Killer Mike has taken a promise made to the owners of legendary Atlanta strip club The Blue Flame Lounge to the next level, extending a plan to sign patrons up to vote to other parts of his hometown.
It all started a few weeks ago, when Blue Flame owners said they would set a table up in front of the establishment for the purpose of facilitating voter registration, and Mike volunteered to man the initiative — sitting at the table, welcoming people and helping with the registration process.
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On October 26, the Atlanta native returned to what he has called one of his favorite local establishments with Big Boi, Larry June and activist Marvin Bing as part of a two-day effort to get out the vote.
The “DOWN BY LAW” rapper spent the previous day in the streets of Atlanta where, with the support of Beanie Sigel, Jadakiss, Smoke DZA, Mysonne, former Atlanta Falcons star Michael Vick, activist Tamika Mallory, journalist Shaheem Reid, media personality Wayno and Nipsey Hussle‘s brother Blacc Sam, to name a few.
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Splitting into teams, the collective went door-to-door in several residential neighborhoods and apartment complexes, speaking to people about the need to get informed about candidates and their policies; and the importance of giving attention to state and local elections in addition to the presidential election.
They later took their efforts to Mike’s childhood neighborhood of Adamsville and other communities on Atlanta’s west side.
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“I feel great about today,” Beanie Sigel told HipHopDX. “I’ve been doing this in different cities with some of my fellow artists, actors and athletes — a lot of the same people that’s out here right now — and it’s been a journey.
“We’ve been telling people that they do have a voice and they do have power in their vote and together we can make a change. Some people feel their voice is not being heard or their vote won’t count, so we really sit and talk with them. Not at them, we talk with them and try to bring them to an understanding. We all can make a difference.”
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That night, both Beanie Sigel and Killer Mike were among the panel of artists, actors and community activist to participate in the Atlanta edition of the Vote Or Else townhall series, organized by Mobilize Justice and ONE Musicfest, which aim to to confront the pressing issues affecting communities today.
The event was moderated by Angie Martinez and music executive Ray Daniels, with additional panelists including Benny The Butcher, Dee-1, Isaac Keys from Power Book IV: Force, P-Valley star J. Alphonse Nicholson and Woody McClain from Power Book II: Ghost.
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The goal of these townhalls, Mobilize Justice explained in a press release about the event, is to “emphasize how political education, civic engagement, and advocacy — especially through credible messengers—can help get out the vote from historically disengaged, neglected, or overlooked communities.”
Killer Mike used his canvasing exercise earlier that day as an example of what that kind of civic engagement and advocacy can look like.
“What the neighborhood got to see is that somebody gave a shit about what we had to say,” he told the crowd gathered at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta.
The Run The Jewels rapper also offered the audience examples of what engagement can look like in their lives, especially on Election Day, which is on Tuesday (November 5).
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“Make it a girl’s night out, make it a homeboy hangout,” he said. “Take four or five people with you. That’s the way you win elections. Now the challenge is the day after voting. You have to do what Stokely Carmichael said: ‘You have to be in a continued state of organizing.’ After you vote, you have to hold politicians accountable.”
In recent months, Mobilize Justice worked in conjunction with The AAPI Victory Fund, Working Families, and the Service Employees International Union to organize similar Vote Or Else initiatives in Detroit and Philadelphia.
