’s wide open. Interest rates are super low, violence is close to an all time low, industries are being remade and there’s more leverage for the insurgent outsider than ever before in history. The status quo is taking a beating, there’s no question about it. That’s what makes it a revolution...
So stop thinking about how crazy the times are, and start thinking about what the crazy times demand. There has never been a worse time for business as usual. Business as usual is sure to fail, sure to disappoint, sure to numb our dreams. That’s why there has never been a better time for the new. (Read more here).
I’m excited by “the new” in 2012 here at the Kapor Foundation! We’re shifting some of our program priorities to better align with other areas of work underway at the Kapor Center; namely, we’re exploring how to better support information technology that will “accelerate or positively disrupt” mission-driven social change work. And riding off of the heels of Mitch’s appearance on CNN’s Black in America IV last November, we’re also getting positioned to play a role in diversifying the startup industry. Read more about our goals and 2012 priorities here.
Protecting “the Lifeblood of Our Democracy”
Yesterday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech at the Lyndon B Johnson Library and Museum on the right to vote – as he described it, “the lifeblood of our democracy” – in the face of recent legislative voter id attacks. It was a reassuring commitment to act from the Justice Department (read the speech here, watch it here).
It comes amidst other encouraging election and voter protection news and efforts.
Cedric and I heard about many of these efforts at the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation‘s annual winter convening, where we had the privilege of moderating a session on the topic with presenters Judith Browne-Dianis of the Advancement Project, Eric Marshall from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Biko Baker of the League of Young Voters Education Fund.
And here, we’re pleased to share Color of Change’s new campaign targeting the source of much of the voter suppression legislation: (more…)
California Allows Online Voter Registration
In important election reform and election administration news, California will now allow for online voter registration. See more info below in this article from the Associated Press:
California allows online voter registration |The Associated Press |Posted: 10/07/2011 06:46:53 PM PDT
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Californians will be able to register to vote online for the 2012 elections.
Gov. Jerry Brown announced Friday that he signed legislation that supporters say will modernize California’s election system.
The bill, SB 397, allows the state to begin registering voters online ahead of a new statewide voter database. It directs state election officials and the Department of Motor Vehicles to match registration information submitted online with DMV records containing an electronic copy of a voter’s signature.
Democratic Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco says his bill will allow more people to register and “participate in our democracy.”
The bill was sponsored by California Common Cause. Executive Director Kathay Feng says the system is expected to be up and running for the November 2012 general election.
Restricting Voter Access – Map of Shame
Eric Marshall of our key partner Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law just shared their new interactive Map of Shame, which “paints the picture of the threat posed by the rolling tide of vote suppression legislation.” This map is a terrific tool to learn more about restrictive legislation (standing and pending) in a large number of states, resources for voters to get required IDs, a petition for voters to push back against voter suppression, and links to state-by-state election rules.
The threat to voter access is REAL – as reported (in a partisan frame) by these frightening accounts in Rolling Stone magazine and the Washington Post. In the next year the Kapor Foundation will continue its nonpartisan focus on Elections Protection to ensure that every eligible voter can participate in our democracy!
Safeguarding the Vote
Just wanted to share more news of the alarming movement to disenfranchise large voting blocs through restrictive elections legislation across the nation. Check out Judith Browne Dianis, Co-Director of the Advancement Project (one of our key grant partners), speaking on MSNBC:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
From Advancement Project: Our outreach is continuing to build Momentum, sparking more media coverage of the largest legislative effort to scale back voting rights in a century. In a September 15, 2011 Rolling Stone article, Advancement Project Co-Director Judith Browne Dianis examines these efforts as a coordinated strategy to ‘. . . undermine democracy by cutting off the voices of the people.’ Advancement Project remains steadfast in its determination to safeguard voters from these anti-democratic barriers to impede access to the ballot.
Note: Both Advancement Project and the Kapor Foundation approach voter access and elections protection as nonpartisan issues.
Transitions and Next Steps
Today was Carmen Rojas’ last day at the Kapor Foundation. Her exuberance and steadfast dedication to social justice will certainly be missed by her colleagues. We wish Carmen well in her new endeavors and look forward to seeing her new justice work take shape.
I wanted to share more information on our grantmaking plans during this transition.
We will continue our Green Access and VoICE grantmaking, although we are delaying new conversations about grant support until the fall. We’re going to re-set our grant request deadlines to October 31st for any remaining 2011 requests and December 15th for requests to be considered in early January 2012. This will help us to firm up our program direction and staffing. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause in your development planning.
For Fall cluster key partner organizations, final reports and renewal requests are still due by August 1, 2011. We’re prepared to make these grants in accordance with our original September timetable.
For grant requests that were submitted by the May 18th deadline, we aim to have responses by mid-July. Stay tuned!
And yes, we’ll most likely hire another program staff person after first completing an organizational needs assessment. Check our blog here over the summer for any announcement about a position search.
Please contact us with any questions.
