HBCU Students Sound Off On 2024 Election: “We’re the New Generation”

Election day is just days away, and whether you’re voting for the first time this year—or you’re a pro and voted in the 2022 midterm elections—the stakes are high for our families, our freedoms, and our futures. You may have even heard someone say that this is the most important election of our lifetime. The truth is that every election, every race, and every initiative on our ballot is an essential point of choice for deciding what kind of country we want to live in. 

The HBCU Votes team has been on college campuses, educating students about the importance of this election and why we must stay engaged. The stakes have always been high for Black people long before we got access to the ballot box. But those who came before us knew that voting and full political participation were necessary to build strong Black communities. 

Voting gives us an opportunity to express our values for the kind of future we want for ourselves and the generations to come. It’s really about how we lock in on the issues that matter and block efforts to undermine our political power. 

Ask yourself: Do you want a future where people and their families have real opportunities to thrive and where our rights are respected and protected? Or do we want a future where our rights are restricted, funding for public schools, student loan debt relief, and the teaching of our history and experience are stripped away? 

And after we vote, we continue the conversations and plug in to the opportunities to show up and advocate for our agenda. When we show up, we are showing up for ourselves, our communities, and our collective future. 

It may feel like our voice and our opinions don’t matter, especially as young Black students. But our voices do matter. And when we show up, our whole community wins. 

Check out the video above for more from them about why they are showing up to the polls this year!

Paid for by Black Progressive Action Coalition.