Puts Spotlight on 2020 Census and Grassroots Leaders
BROOKLYN, NY - Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and founder of Fair Count, Stacey Abrams headlined Brooklyn Community Foundation’s annual Invest In Brooklyn Dinner— a benefit for the organization’s racial and social justice work that took place at the Weylin on Friday, October 18th. Founded in 2009, the Foundation has distributed nearly $50M to community-based organizations across the borough, making it the largest social justice funder for Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Community Foundation President and CEO Cecilia Clarke welcomed guests and discussed the shared vision and impact between the Foundation and Fair Count, the nonprofit Abrams launched earlier this year to get out the count for Census 2020 in Georgia.
Ms. Clarke began by saying, “We are so honored to be joined by one of the most exciting and influential leaders fighting for our country’s future: Stacey Abrams.” She went on to say, “Ten years ago, Brooklyn had the lowest mail return rate on the Census in the country, and was the hardest-to-count county in all of New York State. As the largest county in New York, this makes Brooklyn ground zero for getting out the count in 2020.” Ms. Clarke highlighted the work the Foundation has led to ensure a fair count. “We have become a leading census advocate, pushing the city and state to secure more than $60M for Census outreach driven by community-based organizations.”
NY Times bestselling author and former Teen Vogue Editor-In-Chief, Elaine Welteroth moderated a fireside chat with Ms. Abrams where they discussed the importance of the 2020 Census as well as issues surrounding electoral justice and voting rights. When Ms. Welteroth noted in her introduction that Ms. Abrams was “the first Black woman nominated for the governorship of Georgia,” Ms. Abrams interrupted her. “The first Black woman to be nominated for the governorship by a major party in American history,” before going on to tell the cheering audience, “No - y’all should not clap for that. It’s been 242 years.”
When Ms. Abrams was asked, “What is the connection between your work on the Census and your work on voting rights? Where do you find the through line?” she said, “the Census is the most urgent issue of 2020...it is as urgent as the presidency.” She went on to say that “taking the Census seriously, believing that it is a question of our survival, is essential because if we lose the count, we not only lose political power, we lose resources. $800 billion dollars will be allocated and if it does not come to the communities that need it the most, it will harm those communities not for a decade, but for a generation. If we erase people from the narrative of who we are, we erase them from the future of our country.”
One of the evening’s many highlights was when Ms. Abrams discussed the resistance she faced while running for Governor in 2018. Abrams said “ignore them all.” She went on to say, “I am a sturdy Black woman with natural hair and no husband and I did a damn good job in my election,” for which she received a standing ovation.
The evening concluded with Brooklyn Community Foundation’s newest board member Aisha Moodie-Mills, a political strategist, CNN Analyst and former Victory Fund CEO, reiterating the Foundation’s impact in Brooklyn. She said Brooklyn Community Foundation “is doing the work of saving lives on a day-to-day basis in the borough. Around the country people are hiding in churches because the Trump White House is trying to hunt them out, send them off and take away their children. The investments you make today save lives and seed social and racial justice work across the borough.”
Source: Mercury
Brooklyn Community Foundation President and CEO Cecilia Clarke welcomed guests and discussed the shared vision and impact between the Foundation and Fair Count, the nonprofit Abrams launched earlier this year to get out the count for Census 2020 in Georgia.
Ms. Clarke began by saying, “We are so honored to be joined by one of the most exciting and influential leaders fighting for our country’s future: Stacey Abrams.” She went on to say, “Ten years ago, Brooklyn had the lowest mail return rate on the Census in the country, and was the hardest-to-count county in all of New York State. As the largest county in New York, this makes Brooklyn ground zero for getting out the count in 2020.” Ms. Clarke highlighted the work the Foundation has led to ensure a fair count. “We have become a leading census advocate, pushing the city and state to secure more than $60M for Census outreach driven by community-based organizations.”
NY Times bestselling author and former Teen Vogue Editor-In-Chief, Elaine Welteroth moderated a fireside chat with Ms. Abrams where they discussed the importance of the 2020 Census as well as issues surrounding electoral justice and voting rights. When Ms. Welteroth noted in her introduction that Ms. Abrams was “the first Black woman nominated for the governorship of Georgia,” Ms. Abrams interrupted her. “The first Black woman to be nominated for the governorship by a major party in American history,” before going on to tell the cheering audience, “No - y’all should not clap for that. It’s been 242 years.”
When Ms. Abrams was asked, “What is the connection between your work on the Census and your work on voting rights? Where do you find the through line?” she said, “the Census is the most urgent issue of 2020...it is as urgent as the presidency.” She went on to say that “taking the Census seriously, believing that it is a question of our survival, is essential because if we lose the count, we not only lose political power, we lose resources. $800 billion dollars will be allocated and if it does not come to the communities that need it the most, it will harm those communities not for a decade, but for a generation. If we erase people from the narrative of who we are, we erase them from the future of our country.”
One of the evening’s many highlights was when Ms. Abrams discussed the resistance she faced while running for Governor in 2018. Abrams said “ignore them all.” She went on to say, “I am a sturdy Black woman with natural hair and no husband and I did a damn good job in my election,” for which she received a standing ovation.
The evening concluded with Brooklyn Community Foundation’s newest board member Aisha Moodie-Mills, a political strategist, CNN Analyst and former Victory Fund CEO, reiterating the Foundation’s impact in Brooklyn. She said Brooklyn Community Foundation “is doing the work of saving lives on a day-to-day basis in the borough. Around the country people are hiding in churches because the Trump White House is trying to hunt them out, send them off and take away their children. The investments you make today save lives and seed social and racial justice work across the borough.”
Source: Mercury
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