The Power of the Black Vote: Creating A New South

On the final stop of our HBCU tour on The Power of the Black Vote, we travel to Atlanta, home of three of the most prestigious historically Black colleges and universities: Spelman, Morehouse, and Clark Atlanta, to talk with HBCU students about the Black youth vote. 

Georgia has always played a significant role in the fight for voting rights in this country. And when Stacey Abrams lost her race for governor in 2018, young Black voters who were tired and fed-up began to mobilize on their campuses. For years, Black student voter turnout was on the decline in the state, but with rising voter suppression tactics and voter purges, student organizers and grassroots organizations started a movement to get out the vote. This resulted in an unprecedented Black youth voter turnout in the 2020 general election, which ultimately led to Georgia turning blue for the first time in years. 

But with the midterm election right around the corner, student organizers like Janiah Henry, a student political activist at Clark Atlanta University, are struggling to keep that momentum going. 

On this episode of Into America, Trymaine speaks with Henry about how she is energizing the Black youth to get out and vote this November. He also speaks with Ciarra Malone, an organizer forCampus Vote Project, who has made it her mission to strengthen civic engagement on HBCU campuses throughout the state. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

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Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com.

For More: 

• The Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the Classroom
• The Power of the Black Vote: Knocking Out Student Loan Debt
• The Power of the Black Vote: Tackling Our Climate Crisis
• The Power of the Black Vote: We Save Ourselves
• Young Black voters are dominating the Georgia midterms one student at a time