- I think that the choice
that young people are making right now is not
between Trump or Biden.
I think that the choice
that young people are making right now is
to vote or not to vote.
- Alicia Garza co-founded Black Lives Matter in 2013.
And she helped it grow
into the massive international movement it is today.
But with the presidential election a few months away,
she is now focused on the Black Futures Lab,
which finds out what young Black voters really want
and calls on politicians to engage with them.
How did you make the jump
from co-founding Black Lives Matter
to working in Black voter engagement?
- 2016 was our last major election cycle
and it was a big whirlwind.
What I came to understand very clearly was
that Black voter engagement needed more attention,
but not from the perspective that we so often see it.
- What does that mean?
I can't tell you how many plates
of fried chicken I have seen in election cycles
ever since I started to vote.
And I say that, like, in a really serious way
that, I think, candidates feel like they have
to connect to our communities culturally,
and they do so in ways that are often really driven
by stereotypes.
- Right.
And besides the fact that that's racist.
the other problem is,
you know, ultimately, that symbolism gets in the way
of the substantive conversations that candidates need
to be having with our communities.
They come bearing soul food,
but they don't come bearing agendas
for what kinds of policies they are willing
to advance in order to change the conditions of our lives.
- What are some of the substantive issues
that young, Black voters care about?
- I mean, we did the largest survey
of Black people in America in 155 years.
It's called the Black Census Project.
- That's awesome.
- And you would think, right, that
because of all the conversations
that are happening right now in this country,
that the number-one issue
that we care about is criminal justice reform.
And we found that it's actually not.
The thing that keeps us awake at night is low wages.
Next to that it's the lack of access to affordable
and quality health care.
It's the lack of access to affordable and quality housing.
Those issues don't just impact Black communities,
they impact everyone.
But there are specific
and unique barriers that keep Black communities
from being able to access these things.
And one of those specific barriers is racism.
- Tell us about Black the Ballot.
Is it a project with the Black Futures Lab?
Black to the Ballot is our way of helping to support
and build the capacity
of Black-led grassroots organizations across the country.
What we've done is we've designed a Black agenda
that clearly outlines the issues
that we heard most often in our Black census survey,
and it provides tangible, actionable solutions
to address those challenges.
- I'd imagine that organizing a movement
that had its heart in the streets like Black Lives Matter,
is a little different from organizing politically.
What was the most interesting thing you took away
from that experience?
- What I think is really fascinating is that,
you know, people who are protesting,
are also designing policy.
The people who are out on the streets are there
because they have ideas
about what this country should look like
and how it should be run.
And I think we're also seeing
that people who are demonstrating
and are protesting are also running for office.
They know that their passion,
their vision,
and their connection
to communities that have been left behind,
makes them a valuable asset in the political process.
- What's the number-one thing you'd love
to see candidates do to reach out
to young, Black voters before November?
- I would like them to reach out to young, Black voters.
I want them to invest way more resources
and build infrastructure in Black communities,
so that our communities are engaged and empowered
to take this country back.