“Despite voter suppression, anti-Black police brutality, a rushed anti-abortion Supreme Court nominee, and a deadly pandemic infecting millions of people around the world, young people would not be silenced at the ballot box.” 

Friend,

2020 has been a whirlwind. Despite the state of the country, young people showed up for Reproductive Justice this year. URGE focused our 2020 Voter Education for Reproductive Justice program on working to educate folks on local policies to support communities to invest in Black and brown communities and divest from white supremacy.

This year alone, URGE has been able to train 762 new reproductive justice organizers who are committed to fighting for our communities, no matter how long it takes. Young people are committed to changing our nation and have the power to do it. We have already seen more youth turn out for this election than ever before, with more ballots still to be counted. Moving past November 3rd, it is important to remember our fights were never going to stop on Election Day.

URGE’s Voter Engagement for Reproductive Justice program works all year, every year, and centers historically marginalized communities others often ignore. Our goal is to show that anyone can join the fight for Reproductive Justice, and anyone can make a difference in their community. This means we are focused on getting voters to the polls who are motivated about Reproductive Justice issues and values because it can change their day to day lives.

We don’t just speak to “consistent” voters—we invite new voters to participate in our democracy. We talk to disenfranchised non-voters to explore ways these elections affect our lives and our communities and work together to advocate for our communities year-round.

Stay tuned for URGE’s 2020 Elections Report: The 2020 Election and Young People: Mobilizing Communities, Building Power for Policy Change, where you can read more about the impact Young People Power had on the 2020 Election.

Until then, you can join URGE’s Director of Policy, Preston Mitchum, today at 4:30 ET on @urge_org Instagram for today’s episode of This Week In Policy. 

Preston will be discussing what we witnessed yesterday, what this means for us right now, and what’s to come for URGE.

In Solidarity, 

Jaz

PS. Join us, November 10th at 1:30 pm ET, to celebrate young people’s power and hear all about our plans to fight for Reproductive Justice in 2021. Register here for URGE's post-election town hall, Nothing Without Us: The Young People’s Election & Reproductive Justice!