Black Men's Roundtable for Voter Engagement
By Trupania Bonner

Positive political change is needed. The only way it can happen is through creating voter registration and voter education campaigns across the nation. Historical voting practices of Jim Crow laws in the South marginalized communities of color. Currently in New Orleans the civil and human rights of Black Men & Boys are still being threatend by Jim Crow type policies and practices through redistricting, restrictive funding for the public sector, and legal manuevering. We have to begin to make political civic engagement a part of our everyday lifestyle unless we will have given back every "right" we have ever fought to have. We have witnessed first hand the political resegregation of New Orleans through redistricting, now we are dealing with the implementation of curfew for young adults, lack of affidavits at voter centers, and the constant push to move from public health, education and public safety programs or systems altogether. African Americans in New Orleans rank number one in the US in terms of Infant Mortality Rates (IMR). This is usually a revealing indicator of overall health, access to healthcare, and a country or States spending priorities. Through excercising our right to vote we can create the positive political change needed to grow and sustain our communities.

This is an invitation to come together and organize for a better day for Black Men & Boys in New Orleans. Whether you're a concerned individual, community based organization, or public official, you are welcomed to enter this space and join with other concerned Black men to move forward as a collective on voter engagement in 2012.

If you are at all interested in taking the next step, please join us on February 3, 2012, 6pm @ Xavier University's Norman C. Francis Building (located at the corner of Drexel Drive and Short Street). Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by calling 985.643.6186

The Black Men & Boys Initiative (BMBI) seeks to shape a new future for Black Men and Boys beginning in the great city of New Orleans. This multi-year initiative is composed of strategic community and national campaigns focused on issues of critical impact on Black Men & Boys. Community-rooted campaigns will focus on community-building and policy advocacy. BMBI Programs will also focus on data collection and dissemination as well as creating and sharing positive images of Black Men & Boys.Together these programs and campaigns work toward one shared vision of helping to make New Orleans a place where Black Men & Boys can thrive.

Your Brother in struggle,

Trupiana "Trap" Bonner