Alpha Kappa Alpha Joins Hip-Hop Caucus for "Get Out the Vote" Bus Tour
Voter education campaign will educate, encourage young voters ahead of Nov. 4 election
Stressing the importance of participating in the election process this fall, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. is collaborating with the Hip-Hop Caucus to launch a national Get Out the Vote Bus Tour.
AKA International President Barbara A. McKinzie said the campaign fits with the Sorority's established goal to increase the number of registered voters who will cast a ballot in the November 4 election. "This year's election is the most important one of our lifetime, and we implore all eligible people to exercise their right to vote," McKinzie said.
A key piece of the campaign involves a bus tour that will stop in 17 cities in 10 battleground states. The tour kicks off Friday, Oct. 19, in Atlanta, GA, and wraps up on Nov. 4, Election Day, in Detroit, MI. The bus will wend its way through one city each day, stopping in cities where there are historically black colleges and universities or sizable college-age populations.
Other scheduled stops include Philadelphia, Norfolk, Richmond, Hampton, Cleveland, Tallahassee, Memphis and Indianapolis.
Activists and organizers who were working to get out the vote established the Hip-Hop Caucus in September 2004. The caucus is part of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, the largest coalition of entertainment artists and recording industry executives united in the belief that hip-hop is an instrumental agent for positive social change, founded in 2001 by music impresario Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis.
The bus tour is part of a broader effort to educate and encourage young voters to participate in the electoral process.
At these stops and tour events, Hip-Hop Caucus and Hip-Hop Summit Action Network street teams will distribute voter education information. The ultimate goal is to increase young people's interest in turning out on Nov. 4.
McKinzie said Alpha Kappa Alpha's 220,000 members are urged to answer the call when the bus tour stops in their area, and gave a special charge to the undergraduate members "to impress upon their classmates the importance of voter participation by leading them to the polls."