Black Voices

Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: 2M+ Be tha Change "Be tha Change" voting campaign to register at least 2 million minority voters

The 2M+CA Voter Education Project launched its campaign on October 21 at The Music Box in Hollywood and encouraged young voters to "Be Tha Change," the official theme and motto of the project. Celebrities and government officials spoke to the youth in attendance.

2M+CA is a voting campaign that aims to register 2 million youth voters in Southern California. The project targets 18 to 27 year olds in an effort to encourage them to vote in the 2008 presidential elections.

This event is the first of a series of events that will target young voters, especially African Americans and Latinos, to not only register to vote but also increase their civic engagement.

The launch party included performances by artists such as 112, Lil' Mama, and poets such as Mayta Delvalle. Their involvement with the Be Tha Change campaign emphasized the campaign's efforts to get young people more politically involved.

The use of celebrity supporters illustrated the importance of youth involving youth. "I'm definitely the voice of the young people," said Lil' Mama. "I'm making a change in my community and in every community around the world because it's like a national thing when your album drops everybody gets a chance to hear you. I'm promoting positivism in the youth."

Tyrone Freeman, chair of the Home Care Workers Training Center, a sponsor of Be Tha Change, expressed the campaign's goals: "It's about our folks going forward and making some changes happen on their own terms [and] constructing the issues around the way we want to talk about them as young folks."

Freeman emphasized that if we "talk about issues that affect 18-27 year olds [we must] talk about it in a way that we can affect it." We can make a change and Be Tha Change plans on doing just that.

The night kicked off with the host of the evening, Joe Sinclair of BET's "Take the Cake", making commentaries about how importance it is for minority youth to vote.

"It's time for a change in this country […] it is time for our voice to speak to America by saying, look here is a candidate for us," said Sinclair, sounding hopeful for the future.

Sinclair's dynamic personality set the scene for the evening.

Continued...

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