Black Voters Matter Receives 2024 Progressive Champion Award from the American Constitution Society

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Rodriguez, nrodriguez@acslaw.org
Nomsa Hampton, nomsa@blackvotersmatterfund.org

Washington, DC — Black Voters Matter, a nonprofit fighting to protect voting rights and stop the disenfranchising of Black voters and voices, has been selected the recipient of the 2024 Progressive Champion Award by the American Constitution Society (ACS).

Black Voters Matter, an Atlanta-based nonprofit founded by LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright in 2016, is focused on building power in marginalized, predominately Black communities across the country. In addition to voter registration and get out the vote efforts, Black Voters Matter focuses on issue-based campaigns, voter education, and policy advocacy, including expanding early voting, resisting Voter ID laws and upholding and strengthening voting rights. BVM also works to build capacity for over 600 community-based partners through training and financial support.

“This award is a powerful reminder that when we uplift and empower Black and marginalized communities, we strengthen our democracy as a whole,” said BVM Co-founder LaTosha Brown. At Black Voters Matter, we believe that every person, regardless of their background, should have an equal voice in the political process. This recognition from the American Constitution Society is not just for us, but for the generations of activists who came before us and for the young people who carry on the struggle today. It is a call to action for all of us to continue the fight for a more just and inclusive democracy."

One of ACS’s most prestigious honors, the Progressive Champion Award recognizes extraordinary efforts to ensure that the law is a force to improve the lives of all people. Previous winners have included Peter Edelman, Bryan Stevenson, Stephen Bright, Dahlia Lithwick, the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, and the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, and Witness to Innocence.

Black Voters Matter was chosen as this year’s honoree in recognition of its unflagging work to empower those communities most likely to be denied their right to vote and shut out of the political process. Through organizing, direct action, and litigation, Black Voters Matter strengthens our democracy by pursuing stronger voting rights policies at the state and federal level, increasing representation of Black and Marginalized communities, and addressing systemic issues such as negative interactions with police officers, burdensome criminal legal fines and fees, and driver license suspension, so members of Black and Marginalized communities can engage in the political process.

“I cannot image a more deserving and appropriate organization than Black Voters Matter to honor this year, as ACS hosts in National Convention for the first time in Atlanta, Georgia,” said ACS President Russ Feingold.  Black Voters Matter works in states and localities that are the most hostile to voting rights for Black and Marginalized communities, recognizing the need to engage everywhere, including southern, rural, and smaller communities that are too often ignored by political parties, candidates, and even those elected to serve them. ACS chose to host our convention in Atlanta to highlight the need to engage progressives throughout the country, including in states and regions often dismissed as monolithically conservative. It’s why we have been proud to partner with Black Voters Matter in this important and to honor them as our 2024 Progressive Champion.”

LaTosha Brown will accept the Progressive Champion Award on behalf of the organization at ACS’s 2024 National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia on June 6.

Registration, schedule and speaker information for the ACS 2024 National Convention can be found on the convention website.

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AMERICAN CONSTITUTION SOCIETY
The American Constitution Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. Through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others, our mission is to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that redress the founding failures of our Constitution, strengthen our democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and realize the promise of equality for all, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and other historically excluded communities. For more information, visit us at www.acslaw.org or on Twitter @acslaw.