(Columbia, SC) – With less than one week until the nation’s first voter registration deadlines, on Monday, September 28, Hip-Hop political activist David Banner, Black Voters Matter, Congressman Jim Clyburn, and others joined the South Carolina based non-profit organization, Amplify Action for a three-hour “Amp Our
Vote-a-thon.” In only three hours, Amplify Action was able to register more than 2,500 voters.
Our communities are facing problems that we can solve through the power of our vote, and after our vote-a-thon, we are twenty-five hundred steps closer to our goal.
Brandon Upson
“During the age of COVID-19, we’ve had to be creative in the ways that we engage our communities and mobilize voters. To my knowledge, our virtual vote-a-thon focusing on registering Black voters is the first of its type,” Brandon Upson, founder of Amplify Action said, “Our communities are facing problems that we can solve through the power of our vote, and after our vote-a-thon, we are twenty-five hundred steps closer to our goal.”
This is what democracy looks like! People with different vantage points and experiences coming together to meet people where they are.
Ra Shad Gaines
The Amp Our Vote-a-thon, streamed live over social media, hosted a combination of on-location and remote conversations and appeals to vote from more than a dozen elected officials, activists, and advocacy groups including Black Voters Matter, Rise of a Nation, Congressman Jim Clyburn, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Rev. Nelson Rivers, Deanna Miller Berry, Path2Redemption, Pastor Thomas Dixon, Sky is the Limit Foundation and more.
“This is what democracy looks like! People with different vantage points and experiences coming together to meet people where they are,” Ra Shad Gaines, co-founder of Amplify Action continued, “I’m so grateful that our volunteers across four states were able to help us meet our goal of registering black men to vote, ensuring that they get to the polls, and equipping them with the tools to advocate for their communities and hold their elected officials accountable.”
During his remarks, Congressman Jim Clyburn made a strong appeal to viewers, “every single vote counts. If Jim Crow could be forced upon us for fifty years by one vote, then it can come back because of one vote. Don’t let that be for the lack of you not having voted.”
For more information on Amplify Action and their work go to AmpOurVote.com.
