First National Black Voter Day to be recognized on September 18

In partnership with the National Urban League and other key civil rights organizations, BET has announced the next phase of its #ReclaimYourVote campaign, which declares the first-ever National Black Voter Day to be recognized on September 18, 2020.

The announcement comes 100 days out from Election Day and aims to energize and galvanize Black voters nationwide to take collective action toward civic engagement. The date coincides with the country’s first early voting day, in South Dakota and Minnesota – the latter being ground zero of the fight for racial justice since the killing of George Floyd.

“With 100 days until Election Day—it is critical for BET to utilize all of our resources and partnerships to drive Black civic engagement across the country, and the National Black Voter Day is a key part of this effort,” said Scott Mills, President, BET. “We will use the momentum of the fight against systemic racism to galvanize those marching in protest to march to the polls in November.”

“We have witnessed attempts to exclude Black Americans from the voting process through the purging of registration rolls, restrictive voter ID laws and other forms of voter suppression – a legacy of Jim Crow,” added Jeanine Liburd, Chief Social Impact & Communications Officer. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the National Urban League and an incredible group of impact partners to declare September 18 National Black Voter Day to energize our audience to reclaim their vote during this upcoming election and beyond.”

In addition to the National Urban League, key impact partners signed on, including the National Action Network, NAACP, When We All Vote, Black Voters Matter, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, The Collective PAC, Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights Under Law, Election Protection, The Leadership Conference On Civil And Human Rights and The Black Economic Alliance.

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