The National Coalition: Organize! Organize! Organize!

The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation held a conference on the post-election polls about African American voters. Melanie Campbell, Executive Director and CEO for The National Coalition, said that there were a record number, four million black voters who cast their votes on Nov. 4th. “For this election we emphasized-vote early, vote absentee, just vote. We really wanted people to utilize the vote early feature for this election,” Campbell said.

Jerry Lopes, Vice President of Programs for the American Urban Radio Networks, said that it was alarming to see how many young voters were ill-informed of political issues surrounding the elections. “We had to raise awareness to the young voters because they don’t watch the news as much as older folks do,” Lopes said.

Lorretta Johnson, Executive Vice President for the American Federation of Teachers, said the key to this election was education. “We had the attention of some folks for the first time, so we had to let them know how to do things. The folks we helped and taught are those folks that will be in our positions for the 2012 elections.” Johnson went on to state, “We have to take advantage of the fact that we have connected with the ‘Lost Generation’ (the youth) and now we have to make sure we keep them involved and interested.” Johnson stressed that if authority figures don’t educate young voters and keep them engaged then they will lose interest again until someone or something brings them back in.

Michelle Obama says voting is the “solemn responsibility” of African American citizens

During a conference call held to kickoff the Obama campaign's nationwide voter registration efforts in African American communities, Michelle Obama, wife of presumptive nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois), talked about the importance of voting in African American communities. She explained that over 26 million African Americans are eligible to vote, yet 32 percent, about eight million of them, are not registered.

Mrs. Obama said that her father loved educating people on the rights and responsibilities of voting, and she is very grateful to him for teaching her the value of voting at a young age. Mrs. Obama explained that the American people are finally challenging one another to talk about the world and they are finally realizing the opportunities and possibilities of the future. She said she loves seeing the "outpouring of new voters," and is urging everyone across the country to register and vote this coming November. Mrs. Obama said she is "voting for her daughters," to "honor her father's past," and "for future generations."

Mrs. Obama explained that throughout the primary season, the Obama campaign registered more than half a million voters. She encouraged all Americans to “cast their ballots for change” in the spirit of Barack Obama’s vision to “narrow the gap between the world as it is, and the world as it should be.”