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On Friday, October 18, the California Black Census and Redistricting Hub “The Black Hub” launched the My Black Counts campaign, an outreach, education, and communications initiative to target Black hard-to-count communities in preparation for the 2020 state census and redistricting process. Time for Change Foundation is participating in the Black Hub to lift up the voices of those we serve and make sure our communities are represented in the upcoming census. Together, we encourage greater participation among Black, Latinx and immigrant populations in six key regions throughout the state, dispel myths and help ease fears about the 2020 census process.
My Black Counts is an educational awareness and persuasion campaign designed to help explain how government officials use census data to allocate federal funding for the state of California. The Black Hub is a growing alliance of 30 grassroots community-based organizations that includes a coalition of groups such as Alliance San Diego, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA), Community Coalition (CoCo), Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), LA Community Action Network (LACAN), Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), andTime for Change Foundation.
Time for Change Foundation has been on the frontlines, since our inception in 2002, to lead advocacy and civic engagement activities that address the disenfranchisement of black and brown communities. For far too long our communities have been underrepresented and underserved which is why TFCF makes it a point to engage our base. They support women of color during the process of re-entering their communities and reuniting with their children after incarceration.
“If we don’t get an accurate count of the Black population, we will be misrepresented in our political representation,” stated Sereeta Reid, Policy Advocate at Time for Change. “It is critically important for our communities to be counted so that we receive adequate funding for our areas.”
Since 1980, Black and immigrant populations have had below-average participation in the census. More than 1 million residents in California live in non-traditional homes, lack access to the internet or have been formerly incarcerated, which My Black Counts categorizes as hard-to-count communities. The My Black Counts campaign wants to make a point that Black is not a monolith, and all representations of the Black count matter, especially during the 2020 Census survey.
For more information about the campaign, please visit www.myBlackCounts.org or visit our social media pages at Facebook.com/myBlackcounts and Twitter and Instagram @myBlackCounts.
