Biden for President Florida Launches Statewide Sister to Sister and Brother to Brother Events to Engage and Mobilize the Black Community

Recently, the Biden for President Florida hosted two virtual statewide events to engage and mobilize the Black community. On Saturday, September 19, the campaign hosted a Brother to Brother Kickoff: Let’s Get Real event with Florida State Senators Bobby Powell and Oscar Braynon, followed by a Sister to Sister Kickoff: Hats and Tea event with Congresswoman Val Demings and Florida Senate Minority Leader Audrey Gibson on Sunday, September 20. The events focused on engaging the Black community, and provided attendees with helpful voter information and useful organizing tools to help mobilize Black voters.

“My husband likes to say the best indicator of future performance is to look at past performance. Has Joe Biden kept his promises? Take a look at his record. He said that he would appoint a woman to be his running mate–and he appointed the amazing, dynamic, phenomenal Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. And guess what, y’all? She’s an African American woman,” said Congresswoman Val Demings. “I’ve had the pleasure of serving with Senator Harris in the Congressional Black Caucus and have had numerous conversations with her. I know her priorities and I know her heart. She’s a woman of her word and I look forward to seeing this amazing woman sworn in as the Vice President of the United States of America. Our job, sisters, is to send them to the White House and hold America to its promise. We must continue our work for a more perfect union. We can do this. Let’s meet the moment. When women get involved, when women engage, things change–and they change immediately.”

“In 2020, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will build our country back better after a poorly-managed economic situation, the one that we’re in today, and assure that women like the awesomeness on this Zoom reach for inclusion and equality–equality is important,” said Florida Senate Minority Leader Audrey Gibson. “Inclusion is important for equality, and inclusion is important for advancement. Joe will lift every voice and make advancing racial equity central to our economic recovery–central to our economic recovery so people of color and African American women and their families are not left behind. He will expand opportunity for all.”

“Black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party and our participation is critical in deciding the outcome of this election,” said Biden for President Florida African American Vote Director Brittney Geathers. “As we get closer to Election Day, we need you to send a message and make it clear that our votes matter, and that our votes make the difference between the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and another four years of Donald Trump. And we can’t have that.”

“Biden for President Florida is launching a statewide Sister to Sister event to engage and mobilize the Black community. Sunday Sept. 20, a Sister to Sister Kickoff: Hats and Tea virtual event will be led by Congresswoman Val Demings and Florida Senate Minority Leader Audrey Gibson.”

“The event will focus on engaging the community, voter education and useful organizing tools to help mobilize Black voters.”

Today, I’m coming to you as a brother. A brother that’s concerned about what’s going on in this election cycle. We have less than 50 days for our upcoming general election where we will decide who our next president will be. With that in mind, we really need to consider the factors of how we as Black men are impacted. I want you to know that we are a very important voting bloc. We’re a central voting bloc that needs to participate in this process,” said President of the Miami-Dade Branch of the NAACP Ruban Roberts. “And so what I want to say to you is this: It’s very important that we participate in this process [because] we’re still dealing with issues related to social injustice. We’re still dealing with issues of redlining. We’re still dealing with economic issues and housing issues. We’re still dealing with educational issues that disproportionately affect our community. And so, for no other reason than that we should be participating in this vote.”

“Back in 2016 Donald Trump said, ‘What do Black Americans have to lose if they vote for me?’ Well you know what, now in 2020, we have a list of things that we could lose.  Let’s start off with the unemployment rate of Black men. Black men have a staggering unemployment rate of 29.8% in this country right now. You know 40% of our Black small business owners were forced to lay off employees. You know why we’re in this pandemic? Donald Trump’s failure to listen to simple science has caused many Black people — brothers and sisters of mine — to get sick and to pass away. […] Black people across this country are actually dying from the sheer incompetence of this president and his administration. Not only are we dying in this pandemic of COVID, but it’s finally been brought to light the deaths and the harm that come to Black men at the hands of the police and at the hands of law enforcement, all as a result of systematic racism,” said Florida State Senator Oscar Braynon. “You know, one of the reasons I’m here is not just to tell you how bad it is right now, but how we can get out of this. And one of the ways, and in my opinion, the first step we have to take is making sure that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris get into office. In November, they’re offering a different choice. They’re offering us something completely different. They’re offering us an opportunity for us to move this country forward. We’re talking about everything from the economy, to health care, to helping our children, to the way we want to see this country move forward when it comes to our community and to our Black men.”

“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have a plan to not only rebuild the economy, but to build it back better than before. They understand that we cannot afford to return to the status quo. We cannot afford another four years of what we have right now with the deepening inequality and gaps in wealth,” said Florida State Senator Bobby Powell. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, understand that we must do one thing to change this situation and that is invest in the Black community. It’s time to invest in working people and Black businesses that form the backbone of our communities.”

“As a black community we are a tribe and we’re responsible for each other. So with that being said, let’s make sure that not only do we get to the polls, but that everyone we know gets to the polls,” said Biden for President Florida African American Vote Director Clifton Addison. “Joe and Kamala are amazing candidates, but they can’t [win the election] by themselves. They need all of us. We’ve seen how close these elections can get in the state of Florida. So, each and every vote is important. We need to restore the soul of our nation.”

“We see that we have for the first time an African American female on the ballot as Vice President,” said former State Representative and Biden for President Florida Senior Advisor Alan Williams. “We know the pride and the honor that we felt back in 2008, and again in 2012, when Barack Obama was on the ballot– we saw someone that looked like us. We felt that energy and that camaraderie we had with this brother trying to make a difference, trying to lead his family, trying to work in his community. Now Barack Obama isn’t on the ballot, but his legacy is on the ballot.The work that we all were proud of and were a part of is on the ballot.”