Hip Hop Caucus Registers More Than 30K Voters Print
Written by Robert ID4520   
Monday, 06 October 2008 00:40

The Hip Hop Caucus'' - Respect My Vote! Campaign, along with Radio One, Inc. and the Hip Hop Summit Action Network, registered more than 30,000 voters during its national "One Vote Day" voter registration drive on September 30th.

Thousands of citizens in sixteen cities across the country participated in events aimed at mass voter registration.  Radio One stations broadcasted live from central locations in each of the participating cities urging unregistered voters to attend their local registration site to register onsite. Artists such as Nelly and Raheem DeVaughn helped draw large crowds to registration stations, allowing Hip Hop Caucus volunteers to register an average of 1,200 voters within each of the different markets.

"We are so glad that we were able to get thousands of citizens involved in one of the most important rights as Americans," says  Barry Macon, Corporate Director of Marketing for Radio-One. "Voting should never be taken for granted and we felt it necessary to reach out with information and education to the community that we serve day in and day out."

The nationwide one day voter drive was a combined effort between the Hip Hop Caucus, Radio One, Inc, and the Hip Hop Summit Action Network to register and mobilize young people to vote.

"The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network salutes The Hip-Hop Caucus for their leadership in achieving one of the largest single day voter registration records in history, particularly for youth voters," Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President and CEO of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network. "While we are still collecting the data from other cities that participated in "The One-Day" voter campaign, we know from the tabulations that as of today well over 30,000 new voter registrations took place on September 30, 2008 across the United States ."

"This one day event proves that we can make an impact in this election, and that working together to get out the vote is the only way to see results," says Hip Hop Caucus President, Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. who co-created the 2004 campaign "Vote or Die" with Sean "P Diddy" Combs. "Our next goal is making sure all these registered voters get out to the polls in November and really let their voice be heard."

The Hip Hop Caucus'' Respect My Vote! Campaign seeks to register and mobilize 18-29 year olds in urban communities to vote and be engaged in the political process. Statistics show only 7% of eligible 18-29 year-olds who did not attend college, voted this past Super Tuesday and this is a target group that has not traditionally been reached out to and engaged in the political process.

About The Hip Hop Caucus

The Hip Hop Caucus (www.hiphopcaucus.org ) is a non-partisan organization that works to ensure the voice of the Hip Hop Generation is heard by engaging them in the political process. Through the use of grassroots organizing and celebrity spokespeople, the Hip Hop Caucus looks to mobilize young people to register and vote in November and in subsequent elections. The President of the Hip Hop Caucus, Rev. Yearwood, was the co-creator of the 2004 campaign "Vote or Die" with Sean "P Diddy" Combs, former Political and Grassroots Director for Russell Simmons'' Hip Hop Summit Action Network, and a Senior Consultant to Jay Z's "Voice Your Choice" initiative. 

About Radio One, Inc

Radio One, Inc. (www.radio-one.com ) is one of the nation's largest radio broadcasting companies and the largest radio broadcasting company that primarily targets African-American and urban listeners. Radio One owns and/or operates 53 radio stations located in 16 urban markets in the United States . Additionally, Radio One owns Magazine One, Inc. (d/b/a Giant Magazine) (www.giantmag.com), interests in TV One, LLC (www.tvoneonline.com), a cable/satellite network programming primarily to African-Americans and Reach Media, Inc.

About Hip-Hop Summit Action Network

Founded in 2001, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) is dedicated to harnessing the cultural relevance of hip-hop music to serve as a catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns fundamental to the well being of at-risk youth throughout the United States . HSAN is the largest non-profit, national coalition of hip-hop artists, entertainment industry leaders, education advocates, civil rights proponents, and youth leaders united in the belief that Hip-Hop is an enormously influential agent for positive social change which must be responsibly and proactively utilized to fight the war on poverty and injustice. For more information, go to www.hsan.org .