As the U.S. inches closer to Election Day, the focus on voters in key battleground states continues to intensify, particularly in Florida where Tyler Perry and non-profit organization Equal Ground have partnered on an initiative to turn out Black voters.
Jasmine Burney-Clark, director at Equal Ground, said the "Souls to the Polls" initiative is about educating communities on important issues and helping them make informed decisions once it is time to cast their ballots. It also conducted voter registration efforts.
Through partnerships with local Florida churches, the group has been able to hold Park and Praise events, where voters can drop their ballots, attend in-car church services, and even hear live musical entertainment.
"We know that COVID has not allowed many churches to come together and convene in a real way inside of their places of worship, so we figured we'd do an outside version of that, where folks continue to stay in their car," Burney-Clark told Cheddar.
Perry and Equal Ground look to bring out more than 250,000 Black voters in the state through the Souls to the Polls drive.
Along with receiving "inspirational messages" at the drive-in services, Burney-Clark said the events allow communities to safely gather after not having interacted or seeing each other for months.
So far the group has received $500,000 in charitable donations to keep the program on its feet and funding the voter turnout efforts.
"We are really using it to fuel the economic structure of Black businesses in our community," Burney-Clark said, by using the money to hire local help with event production, ranging from show elements to food services. Equal Ground is also employing workers to send text messages, knock on doors, and drive people to the polls all in effort to boost Black voter turnout this election.
As President Trump's actions are dissected since protests erupted following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police, much has been made of how past presidents responded to civil unrest over the last century.
President Donald Trump is announcing that he has canceled segments of the Republican National Convention scheduled for Florida next month.
If the Democratic nominee Candace Valenzuela manages to pull off a win in Texas' 24th District, she will make history as the country's first Afro-Latina congresswoman.
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, was tear-gassed by the U.S. government late Wednesday as he stood at a fence guarding a federal courthouse during another night of protest against the presence of federal agents sent by President Donald Trump to quell unrest in the city.
Using alarmist language, Trump on Wednesday painted Democrat-led cities as out of control, even though criminal justice experts say the increase in violence in some cities defies easy explanation.
The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only about 1 in 10 Americans say daycare centers, preschools and K-12 schools should start the school year like any other.
Sorrento Therapeutics has been approved by the FDA to move forward with Phase 2 trials of its 'Abivertinib' study. ICU patients in some SoCal hospitals will undergo testing of the orally administered drug.
The U.S. says it has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston “to protect American intellectual property" and the private information of Americans.
The largest teacher's union in Florida is suing the state after Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran signed an executive order requiring schools to reopen for in-person learning in just a few weeks.
President Donald Trump sought to paint a rosier picture of the coronavirus for the nation on Tuesday but conceded the pandemic is likely to “get worse before it gets better.”
