Inspired black men to help Philly “drum” up the vote!
—
Philadelphia has consistently experienced low voter turnout in its elections. And despite the revamped “Get Out the Vote” messaging efforts of city officials, the numbers don’t reveal and informed and engaged electorate.
2014 BMe Leader Isaiah Thomas, who ran for City Council at-large at age 26, pointed out in a recent interview that in the Mayoral election of 2011 the voter turnout citywide was 17 percent. The city, most recently in May’s primary election, showed a slight improvement: 20 percent.
Not satisfied with the state of civic engagement in the nation’s fifth largest city, a number of BMe Leaders in Philadelphia are everyday beating the drum about civic engagement, voter registration and politics.
Their collective efforts will be on display from 5-8pm on Saturday, September 6th, at the courtyard in City Hall for DrumDuel®, a head-to-head, multi-level drum competition and showcase where winners are decided by ballot.
“I believe this collaboration is the beginning of a powerful paradigm shift in our city,” says 2012 BMe Leader Alex Peay, who touts the fact that “young men from Germantown, North, South and West Philadelphia” have come together to do what they love artistically, while still serving the public.
“When you gather a group of dynamic dancers who use hip hop to educate, engage, and inform communities, a community organizer and actor dedicated to mentoring, nurturing and professionally developing black men and boys, a journalist who writes an end to the world’s problems while drumming for justice and a DJ who rewinds, replays, reduces, reuses, and recycles then something magical is destined to happen,” says 2013 BMe Leader Rashaun “DJ Reezey®” Williams, who’s the official DJ for Drum Duel®.
The dynamic dancers that Williams refers to are the critically acclaimed Project Positive, founded by 2014 BMe Leader Damon “Dink” Holley.
“How we’re using edutainment to engage communities is unmatched by anyone in the tri-state area,” says Holley, “I believe what we’re doing is great not just for our benefit, but for everyone in the community who looks for something greater.”
The nonpartisan, three-hour event is spearheaded by 2013 BMe Leader Christopher “Flood the Drummer®” Norris, a professional drummer who organized drum competitions for years as the Department Manager at the Guitar Center in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Both Norris and Peay, in addition to their roles as BMe Leaders, serve as Pennsylvania State Coordinators for Black Youth Vote, a program of the non-profit, non-partisan National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.
“Drum Duel® serves as a scalable model that can be implemented throughout our country to engage millennials in the political process. The message of ‘vote because our ancestors died for the right’ doesn’t connect with young people,” says Norris, “They need to be informed and engaged, but let’s face it; they also want to be entertained. The roster of edutainers we’ve built for this event has both a national and a global appeal; and I look forward to continuing this work with my brothers as we build communities worldwide that are caring, prosperous, informed, engaged and led by black men.”
by Arthur L. Griffin, Jr.
Thanks for reading!
Arthur L. Griffin, Jr., is the President of New Business Development, Techbook Online Corporation.
—
Photo: AP/J Pat Carter
