Voters of Color Won’t Always Save You If You Don’t Invest In Them

by Think Rubix 11/12/2018

“This election proves what we have always known: a moderate Democratic party that does not speak to marginalized communities will not inspire them.”

Washington, DC––After an election that saw gains for Democrats and progressives, political strategists are contemplating ways to build a stronger base in going forward.

Think Rubix, creators of the Woke Vote organizing model, released the following statement after the results of the election:

“This election has allowed us to do something rare in a political climate defined by xenophobic rhetoric and consistent rollbacks of progressive policies. With historic wins from Ayanna Pressley to Ilhan Omar, to a game-changing number of progressive women and women of color turning the House blue, to a possible run-off in Georgia governor’s race for Stacey Abrams to the restoration of voting rights to the formerly-incarcerated in Florida – we have reached a tipping point.

“When we look back on historic and critical wins, we must remember what it took and we must acknowledge who it took to make them. Think Rubix and other Black-led organizations paved the road for Black-focused campaigning efforts, but as we’ve seen, campaigns cannot simply rely on the charity of Black-led organizations. They must invest in Black voters and other voters of color, long-term and from the roots up.

“We can celebrate, however, that Florida voters have approved Amendment 4, calling for voter enfranchisement for almost 1.5 million people. This group of voters is disproportionately Black and represents a decisive voting bloc that could have turned the tide of the Florida governor race.

“This election, Black-led organizations like Think Rubix pushed efforts to overcome voter suppression and build Black political power. We knocked on 200,000 doors, made one million calls and talked to tens of thousands of voters across the deep South. That’s how the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition passed Amendment 4. That’s how we got Jahana Hayes and Lauren Underwood elected. That’s how we got record-high voter turnout in states like Georgia. But Black-led organizations cannot do this work alone.

“Investing in the new American majority and improving parity in dollars spent to engage Obama-Trump voters versus non-voters and multicultural voters centering African Americans is the true way forward for the Party. Any money the Party spends in the future should be unencumbered, controlled by multicultural leadership in independent structures to avoid a pervasive colonizing mindset that continues to thwart the potential for big gains as it did in Florida and Georgia.”

Think Rubix ran canvasses and helped mobilize Millennial and faith-based voters in communities across the South including Alabama, North Carolina and Florida. Their work was critical in helping to pass Amendment 4 in Florida. Over the course of the last few weeks, Think Rubix, through their Woke Vote project, touched over 46 thousand voters across those three states, made one million calls and knocked on 200,000 doors.

Think Rubix is an innovative global social impact firm advancing creative problem solving, policy-making, and political strategies