For immediate release
Media Contact: Samantha Hart, srhart@communitychange.org, 540-470-0480
Community Change Action/Voters, Michigan Liberation Action Fund, and Michigan United Action Host Media Briefing on Electoral Organizing Strategy and Voter Attitudes in Michigan
(Michigan) – Yesterday, Community Change Action/Voters were joined by Michigan Liberation Action Fund and Michigan United to host a virtual briefing on issues moving Michigan voters and to share about their electoral organizing strategies in the state.
Community Change Action/Voters kicked off the call by giving an overview of the organization’s electoral organizing program, which employs an innovative approach to engage high potential voters of color and voters with low incomes. Franco Caliz, Co-Director of Electoral Powerbuilding, credited Community Change Action/Voter’s track record of reaching these voters to partnership with trusted messengers like Michigan Liberation Action Fund and Michigan United Action.
“Relationships and community matters the most – it can’t just be during election years. Our partners are rooted in communities, 365 days every year, talking about the things that people are experiencing day in and day out of their lives. They’re building those deeper relationships,” said Caliz.
Caliz also gave a brief overview of the strategy behind and goals of Community Change Action/Voter’s organizing program in Michigan, which includes congressional districts 3, 7, 8, and 10:
“Michiganders in these districts have the ability to make a difference both locally and nationally. Together we’re aiming to knock on over 400,000 doors this year and reach another million voters over the phone, and we’re already 65% of the way there. It’s hard, unsexy work, but it is the sort of thing that will ensure Kamala is in the West Wing.”
Michigan Liberation Action Fund, a grassroots group focused on ending mass incarceration in Michigan and training people impacted by the system to be leaders, spoke next about their work canvassing in Macomb County.
“We’ve been on the doors talking to people in this election cycle since February, where we started Narcan-vassing. That’s where we go door to door and have deep conversations with Macomb County residents while also offering harm reduction tools like Narcan. We heard a lot about the high cost of housing, the cost of child care, access to health care and mental health care, struggling with substance use, and ongoing struggles with racial policing and profiling,” said Tim Christensen, Field Organizer with Michigan Liberation Action Fund.
Zorianna Ashwood, a canvasser with Michigan Liberation Action Fund, highlighted a story that really stuck with her: “We were walking through a neighborhood and I met an elder Black gentleman who was just sitting on his porch in the afternoon. We were able to have a really genuine, authentic conversation where he told me that he was not feeling like his vote had power. I was able to employ my training and take the time to hear him out and shift his perspective. It’s true that the current sociopolitical climate feels tumultuous and uncomfortable – everybody knows that. But empowering people in their communities is why we’re able to have such a long-lasting impact on residents behind the doors that we knock, and why that Black elder was actually able to go out and turn out the vote.”
Michigan United Action, a grassroots organization built by canvassers that fights for racial and economic justice, spoke about their work to organize voters in Michigan and the ways they’re advocating at all levels, both in and out of election season.
“We hire people from our community to go talk to members of our communities, and that is a much more highly effective way of messaging to voters. We got a trifecta in Michigan two years ago and that is because of the work of on-the-ground organizers. Two years ago we had 206,000 door knocks across the state. This year we’re looking to increase that to over 250,000. So far, we are full steam ahead. Ahead of the August primary, we knocked over 40,000 doors and four out of seven of our endorsed candidates won their primaries last week,” said Casey Copp, Senior Field Organizer for Michigan United Action.
Copp also mentioned that high electric bills and power outages are a big issue for Michiganders, which is why they’re part of the Taking Back Our Power Coalition which works to bar regulated monopolies like DTE from making political contributions.
Jamie Beasley, a canvasser with Michigan United Action, closed the program by highlighting how her experience as a Black woman who has seen a lot of political strife in her lifetime has informed her work as a canvasser:
“I was born in the late 60s and what we’re seeing today reminds me of what I grew up with in the 70s. I know that this too shall pass, but it takes me to why I am here. I come from a father that worked in the Ford plant. He came from the south, was not formally educated and couldn’t read or write. My mother and father played a great part in inspiring me to do this work. My mother believed in voting and would take me to the polls, so I learned to vote from her. She would organize other Black women in our low-income housing community to improve conditions for everyone there. I vote because I want to protect people’s rights, I vote because of those who have come before us, and I also vote because I just believe in democracy.”
This briefing is the first in a series Community Change Action/Voters plan to host in key swing states including Wisconsin, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, and nationally leading up to the 2024 election. You can watch the full Michigan media briefing here.
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