Unfortunately, we also rank 45th in voter enrollment. In Davidson County, black colored and brown residents, specially those who work in North Nashville, reside in precincts with all the cheapest voter turnout. This isn’t by accident.
The Equity Alliance proactively advocates for African People in the us along with other communities of color to possess a reasonable and merely possibility at realizing the US dre am. We have been a Nashville-based grassroots non-profit advocacy team that seeks to equip residents with tools and methods to take part in the civic procedure and empower them to do this on problems impacting their day-to-day life.
That Which We Do
Expand the electorate by engaging low tendency voters and disenfranchised communities to take part in the process that is democratic.
Teach communities of color concerning the governmental procedure, about appropriate financial, social, and governmental dilemmas, and exactly how impending legislation will influence their payday loan fast Missouri everyday lives.
Engage and Empower residents to do this and also make their voices heard. We resist, persist, join forces, call, compose, petition, assemble, & most notably, vote.
Track legislation and hold our state and neighborhood elected officials accountable.
Improve Civic Leadership by encouraging individuals of color to simply just just just take leadership roles in shaping policy in the neighborhood, state and nationwide degree.
Generate alliances with people and teams so that you can present a front that is united any economic obstacles that seek to marginalize, disenfranchise, or discriminate against individuals of color and susceptible populations.
Our work is rooted in a collection of leading principals:
SElf-determination & freedom
We think that the path to Black liberation is always to make certain that we give individuals the information and knowledge, tools, and winning methods to work out self-agency, to be self-determining, and also have freedom of preference to help make choices in the dilemmas impacting our life. Obtaining the self-determination to completely be involved in our democracy is key to the liberation.
ALL MEANS each
We think that all gents and ladies are made equal, they are endowed by certain unalienable rights to their creator, that among these are Life, Liberty and also the quest for joy. We ought to pursue and protect these liberties.
COLLECTIVE BUYING ENERGY
We think that there was energy in figures. We look for to make use of our buying capacity to fuel our voting energy.
TRAINING IS THE EQUALIZER that is GREAT
We genuinely believe that once you understand better, you will do better. We look for to teach people and communities about how to be better informed, involved, and effective people of culture.
That Which We Do
Through civic engagement, voter enrollment and voter education, our work centers around producing an even more inclusive, informed, and more powerful democracy. We genuinely believe that democracy is best suited whenever we have all a opportunity to engage, has access that is equitable the voting booth, and it is empowered which will make their very own informed alternatives on whom represents their values, passions and problems.
Co-Founder Tequila Johnson Testifies Before Congress on Protecting Voting Rights
OUR PROGRAMS
Ebony Citizenship doing his thing Academy
Black colored voters in Tennessee have already been disenfranchised through systemic means. Representation issues, which is essential for black colored voters to see by themselves within the democratic procedure through the appointed, civic, and elected leaders within our community. We promote Civic Leadership by motivating folks of color to simply just simply just take leadership roles in shaping policy from the neighborhood, state and level that is national. Through intensive 4-6 week learning workshops, our Ebony Citizenship for action Academy will build up the new generation of black colored civic leaders. We want to strive to make certain that black colored individuals can work out our complete legal rights as residents, and certainly will contour our democracy to its potential that is fullest. We are going to hold neighborhood events that deepen our community’s provided comprehension of our past and present, our legal rights as citizens, sharpen our analysis for the landscape that is political which our company is running, and collectively develop winning techniques to need a country that values our everyday lives and strives toward justice and equality.
Tennessee Voter Guides
Our Voter Guides are free, nonpartisan, general public resources to greatly help residents make an educated, confident choice into the voting booth on Election Day. Our guides consist of impartial prospect pages, functions of every elected workplace, polling places and hours, voter ID requirements and many other things. The Nashville Voter Guide is present for down load.
Souls towards the Polls Faith-based community organizing has become a tried-and-true technique to achieve black colored voters considering that the Civil Rights motion. In order to get Souls to your Polls, The Equity Alliance lovers because of the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship (IMF) to conduct voter enrollment drives at African-American churches in Nashville. Our objective is always to have 100% of qualified church account registered to vote. Volunteers are deployed to church services on Sundays to interact and register voters. We host various GOTV tasks, including block parties, rallies, phone banking, and trips to your polls.
Black Ladies for Tennessee
We highly genuinely believe that black ladies can and can make a collective effect in Tennessee. Through occasions like our June 6 th , 2018 gathering greater than 300 black colored ladies in the Tennessee State Capitol and our Ebony Women’s Empowerment Brunch, our company is fostering a host that develops coalitions and bridges generational gaps. Its our objective to ensure the votes of black colored women can be never ever assumed; to unite all black-women-led and women-led companies from over the state to register, notify, and mobilize voters.
Nashville Unchained
Nashville Unchained is a coalition of four of the very effective black colored companies in the town: the Nashville branch regarding the NAACP, the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship, Gideon’s Grassroots Army for the kids, additionally the Equity Alliance.
Aye-For-An-Aye Statewide Listening Tour
Half a year following the Equity Alliance led the Tennessee Ebony Voter venture that registered 91,000 black colored and brown Tennesseans, hawaii passed legislation that could enforce the country’s most aggressive civil and unlawful charges on third-party businesses that distribute lacking kinds during large-scale voter enrollment drives. The Equity Alliance has filed case challenging the law’s constitutionality.
We launched the Aye for the Aye campaign being a direct reaction to the state’s voter suppression legislation. For each “aye” vote the legislation received, we pledge to register 100 voters whom agree to voting within the election. To do this objective, we’re hosting paying attention sessions across their state to coach attendees concerning the voter enrollment criminalization legislation and mobilize them to do this prior to the legislation switches into impact in October.