Alicia Garza Talks The Black Census Project And How Elected Officials Can Show Up For Black America
While most politicians have made it a trend to only seek the opinions of the Black community during election season, Garza and her team at Black Futures Lab have been doing so since the organization’s formation. One of their major initiatives, the Black Census Project, is a survey that gives Black people the opportunity to chime in on events and circumstances that impact their lives. For Garza, she believes that this survey will have a major impact on the Black community’s presence at the polls this fall.
“The Black Census Project is one of our flagship projects at Black Futures Lab, and it is the largest survey of Black people in America in 157 years,” Garza said. “This year, we are shooting to reach 200,000 Black folks from across the country in all languages and many different demographics.
“We’re trying to become the largest survey of Black people in history in this country. The Black Census Project is important because Black people, especially as it relates to politics, get talked to and talked about, but we’re rarely engaged with the things that are shaping our lives every day and what it is we want to see done about it.”