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1NN (TU RCOFBLACK MALE ENGAGEMNT PROGRAM (BMEP) ADDITORY APPROACHBLACK MALE VOTER PROJECTEC YUNOWHG E NR E L

32There is no adequate explanationfor the lack of resources put into reaching Black men as it pertains to electoral work, yet we find ourselves grappling with this very fact. A lack of resources necessary to reach and engage Black men effectively and produce long-term change should not be the reality we find ourselves in, especially when this demographic is so integral to our success. And because of this reality, Black men have a “deficiency need” that arose, or should I say continues to arise, out of this country’s electoral practices coupled with the continued failures in politics. The need is a direct link to the deprivation that exists in how Black men are not seriously engaged in the so-called quest for electoral outreach. I should note that this “deficiency need” that lives in Black men as it pertains to politics is closer to a consistent hunger from a person that does not have adequate resources. And this lack of adequate resources is linked directly to the tactics and ridiculous attempts at transactional organizing that happen in close proximity to elections.Consider that in every state that Black Male Voter Project operates in—that’s states—we saw a significant increase in how Black men interacted with politics in 2022. All of these gains were not at the polls; some included how Black men interacted with our programs and were those positive steps in our theory of change.This theory of change accounts for Black Male Voter Project’s ability to move Black men, which others define as low information or sporadic, to vote. When thinking about the 2024 election cycle, we must consider the efforts of Black Male Voter Project in the last election (2020), and the monumental gains we made were directly linked to the work, not only from 2020 but also from 2019. There can be no difference in 2023 if we are to win in 2024.

32There is no adequate explanationfor the lack of resources put into reaching Black men as it pertains to electoral work, yet we find ourselves grappling with this very fact. A lack of resources necessary to reach and engage Black men effectively and produce long-term change should not be the reality we find ourselves in, especially when this demographic is so integral to our success. And because of this reality, Black men have a “deficiency need” that arose, or should I say continues to arise, out of this country’s electoral practices coupled with the continued failures in politics. The need is a direct link to the deprivation that exists in how Black men are not seriously engaged in the so-called quest for electoral outreach. I should note that this “deficiency need” that lives in Black men as it pertains to politics is closer to a consistent hunger from a person that does not have adequate resources. And this lack of adequate resources is linked directly to the tactics and ridiculous attempts at transactional organizing that happen in close proximity to elections.Consider that in every state that Black Male Voter Project operates in—that’s states—we saw a significant increase in how Black men interacted with politics in 2022. All of these gains were not at the polls; some included how Black men interacted with our programs and were those positive steps in our theory of change.This theory of change accounts for Black Male Voter Project’s ability to move Black men, which others define as low information or sporadic, to vote. When thinking about the 2024 election cycle, we must consider the efforts of Black Male Voter Project in the last election (2020), and the monumental gains we made were directly linked to the work, not only from 2020 but also from 2019. There can be no difference in 2023 if we are to win in 2024.

54The case for early, consistent, and culturally appropriate engagement can not be made more evident than our work in 2020 with Black men, for we increased the participation of Black men that the political world had given up on (especially after Obama couldn’t even get them to vote for him). which has somehow played out without any recognition of Black men and their increases.This narrative is deadly to our work and the gains we saw in both of the previous federal elections, not because of vanity on the part of Black men but because it continues to add fire to the antipathy that already exists in Black men surrounding all things elections. The message does a couple of things. First, it signals to Black men that their participation, regardless of what level, will never be enough and two, it flags to politicians that there is no need to prioritize policies that are important to Black men. This is the invisibility at which Black men are being made to exist [politically]. Black men are being judged not by their voting performance but instead by piss-poor polling and, more horribly, exit polls, both of which are flawed and should never be used to measure a demographic’s performance. The work of 2023 is as significant, if not more than that of 2022, for we are up against not only the fact that we don’t have a national election to draw attention to the need to engage Black men year-round to prevent the cyclical nature of campaigns which is horrible at yielding the results necessary for us to win constantly. There also is a need to address the harmful narrative of who and what was necessary for all of the amazing victories of 2020 and 2022,

54The case for early, consistent, and culturally appropriate engagement can not be made more evident than our work in 2020 with Black men, for we increased the participation of Black men that the political world had given up on (especially after Obama couldn’t even get them to vote for him). which has somehow played out without any recognition of Black men and their increases.This narrative is deadly to our work and the gains we saw in both of the previous federal elections, not because of vanity on the part of Black men but because it continues to add fire to the antipathy that already exists in Black men surrounding all things elections. The message does a couple of things. First, it signals to Black men that their participation, regardless of what level, will never be enough and two, it flags to politicians that there is no need to prioritize policies that are important to Black men. This is the invisibility at which Black men are being made to exist [politically]. Black men are being judged not by their voting performance but instead by piss-poor polling and, more horribly, exit polls, both of which are flawed and should never be used to measure a demographic’s performance. The work of 2023 is as significant, if not more than that of 2022, for we are up against not only the fact that we don’t have a national election to draw attention to the need to engage Black men year-round to prevent the cyclical nature of campaigns which is horrible at yielding the results necessary for us to win constantly. There also is a need to address the harmful narrative of who and what was necessary for all of the amazing victories of 2020 and 2022,

76Black Male Voter Project has an$7.1Mbudget in this cycle to prepare Black men for 2024 voting and to also engage them around local and statewide issues and elections taking place this year as we continue to build the muscles of voting regularly and civic engagement beyondthe ballot box.

