Dynamic New Video Urges Millennials To 'Vote For Black Futures'

One organization is encouraging black millennials to make sure they get to the polls and vote. 

Black and Brown People Vote , a non-profit organization that promotes civic engagement, teamed up with the Haas Institute to create a compelling 90-second PSA titled #Vote4BlackFutures that highlights the important role voting plays on the state of black lives in America. 

“Millions of people are standing in long lines right now, despite not having quality healthcare,” Ifeoma Ike, the co-founder of BBPV, told The Huffington Post. “Many will take multiple modes of inadequate transportation just to cast a ballot. Some may have to boil water for their babies to drink before heading to the polls. So we don’t want our people to vote red, or blue, or green. We want them to vote towards a vision still being built. We want them to #Vote4BlackFutures.”

In the video, poets Kyland Turner and Walter Finnie deliver a spoken word poem that captures what black people in America had to go through to secure the right to vote. “No more chains on our freedom, no more locks on our mind,” they recite throughout the clip.

Ike explained that the video wasn’t designed to highlight any of the candidates. Rather, she said it was created to highlight the “issues that still impact our very existence and survival.”

“I am less concerned about who my community votes for, and more concerned that they have the tools to make a decision on November 8th and beyond,” Ike said. 

“We want our people to know that their struggles are not ignored and their concerns about our local and national politics are valid,” she added. “We want to encourage people to see the connection between their lives and the ballot.”