Black Voters Matter Launches ‘Take The Field’ Student Initiative

Black Voters Matter (BVM) is partnering with students nationwide to advocate for educational legislative changes and to empower them to combat policies that put their educational futures at risk.

Starting March 19, BVM will launch its Take the Field initiative, a series of events to boost student civic engagement by elevating student issues and organizing around policies affecting them at the local, state, and national levels. In collaboration with the Black College Invitational Championship (BCIC), BVM and local partners will host a variety of events, including voter registration drives, community canvassing, student town halls, and a march and rally to raise awareness of policy issues impacting high school and college students.

This initiative stands in direct opposition to Senate Bill 227 and House Bill 127. If passed, HB 127 would criminalize the distribution of official voter registration forms during registration drives, creating unfair barriers to pre-registering high school students (ages 16-17), registering high school seniors, checking and re-registering purged voters, and registering HBCU students. This extreme measure seeks to block community organizations from assisting people in registering to vote.

The future of voting rights in America is under threat. According to the Brennan Center, between 2021 and 2024, states passed 79 restrictive voting laws—nearly three times the number passed between 2017 and 2020 (27) and more than four times the total from 2013 to 2016 (17). Some of these laws target the expansion of mail voting, while others impose requirements for documentary proof of citizenship, such as birth certificates, passports, or naturalization papers, to vote. If we don’t take action now, the situation will only worsen for our students, who we will depend on as future leaders and change-makers.

Additionally, SB 227 aims to eliminate DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs in public education, which threatens not only education but also the economy. Students of color now make up the majority of public K-12 schools and nearly half of college enrollments, but they face difficult barriers that impact their educational success including expensive tuition and discrimination. Removing programs and policies that protect their rights and support their educational advancement would exacerbate achievement gaps, increase inequities, and harm the future workforce.

To amplify their message, BVM will collaborate with several organizations and universities sorority and fraternity chapters, including Vote Riders, For the Struggle Epsilon Zeta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi, Johnson C. Smith University, Livingstone College, among others. Let’s come together and fight for change.

If you’re a student interested in mobilizing with Black Voters Matter, BCIC, and their affiliated partners, see a full list of dates, times, and locations for their upcoming Take the Field event.