The League of Young Voters Latest Initiative Aims to Get Our Nation’s Youth Involved in the 2010 Census Through the Innovative Platform of 99Problems.org
Los Angeles, CA (April 6, 2010) – Nearly a year after Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation’s first African American president, today The League of Young Voters Education Fund (LYVEF) announces the launch of it’s latest effort, the Numbers Don’t Lie Campaign – a new online initiative and call to action for our nation’s youth to get involved in the 2010 Census. Numbers Don’t Lie is a project of the League’s news portal 99problems.org and will attempt to reach urban youth in their neighborhoods across the nation using viral videos and hip-hop culture to teach them about the importance of the census.
The Numbers Don’t Lie project has been rolling out a series of viral video PSAs hosted by DJ Willie Shakes (Core DJs, Star Trak’s Chester French). DJ Willie Shakes, has been touching down to talk with tastemakers, hip hop artists and celebrities at the local level in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Tallahassee, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland (ME), Houston, and the Bay Area to talk about the ways in which the Census is important to each individual community. The Numbers Don’t Lie viral video PSA series enables each featured interview to give their own spin on why the 2010 Census is important to them, as well as the neighborhoods they reside in and come from, in order to reach young voters in an organic and impactful way on such a meaningful issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7weK5Go2lA
“The Census is so important. It decides how trillions of dollars will be spent in our community,” said LYVEF’s Executive Director, Robert “Biko” Baker, who prior to taking his current position served as The Source Magazine’s Political Correspondent. “Every 10 years young people don’t get counted because they don’t understand how important this process is. We are going make sure this doesn’t happen. We are going to meet young people where they are at, and make sure they understand how important this process is to their future.”
All content created from the Numbers Don’t Lie campaign is currently showcased on The League of Young Voters’ online platform 99Problems.org. Launched January 20, 2009 99Problems.org is a site that combines new media, investigative journalism and pop culture to engage a young demographic on local inner city issues from a hip-hop perspective. The site was influential in banding together awareness among urban youths and minorities for the 2009 election of President Barack Obama and aggressively courts the urban, hip-hop, and underground arts communities of America with thought provoking and investigative news stories about real people harnessing political power to make changes in their own lives.
Los Angeles based Cashmere Agency has signed on to be a part of this exciting campaign, spearheading the League of Young Voters marketing campaign surrounding this project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQAgRp8vJvA&feature=related
About The League of Young Voters Education Fund
The League of Young Voters Education Fund (LYVEF) empowers young people nationwide to participate in the democratic process –with a focus on non-college youth from low-income communities and communities of color. LYVEF makes civic engagement relevant by meeting young people where they are, working on issues that affect their lives, and providing them with tools, training, and support to become viable players in the civic process.
In 2008, LYVEF educated hundreds of thousands of new voters about the importance of voting. You can find out more about The League of Young Voters Education Fund by visiting www.youngvoter.org .