PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Jewish nonprofit The Workers Circle is partnering with Black Voters Matter, in an effort to bring more Black voters to the polls than in previous years.
BVM focuses on community empowerment and voter participation in Black communities, and TWC has been cultivating a progressive and diverse community rooted in Jewish culture and social action for more than a century. Together, they say, their message is nonpartisan and the information they’re sharing is all about the process of casting a ballot.
Volunteers from both organizations will be canvassing several Philadelphia neighborhoods on Saturday morning, talking with community members about the major issues this election is riding on, including gun violence, workers’ wages and abortion rights.
“Abortion rights – I feel like that should be the front runner,” said Kallel Edwards, state organizer for Black Voters Matter. “I feel like there's not enough education that's happening in these communities that folks don't know what's at stake.”
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According to TWC, 200,000 eligible Black voters in Philadelphia did not vote in the 2020 election.
This year, there are still many people in the Black community who don’t believe their vote counts, said Edwards, but voting is how citizens get elected officials to pay attention to them.
“We have to hold these folks accountable and have these folks understand that they are in service, and they have to … come up with solutions and policies that keep us safe,” Edwards added.
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Noa Baron, an organizer at TWC, hopes their efforts will help individuals participate in the political processes that can lead to positive change.
“We're working with Black Voters Matter to assist these Philly-based groups with providing nonpartisan information on elections, like polling locations, and really just encouraging people to vote,” Baron said.
“To fix these issues that we see in the communities that people live in — the real issues that people see day to day — we have to use our power, and you got to vote.”
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