Veatch grantee Black Voters Matter was featured in the New York Times on September 16 for expanding its nonpartisan voter engagement this fall to ensure voting rights are realized throughout the South and in Black communities. Plans include radio advertisements, bus tours across cities and campuses of historically Black colleges and a vast nonpartisan canvassing operation aimed at increasing civic participation in several states, including in the Deep South.
The organization’s efforts, according to co-founder and co-executive director, Cliff Albright, are “…to not only engage voters but get them to engage one another.”
In 2019, Veatch was one of the earliest institutional funders of Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute. It was founded in Alabama in 2017 to fight voter suppression, grounded in actualizing love and building power across the South, particularly in often-forgotten rural communities. UUCSR members may recall welcoming Black Voters Matter co-founder and co-executive director, LaTosha Brown, to the congregation for Veatch Sunday in January of 2020. LaTosha is now a leading voice among women in our country for voting rights and self-determination.
Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown, Co-Founders and Co-Executive Directors of Black Voters Matter
Our early and ongoing support for the work that LaTosha and Cliff are doing reflects the UU value of action for racial justice. It demonstrates the Veatch Program’s commitment to support long-term organizing in Black-led and other communities of color. The congregation’s funding sustains the infrastructure of organizations needed in urban, suburban, and rural communities – locally, regionally, and nationally – to build power for dignity, equity, and justice.