An Ode to Grassroots Organizers

Last week (read: for the last two months), all eyes were on Georgia as they decided who controlled the senate for the first two years of President Elect Joe Biden’s administration. Georgia has been a red state since 1992, so its sudden flip to blue came as a shock to many. 

But it didn’t come as a shock to Stacey Abrams—the former Minority Leader in Georgia’s House, who after her 2018 defeat in Georgia’s gubernatorial race—founded Fair Fight, a voting rights organization. Ms. Abrams, along with Fair Fight and many other organizers and canvassers listened, spoke up and believed in the power of the vote. And thanks to them—Georgia came up big for Democrats this year.

Voter suppression is a real issue—one that we’re committed as hell to combatting both here at home and across the country. Our Houston readers might have seen some of the work we put together for the Harris County Clerk’s Office #VoteYourWay campaign last year, providing support like helpful FAQs, a poll finder and sample ballots supporting multiple languages. But just like Georgia, there are many obstacles from our elections being totally free and totally fair, as well as many unsung heroes behind the scenes who are working to change that.

Here are a few organizations here in Texas that are actively making sure that we all get the representation that we need:

• Move Texas is a non-partisan, non-profit committed to building power in underrepresented youth communities across Texas. They currently operate in multiple cities across the state like Laredo, Houston and San Antonio.
• Texas Rising is another group of young voter advocates. Texas Rising organizes on college campuses across Texas—registering young voters of color and building youth leadership. They operate on 20 college campuses in every metropolitan area across the state. 
• Texas Organizing Project (TOP) organizes communities of color in Bexar, Dallas, and Harris County. TOP advocates for issues facing communities of color and offers trainings to develop leadership skills in everyday community leaders.

The events in Georgia over the last few months have sparked a flame for everyone in this nation. It’s showed us that if we stay persistent in organizing our communities and engaging voters on the issues that are important to them and to us—we’ll be able to make change that will last for generations to come. 

Let’s continue to listen, speak and act. Because we all win when we all vote.