Vote Or Else Initiative Town Hall Meeting Takes Over Atlanta

It was a day of civic engagement, community outreach and fellowship on Friday in Atlanta as Killer Mike welcomed an array of rappers, actors and athletes to his old neighborhood. The multi-time Grammy award winner once again teamed up with the organizations Mobilize Justice, The AAPI Victory Fund, Working Families and SEIU  to galvanize people to go and vote.

In the early part of the day, Mike was joined by Marvin Bing Founder and Leader of Mobilize Justice, and his band of luminaries Beanie Sigel, Jadakiss, Blacc Sam, Jorge “JP” Peniche of The Marathon, Jadakiss, Tamika Mallory, Latoya Tonodeo from “Power Book II: Ghost,” Smoke DZA and Wayno as they took to parts of ATL including the Camelot Projects. The collective went from door to door, talking to residents in an effort to encourage and excite people to vote in this historic and critical election, as well as to get educated about candidates running in state, and local Elections and then hit the polls on November 5.

Later that night, media personalities Angie Martinez and Ray Daniels moderated a Town Hall where most of the celebrity canvassers participated along with Dee-1, Benny The Butcher, Maurice “Moe” Mitchell of Working Families, International President of SEIU April Verrett, Founder and CEO of Onyx Impact Esosa Osa, Woody McCLain from “Power Book II: Ghost”, Isaac Keys, and J. Alphonse Nicholson plays Lil’ Murda in the hit Starz series “P-Valley”.

“We can really decide on what goes on in our own neighborhood,” Benny said about the urgency of voting. “What’s really happening in the fabric of America, we can make an impact and change on that. I’ve got mothers, daughterssisters, cousins, and it’s important… My daughter, she’s 19. I told her, ‘vote. Make sure you vote this year.’ This is her first time being able to vote. ‘Make sure you go do that and exerciseyour right to do that.”

Beanie Sigel who’s been canvassing and participating in town halls since this summer in cities such as Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia, has been passionate about helping people get informed and to the polls. 

“I always say, ‘the closest to the problem, are the closest to the solution,’’ Beanie Sigel told the people at the Town Hall, which took place at Atlanta’s Gathering Spot.

Sigel also reflected on speaking to a gaggle of kids at a neighborhood community hub called PawKids which focuses on enriching the neighborhood youth, health and education.

“I was one of those children,” Beanie added. “I talked with them. I didn’t talk to them. I didn’t talk at them. I talked with those kids. A lot of us talk at each other. But let’s talk with each other. One of my biggest records ,I say ‘Why I’m here? I go through it, so you wouldn’t do it after me.’ If I can’t teach these kids or anybody nothing else, I can teach them what not to do from the mistakes I made in my life. It’s never too late for change. So If I could do it, I encourage all of us to do it.”

“The past few months in particularly, we have turned up our efforts to focus on inner city, communities that often get neglected in mainstream campaigning, and targets sub cultures within the black community to get educated and engaged, registered to vote, and ultimately to vote,” says Marvin Bing. “You see my organization Mobilize Justice working with the AAPI Victory Fund, SEIU, Working Families and so many others. It’s a real concerted unified effort. The hip-hop community is also stepping up to educate everyone and get the neighborhoods involved. The OGs have been building with some of the younger entertainers and they are all sharing ideas, learning from one another and passing on the information to the community. Everyone has also been learning from some of the members of the community as well. The biggest take away is that everyone has a voice and everyone has power with their vote. We will be coming to more cities in these last few days before November 5, in an effort to get everyone involved.”