In the fourth episode of “Inside Voices,” (available to stream at the bottom of this page) join host Kevin “Kaze” Thomas for a conversation with Meredith Lowder, co-founder of “Vote On Purpose,” a non-profit dedicated to “[bringing] awareness to local voters about their leadership, [increasing] the participation in the political process, [holding] our leadership accountable to the promises they make to the Black community and [providing] a central location for political information,” according to its website.

(photo via Vote On Purpose)

“Vote On Purpose came from the current Black Lives Matter movement,” said Lowder. “With everything that’s going on, we spent multiple days protesting in the streets in Winston Salem and myself and my son’s father, Brian Simpers, wanting to do something to continue this fight.”

Of course, it can be difficult to manage the dual demands of a full-time job and a full-time family with the desire to join in efforts to fight for a cause. According to Lowder, it was “just impossible” to be out protesting as much as she and Simpers wanted, so they began a discussion about what they could do to help on other fronts, as well.

“We sat down and thought about what we can do with not a lot of money to help black people, black communities, and keep this going and try to eliminate a lot of these problems,” said Lowder. “So we came up with this idea to help people make educated choices at the polls, and we want to make sure that we stress the importance of voting for your local candidates. It’s not all about the president, the president can’t do a lot of things without approval from the Senate or the house or your local county, city boards and sheriffs and things like that. And you vote for those people, right? So we’re trying to break that idea of voting straight party and actually vote for the person for what matters for you and your community.”

Listen below as Kaze and Lowder talk about protesting, politics, the power of a vote, the important of informed decision-making and more on this episode of “Inside Voices.”

“Inside Voices” is a platform dedicated to Black men and women, people of color and allies — and a place to share experiences, concerns and stories while working to find hope and optimism about tackling tough topics and discussions while finding constructive ways to talk about solutions. “Inside Voices” is hosted by Kevin “Kaze” Thomas.

 

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