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At a time when voter suppression is targeting Black communities, The Movement For Black Lives is fighting back with its Electoral Justice Project, a nonpartisan multi-phase project to support electoral strategies ahead of upcoming elections. Grassroots activists are focusing on achieving justice for Blacks and building power in communities by ending discriminatory policies as part of the project kicking off before the 2018 midterm elections.

“Our elected officials in Washington and others across the country continue to pass policies that are disparately impacting Black communities,” Kayla Reed, an organizer for St. Louis Action Council and a M4BL leader who helped create the project. “Black people have been a consistent voting block in this country and our needs continued to be ignored. We created the Electoral Justice Project to empower our voices and mobilize our voters around issues that deeply impact us.”

The project’s first phase is a series of local town halls from November 5 – 7 in several cities including St. Louis, Atlanta, New York City, Miami and Greensboro, with more events to follow this month. Important federal, state and local-level issues, including the Trump administration, are up for discussion.

“The EJP town halls are opportunities for Black organizations and the communities they serve to convene community,” Reed, who wanted Chance the Rapper to join the project, explained.

More than 600 individuals joined the EJP national launch call in October, and more than 140 people signed up to host town halls. EJP advocates want policies that help communities of color.

“Every single day Black people are living and working in communities where public policy doesn’t match our needs,” Patrisse Cullors, Black Lives Matter co-founder and member of the Electoral Justice Table. “We believe that Black people deserve policies that will improve our material conditions across the country and beyond. This election season, we aim to ensure that ignoring the needs of Black communities is not an option for any candidate running for any office anywhere in this country.”

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Movement For Black Lives’ Electoral Justice Project Underscores Need For Just Policies  was originally published on newsone.com