76Black Male Voter Project has an$7.1Mbudget in this cycle to prepare Black men for 2024 voting and to also engage them around local and statewide issues and elections taking place this year as we continue to build the muscles of voting regularly and civic engagement beyondthe ballot box.

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1110Our Workhas already begunas we have already had more than 12 of our scheduled 48 focus groups, “Brothas Be Voting,” © to ensure that the most critical issues for Black men remain at the center of our work. These conversations will allow us to have nearly 4700 focus group conversations again this year. However, unlike last year when most of these conversations happened in GA, we are holding these conversations in states where we know there will be competitive statewide races. This work will not only put us ahead of the noise from the polls and media but will allow us to better prepare Black men for what to expect in the next 20 months. In addition to our focus groups, we have already started our direct voter engagement with Black men in our priority states, but with a keen eye on the states that are having elections this year. This work is critical as it allows us to show up year-round in some capacity which further builds trust between this demographic and our organization. The work also continues to create voting opportunities in our effort to make super voters out of Black men and close the 10% performance gap between Black men and Black women. We plan on ramping up our text message program to send more than 37 million messages to Black men in all of our states. This level of texting will keep up with our tradition of not being transactional or cyclical. Our texting program is the largest (in volume) number of interactions we will have with Black men. The success of our texting program is owed partly to the fact that we don’t only text asking questions about elections and candidates; the program plays an intricate role in every aspect of our efforts, from letting Black men know about our concert series, focus groups, and even getting information about our resume building programs, and food assistance events.

1110Our Workhas already begunas we have already had more than 12 of our scheduled 48 focus groups, “Brothas Be Voting,” © to ensure that the most critical issues for Black men remain at the center of our work. These conversations will allow us to have nearly 4700 focus group conversations again this year. However, unlike last year when most of these conversations happened in GA, we are holding these conversations in states where we know there will be competitive statewide races. This work will not only put us ahead of the noise from the polls and media but will allow us to better prepare Black men for what to expect in the next 20 months. In addition to our focus groups, we have already started our direct voter engagement with Black men in our priority states, but with a keen eye on the states that are having elections this year. This work is critical as it allows us to show up year-round in some capacity which further builds trust between this demographic and our organization. The work also continues to create voting opportunities in our effort to make super voters out of Black men and close the 10% performance gap between Black men and Black women. We plan on ramping up our text message program to send more than 37 million messages to Black men in all of our states. This level of texting will keep up with our tradition of not being transactional or cyclical. Our texting program is the largest (in volume) number of interactions we will have with Black men. The success of our texting program is owed partly to the fact that we don’t only text asking questions about elections and candidates; the program plays an intricate role in every aspect of our efforts, from letting Black men know about our concert series, focus groups, and even getting information about our resume building programs, and food assistance events.

1312Our canvass program serves three purposes; first, it is an opportunity for us to have individual listening sessions with Black men; this is important as it provides us with a chance to see if the responses from the group sessions are tracking the same as the individual sessions. Also, we begin to build deeper relationships as we further our agenda of becoming permanent members of these communities and acting as tools for Black men. The last purpose of our canvassing program is to act as a buffer from what is said in other spaces to and about Black men. That final purpose is not an effort of arrogance but instead an effort to ensure Black men can see us as a safe space to gain accurate and important political information that caters to their needs. We will knock on over 1 million doors this year. There is no proper ending to explaining how necessary this work is, yet we must move beyond explanation when so much action is required.W. Mondale Robinson

1312Our canvass program serves three purposes; first, it is an opportunity for us to have individual listening sessions with Black men; this is important as it provides us with a chance to see if the responses from the group sessions are tracking the same as the individual sessions. Also, we begin to build deeper relationships as we further our agenda of becoming permanent members of these communities and acting as tools for Black men. The last purpose of our canvassing program is to act as a buffer from what is said in other spaces to and about Black men. That final purpose is not an effort of arrogance but instead an effort to ensure Black men can see us as a safe space to gain accurate and important political information that caters to their needs. We will knock on over 1 million doors this year. There is no proper ending to explaining how necessary this work is, yet we must move beyond explanation when so much action is required.W. Mondale Robinson

1514EFT INSTRUCTIONSMAILING ADDRESS: Black Male Voter Project384 Northyards Blvd NW Ste. 190Atlanta, GA 30313BANK WIRE INFORMATION:Routing #: 026003379Account #: 81035220

1514EFT INSTRUCTIONSMAILING ADDRESS: Black Male Voter Project384 Northyards Blvd NW Ste. 190Atlanta, GA 30313BANK WIRE INFORMATION:Routing #: 026003379Account #: 81035220

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