A few black Hollywood celebrities, including Russell Simmons, Cedric The Entertainer, Meagan Good and Tisha Campbell-Martin, have joined forces for a powerful PSA on the importance of voting.
Created by Steve Jones, Omar Epps and some of the featured celebs for the Artistic Alliance For Justice (AAJ), the PSA aims to inform voters of color about the importance of getting out to the polls, as well as ways to combat voter suppression. The celebs stress that this election year is “too important of a year to sit out.” They urge viewers to consider Election Day as a national day of service.
“As people of color, we should expect hinderances and obstacles when it comes to exercising our right to vote,” a few of the stars say. They take turns giving instructions on what people need to bring with them to the polls and warn them against accepting provisional ballots.
Eva Marcille, a co-founder of AAJ, told Essence that voting isn’t just a right but a “sacred franchise.”
“I have never had to take literacy testS? at a voting booth or been turned away at a polling place, nor have I ever been told I couldn’t vote because of the color of my skin,” she said. “I’ve never experienced that because my right to vote is protected by the blood of our parents and grandparents. That’s why I’m voting and that’s why I want you to vote. Exercising our right to vote is what we owe.”
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