Black voters will drive this election, so it’s time that campaigns start listening.

By Moné Holder

Too often, elected leaders have failed to deliver on basic promises and have failed to represent our values. From the White House to the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee, down to the southernmost counties in Florida–Republicans have failed to protect our democracy and keep Floridians safe.

Our country is in the middle of a pandemic. Florida has surpassed 250,000 cases and more than 4,200 people have died in our state due to COVID-19. Millions of people are without jobs and unable to access unemployment benefits due to a disastrous system set up by the previous Republican governor and the failure to take action by our current governor.  And, like we’ve seen nationwide, Floridians are demanding change to a broken policing system and ending the systemic racism that threatens Black communities.

It’s time for change in our country and our state so that we can all thrive.

Without doubt, Black voters will be a deciding voting bloc in the direction that Florida swings this election cycle. Black women, especially, have been setting the course the country takes for decades–always moving the collective towards progress, even when Republicans do everything they can to suppress our votes.

We’ve seen them reduce voting hours and cut polling locations. They have taken away our voter registration with no rhyme or reason.

We’ve seen their continued attempts to disenfranchise returning citizens, including having a poll tax, after voters approved restoring voting rights to 1.4 million individuals in 2018–predominantly people of color.

We know their playbook: they have to cheat to win.

Change will only be possible if we join together, like generations before us, to elect the leaders who will represent us; leaders who will fight with us for a fair economy and racial equity in Florida.

Florida for All is committed to being a part of that change. As a coalition of locally rooted grassroots organizations and coalitions, we’ve been talking to voters for months already. We’re the same groups who you hear from year round, fighting for local ordinances and making sure our communities are fed and have the resources they need to be successful.

We’re working with our partners in Jacksonville and across the state to fight for fair wages and ensure the minimum wage is $15 per hour. We’re fighting to elect progressive candidates up and down the ballot and ensure that voting is free, fair, and accessible, especially for Black and brown voters.

Florida for All has officially launched and we will be in your community listening, learning, and engaging, to ensure that you have a voice this election. We have to do it together because we know that is the only way we will build a state–and a country–that works for all of us.