Every Nigga Deserves and AAV are teaming up to connect civic participation to the lives Black people are already living.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Between now and then, Black voters will hear plenty about what is at stake and why we need to show up.
Source: (Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images)
Those reminders matter. But if civic engagement is going to become a consistent part of our lives, the conversation has to make room for the rest of our lives too.
People are thinking about rent, groceries, childcare, work, safety, healthcare, and simply making it through the week. When you are focused on surviving, voting, attending a school board meeting, or keeping up with local decisions can easily become the last thing on your mind.
That is why AAV and Every Nigga Deserves are coming together.
IT TAKES US ALL
We are two Black led organizations with different approaches and one shared belief: Black people deserve a meaningful voice in the decisions shaping their lives.
AAV and E.N.D. are able to bring Black voters and civically engaged people together across age, class, gender and more.
How? Because we come from where y’all come from.
We’ve lived unique lives while sharing a collective cultural experience. We have grannies from small towns who never made it to high school but were the first in our bloodlines to vote. We have loved ones who’ve been impacted by the carceral system and war on poor people.
We know on a systemic and personal level what it means to be Black in this country, and we understand that we can’t wait.
Source:Stephen Somerstein (American, b. 1941) Courtesy of the photographer
AAV and E.N.D. want Black people to be well and live full lives. Compensated fairly, housed safely, stomachs full, and human rights intact.
We have a duty to each other and ourselves, and we firmly believe that we can only go far alongside our people. Building the world we want to leave behind takes courage, collaboration, and vision.
And there is no singular way, it sincerely takes us all.
SO, WHAT WILL YOU DO?
To kick things off, visit everyniggadeserves.com for a chance to win two tickets and travel to Camp Flog Gnaw.
Camp Flog Gnaw not your thing? Cool. You can still enter for a chance to win help with your groceries, gas, or rent. Did we mention you can check your voter registration while you’re there?
However you choose to participate, there is a part for you to play.
Source: Associated Press
WHERE CULTURE AND CIVIC LIFE MEET
AAV is a 501 c3, federally recognized, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that uses culture and conversation to help Black voters stay informed, stay ready, and feel supported, not just on Election Day, but all year long.
Behind AAV’s work is rigorous research. We conduct voter turnout experiments to understand what helps Black people move from being aware of an election to casting a ballot. That research shapes how we communicate, where we show up, and how we connect civic life to the things people care about every day.
That is why our work does not always look like traditional voter outreach. Through concerts, festivals, and rent, gas, and grocery giveaways, we meet people where civic life and real life intersect.
Every Nigga Deserves reaches people from another direction.
Source: Photograph by Matt Herron
Through film, art, fashion, written storytelling, and shared experiences, E.N.D. creates room for Black people to express ourselves, tell the truth about our lives, and simply be. Its work is personal, creative, and grounded in the belief that Black people deserve more than survival.
That perspective matters because information alone does not always move people.
Research can help us understand which messages reach people. Culture helps those messages travel with trust.
This partnership brings AAV’s civic engagement research together with E.N.D.’s creative voice and community.
Our immediate goal is to help more Black people, especially Black men, see themselves in the civic conversation, access useful information, and feel prepared to participate in this year’s election.
Thank you for this!
Activated 🔥