Registering to Vote – Straight Outa Compton

LA writer, columnist, blogger Jasmyne Cannick was feeling frustrated because she felt most of the discussion in the presidential election was being directed at the problems of the middle class, with little or no talk of the millions who live in poverty in the America.

So she gathered together some friends with like concerns, who also happened to be rappers, radio hosts, and the like, and launched something she is calling “My Hood Votes.” The idea was to “engage non-traditional voters in underserved black neighborhoods.” (Here’s the group’s new official website. But be cautioned: if you click the link, music comes on, so if you’re secretly reading this at work….” )

Last Saturday was the group’s kick-off outing. Jasmyne and friends Lil Eazy E’ Wright Jr., (son of the late rapper Eazy E, founder of N.W.A.), Felicia “The Poetess” Morris (co-host of The Foxx Hole w/Jamie Foxx on Sirius Satellite Radio), Minister Tony Muhammad, and FM radio host, Guy Black, camped out for the afternoon in downtown Compton to inform and register voters.

When I asked what kind of reception they got, Jasmyne told me that they got local radio shows to promote the event, then went “live on the air from the street,” so hearing the broadcast people began to gather.

Having a bunch of celebrities on hand helped, she said.

“When Minister Tony or Guy Black asks you if you’re registered, you pay attention.”

One of major issues the group dealt with on Saturday was explaining voting rights to people with felony convictions in their pasts.

“I registered a lot of felons who were off parole, but thought they couldn’t vote,” Jasmyne told me.

In California convicted felons are eligible to vote once they have done their time and are off parole (or if they are only on probation).

Nationally there are approximately 4 million released felons who may or may not be able to vote, depending upon individual state laws. The population of convicted felons is disproportionately black, and roughly 13 percent of black men nationwide have lost the right to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law.

However, many of those who live in states like California where they are eligible, still do not bother to register, assuming, like those with whom Jasmyne spoke, that they will be turned away.

It’s all about educating people,” she said.

Next it’s on to Watts, Inglewood, South L.A., and more. “And after November 4, the work continues. We vote every year, whether it be a local, state or national election. All elections affect the hood—all our hoods.”

Yep.

(Note: The photo is of Lil’ Easy E (whose late father famously identified himself as a Crip) helping a Compton man register (the man self-identified as a Blood.)