'Voting is your power': Milwaukee is the second stop for national bus tour encouraging BIPOC communities to register before midterms

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The tantalizing scent of barbecued meats wafted through the air at Milwaukee's Deer District Sunday afternoon, on Oct. 9, in the parking lot of the historic Turner Hall. 

A DJ was blasting a mix of old and current hits and dozens were swaying to the beats.

However, it wasn't your typical celebration.

Signs encouraging people to register to vote lined the lot. Volunteers sat at tables with QR codes linking to Wisconsin's voter registration website.

The non-partisan event marked the second stop for the "MakeGood Trouble - 10 Million More Black Voters - Arc of Voter Justice Tour" -- a 25-city 'Get Out the Vote' tour where national organizations partner with local ones to educate and inform BIPOC communities of the importance of voting.

"Voting is your power," said Barbara Arnwine, Esq., the president and co-leader of the Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC). "We've got to do everything we can to encourage people to vote."

"This is especially important," Arnwine, Esq. added -- as the midterm election season nears. 

Daryl Jones, Esq., another co-leader and board chair for the TJC, agreed, noting that celebration-like events can help break down the stigma around voting.

"You're going to hear the music. You're going to see the dancing. You're going to see the food," Jones, Esq. said. "We're changing how you think about voting. Voting shouldn't be a chore."

For Dennis Walton, the executive director of Made Men World Wide Inc., reminding voters that their powerful is key.

"We’re dealing with so many issues that we’re challenged with today and I think people are so disconnected from the politics that we need to reenergize what it means to vote," Walton said. 

Kimberlé Crenshaw, the executive director of the African American Policy Forum, said she hopes marginalized and minority communities will remember that voting "is something that cannot be taken for granted."

"Voting is a central responsibility and privilege that we have as Americans," Crenshaw said. "But voting has not always been accessible to everybody. When you don’t use something that you fought for, you stand to lose it."

Crenshaw noted that "people died for this right."

"We need to hold it as sacred as it is," Crenshaw said. "Everyone needs to exercise their right to vote. That’s the only way we can be sure that we will always have that right to vote."

Wanda Mosley, the national field director for Black Voters Matter, said one of their main messages is the hashtag #WeWon'tBlackDown.

"Everything that we do across this tour, all of our work, 365 days, is for liberation and freedom. That is the end goal and that is why we fight," Mosley said. 

"It doesn't matter if you're young, old, or have never voted before," Mosley continued. "What's important is you register to vote now before it's too late. 

"Voting is one way for us to build power to get to freedom," Mosley said. 

Besides the afternoon celebration, hundreds of activists and Milwaukeeans walked around the city in a "votercade" to spread awareness for the upcoming elections.

Participants were also given banned books. 

The tour began in Minnesota and will continue through Texas, Ohio, Missouri, Detroit, the Carolinas, Georgia and more, before ending up in Florida. 

If you missed Sunday's event, the tour will be stopping in Kenosha on Monday, Oct. 10.

The deadline to early register online or by mail in Wisconsin is Oct. 19. You can also register to vote in person at your polling place on Nov. 8.