澳彩开奖

Sitting in a lecture hall at Jackson State University鈥檚 College of Business in Mississippi, professor D鈥橝ndra Orey took an informal poll of the dozen or so political science students.

鈥淗ow many of y鈥檃ll are registered to vote?鈥� he asked. Just about every hand in the room shot up. 鈥淎nd how many of y鈥檃ll plan to vote?鈥� The hands didn鈥檛 waver. The 澳彩开奖 and its partners put those hands to good use last week with a voter mobilization event.

Earlier that day, students met at the university鈥檚 radio station Sipp-FM, awaiting the arrival of a host of music artists to kick off the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Hip-Hop Text-a-Thon by speaking with students about the importance of voting. That kicked off a two-day tour hitting four of Mississippi鈥檚 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The purpose of the tour was to connect with young voters and boost turnout throughout the state. Their goal was to text as many of Mississippi鈥檚 eligible voters as possible and encourage them to vote in the state鈥檚 elections on Nov. 7.

By the end of the two-day event, the four HBCUs had sent 106,000 texts to voters.

In the video: Students from Tougaloo College and Jackson State University took part in the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Hip-Hop Text-a-Thon events aimed at underscoring the significance of voting and the power of the youth vote.

鈥淭here is so much power in the collective,鈥� 澳彩开奖 Mississippi State Director Waikinya Clanton said at the event. 鈥淵outh voices make up the majority of folks here in the state of Mississippi. Do y鈥檃ll understand the power of that? This is an opportunity to mobilize and transform lives, and it begins with our own. So, let鈥檚 pay it forward by ensuring that we vote.鈥�

Jackson State junior Jordan Riley, 20, understands that HBCU students are directly affected by elections.

鈥淗BCUs are severely underfunded by the state,鈥� Riley said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 important for us to have somebody in office who really cares about HBCUs and the culture, who will fund us, who will come to our schools and actually talk to us. We need to do our part and get people in [office] who actually care about us, who are going to do the work to support us.鈥�

The text-a-thons are a partnership between the 澳彩开奖; Hip Nation, an organization focused on magnifying the political power of hip-hop; and Memphis record label NLess Entertainment. The text-a-thons launched at Jackson State on Oct. 24, before heading to Tougaloo College and Mississippi Valley State University. The effort wrapped up with a visit to Rust College on Oct. 25. Among the students were first-time voters and others who had cast their ballots in the 2020 presidential election and were eager to participate in races that hit closer to home.

The event was part of the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 larger 鈥�Activate Mississippi鈥� initiative, which seeks to bridge the worlds of arts, activism and voter education with events such as the text-a-thon.

鈥楴ot just talk, but action鈥�

More than half of the country鈥檚 and 35% of those voters are located in Mississippi 鈥� the second-highest concentration in the country. Those statistics, however, aren鈥檛 translating into people voting, according to . In the 2022 midterm elections, the state had the lowest voter turnout in the country, at 31.7%.

What鈥檚 more, a recently passed state law known as threatens to suppress the vote even more by potentially removing voters from active status if their registration is flagged by the state鈥檚 public safety department database or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The situation in Mississippi underscores the need for events, such as the text-a-thon, that can mobilize voters.

Jeremiah Harris, a 19-year-old Jackson State sophomore, also recognized the need for action.

鈥淵ou can see a lot of people talking about this, that and the third, but they won鈥檛 go out and vote to actually make the change, and that鈥檚 something I want to be a part of. Not just talk, but action,鈥� he said.

Fighting back at the ballot box

At Tougaloo鈥檚 Kroger Gymnasium, students passed out flyers that explained how to join the text-a-thon by creating an account to log into a texting platform that would allow them to reach voters directly. While they awaited the arrival of NLess Entertainment artists Big30, Dee Mula and Big Homiie G, among others, students texted while others hit 鈥溾�� as a DJ fired off tracks. The 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Clanton encouraged everyone to 鈥渢urn up, turn out, and text to turn out the vote.鈥�

The label鈥檚 artists hadn鈥檛 been slated to perform, only to speak to students about the power of their vote. But once they hit the Bulldogs鈥� stage, the students鈥� energy was hard to ignore, still harder to let pass unrewarded. The gym erupted as the artists rapped verses in call and response. At turns, the students鈥� voices all but drowned them out.聽

Freshman Nakia Brasiel, 17, served as one of the event鈥檚 student volunteers as a member of Tougaloo鈥檚 NAACP college chapter. Although she wasn鈥檛 yet eligible to vote, the text-a-thon鈥檚 significance wasn鈥檛 lost on her.

鈥淥ne issue that鈥檚 really important to me right now is the Jackson water crisis,鈥� Brasiel said, referring to the failure of the city鈥檚 largest water treatment plant in 2022. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a shame that people should go without [clean] water. We realize that there is an oppressive system against us. Voting is one way that we can fight back. I feel like it鈥檚 important that we as students find that thing we can fight with, and we fight.鈥�

Before the artists had left the stage, Clanton announced that numbers had started to pour in. Jackson State students had managed to reach 3,000 voters by text message that afternoon compared to Tougaloo鈥檚 12,000.

The Tougaloo students erupted in cheers.

Photo at top: NLess Entertainment artists appeared at Tougaloo College in Mississippi for the Hip-Hop Text-a-Thon on Oct. 24. (Credit: John Arroyo)