Georgia is different from other southern states.

You have a large Black population across the state of Georgia.

And so the reality about Black political power and the role of the South, that's where most Black elected officials were elected.

Yes.

Right? And now you have one of the largest congressional Black caucus delegations in the nation that is now under threat because of that Calley case.

Can you say what it would mean for you if Keisha Lance Bottoms wins?

I think it would shift a lot of things.

If you see those who are at the state level look like the state, right? It matters.

What about Atlanta and Georgia specifically is going to be so important this election season?

Well, I lived in Atlanta.

I cut my teeth and went to Clark Atlanta University.

So Atlanta is also second home for me.

If you want to turn out to vote in Georgia, then you definitely have to do it with the Metro, not just Atlanta proper, but Metro Atlanta.

But here we are.

Also, what's important, we're on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

What would you say to someone who might not think their vote matters?

Uh, and so how are y'all focusing, uh, in these areas and what specifically are y'all doing on the ground?

I'm gonna start with Georgia.

Yesterday we started, uh, in Georgia, uh, partnering up, uh, with Georgia, uh, Coalition for the People's Agend- gender, Georgia Stand Up, Black Voters Matter, of the sororities and faith groups and all to come together, labor and others, um, to really focus in on early voting.

Uh, what was really exciting in Georgia, uh, the increase was 36% higher than 2022.

So there is energy and interest, and people are showing up.

On that very first day it went up 32- 36% from, uh, 2022.

So folks are tuned in.

How do we get that 1.7 million Black voters who are registered but they don't turn out?

How are you going to deal with some of those issues?

Well, we've been dealing with it, working again in coalition when the Supreme Court really pretty much gutted the power and the enforcement powers of the Voting Rights Act with one more bad ruling in, I think it was May, April, May, like I don't know the exact date, I think it was April, beginning of May.

And so part of that really kind of ignited, and I'll say in the South again, because that's where a lot of the, what you started seeing were state legislators coming together and changing the voting line, the district lines for congressional races that try to get rid of black districts.

And so there is a surge in what I call a new voting rights movement that's taking place and it's growing and more intentional in places even like New York where I was with Until Freedom a few years ago.

A couple of months ago in National Urban League and others, we were all out there really letting people know that what was happening in the South was happening in your state in different kinds of ways.

And so you started to see that kind of thing.

I participated in National Action Network and General Manager Institute and many of our organizations came together.

What do you say to those folks?

Talk about why it was so important from a mission standpoint for you all to get this survey done.

Well, first of all, it is so good to be in, in community, uh, uh, with you and, of course, our sister, Dr. Avis.

And, and just listening to you, uh, uh, in, in the-- just now just listening to the conversation, uh, you were right on target.

[laughs] I'll say that.

If, if ever there's a time for us to come together and bring all that we have...

And like you say, we don't-- u-unity does not mean uniformity.

It just never has and never will.

Mm-hmm.

[laughs]

Always.

Sisters always, right.

Well, first of all, uh, Joy, y- uh, you know, you, you have been there with us in putting this information out.

This is our 10th year, believe it or not.

We skipped last year.

It was too much going on to even try to grasp it.

[laughs]

Go

ahead.

Gen Alpha, Gen, okay.

So those who were of voting age when Obama was in office, so whichever category that finds itself, right? They grew up thinking that all those things that had happened in the past would not happen.

And so I think what you're having is that reality because the things that are happening now are impacting their ability to get a job, ability to start a business, ability to get into a college.

And the reality of all the things around criminal justice and all these attacks One of the things I can say that makes me hopeful, even beyond this poll, is the work rolling when we were in Montgomery, with all roads lead to the south and in Selma, and then what's happening in Tennessee and in South Carolina and Georgia over the last few months with the voting rights fact.

Because the voting rights piece, like I said, in the poll, it's in the 90%.

And what I've been saying to brothers is, guess what? They doing they thing, so if brothers all around the country In communities right now, in cities, in neighborhoods, in counties, in states, if they are saying, Mary and her sisters out there doing their stuff, what about us? How about your ass get to work? But, Mellie, you can go ahead and take it from

That is their aim, uh, and they want to scare people from showing up.

Oh, most definitely, Roland.

And the b- and the reality is this is just the beginning of the beginning of the chaos Um, one of the things that we know that was tested was what they did in Georgia when they, uh, went into Fulton County and snatched ballots.

Uh, the idea that they're gonna use ICE, the idea they're gonna use every weapon they can is something we just need to be prepared for, and the, and the question is how, how to make sure that we're prepared for it.

It's very different when you have a federal government using, uh, legal, um, uh, uh, not legal, but using law enforcement, federal law enforcement, uh, agencies to actually try to hijack this election.

So the idea that DOJ is gonna send monitors is just another tool that they're using against the, against the idea of free and fair elections.

And so we have to try to do all we can, um, to, to fight back.

That is to overwhelm ballot boxes nationwide.

Mm-hmm

... with what's happening in the last few weeks after the Cali case, uh, unjust decision.

Um, so what we are doing, uh, I've partnered with, uh, I got a call from a few, couple, uh, of my colleagues in the movement, uh, Latosha Brown more specifically, and, uh, also Janai Nelson and Cliff Albright, for us to come together for this national call to action.

Uh, and it's for the people.

It's for, for Black people and allies who believe that this country, uh, that we helped build, um, is going down, uh, to, to become authoritarian and fascist, and one of the ways to do that is to target, uh, power, uh, and consolidate power.

And so we know, as you can see by my shirt this morning, power of the ballot.

We understand what that means.

C- can you talk to us a little bit about that?

She's like, "Okay, I'm mad, but I'm about to turn all this anger into progress for my people." So, I wanted to know what's driving you.

Well- well, you know, because, um, my faith, one.

But two, the village.

We are a village.

You know? And, um, a- as much as, uh, I've not experienced this and we- i- i- in- in- in this, the rapid way it's happened over the last ni- now 10 months, going on 11 months, I also know history, and that-We, we know enough to know that we have overcome so much as a people.

And we're s- and, and that has not changed.

It's in our DNA to fight for our freedom, right? That's not a cliché.

Yes.