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.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was involved in a multi-car accident on Tuesday in Tennessee but was uninjured as he traveled in a motorcade to a campaign stop for his 2024 presidential bid.
The Biden administration is proposing new rules to increase coverage for mental health treatments.
The U.S. is set to send up to $400 million in additional military aid to Ukraine.
The lawyer for former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik turned over thousands of pages and documents to a special counsel as part of an investigation into Kerik's alleged involvement to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The Justice Department invited the prosecutor who brought charges against Hunter Biden to testify in a public hearing this fall.
Israel’s parliament on Monday approved the first major law in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan to overhaul the country’s justice system, triggering a new burst of mass protests and drawing accusations that he was pushing the country toward authoritarian rule.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea, South Korea’s military said Tuesday, adding to a recent streak in weapons testing that is apparently in protest of the U.S. sending major naval assets to South Korea in a show of force.
Now the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has proposed a rule that would cut the current limit for silica exposure by half — a major victory for safety advocates. But there is skepticism and concern about the government following through after years of broken promises and delays.
Minneapolis is backing away from enforcing laws that criminalize buying psychedelic plants or using them in private.
A state trooper's account of officers denying migrants water in 100-degree Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius) temperatures and razor wire leaving asylum-seekers bloodied has prompted renewed criticism.
