2012 Election: The 10 Best Online Tools for Millennial Voters
The 2012 election is right around the corner and voters across the country must make important decisions about which candidates and measures they’ll support on November 6. For technology savvy, millennial voters (who like to receive their news and information in quick, easily digestible bites), sifting through the wealth of information released about various candidates and issues can be a daunting task. To help make voters’ search for political clarity a little easier leading up to the election and beyond, the League of Young Voters (who has spent the last two years building the most comprehensive non-partisan candidate and election data set ever developed for their online voter information hub) has compiled a list of the 10 Best Online Tools for Millennial Voters. See you at the polls on Election Day! TheBallot.org (League of Young Voters): The interactive, one-stop shop for voter information, includes local sample ballots, educational information on all electoral races/candidates/measures, customizable voter guides, shareable social-network badges and polling location lookup. TheBallot.org is powered by technology from several sources, including Google’s new Voter Information Tool. Voting System Scorecard (Rock the Vote): Rock the Vote’s Voting System Scorecard serves as a national benchmark that measures state laws and policies in three key areas: voter registration, casting a ballot and young voter preparation. A 21-point scale evaluates each state’s implementation of policies that increase access to the political process, including: automatic registration, permanent and portable registration, same-day registration, online registration, early voting periods, identification requirements, residency requirements, absentee voting, military and overseas voting, and high school civics curricula and evaluation. Vote with Friends (Fight for the Future): The Facebook app by Internet advocacy organization Fight for the Future, allows anyone to turn their Facebook page into their own get-out-the-vote operation. Users can see if their friends’ are registered, ask them to pledge to vote, mobilize them into voting blocks and check to see which of your friends actually voted on Election Day. Campus Vote Project: The Campus Vote Project, which launched this year, helps connect college students with administrators and local election officials to simplify the voting process. The program helps students overcome barriers they often face when voting, such as residency laws, registration deadlines and strict voter ID requirements. The organization also offers an excellent online toolkit to help campuses organize, activate and reach their election and voter engagement goals. NationBuilder: NationBuilder, the world’s first community organizing system, is an accessible, affordable, complete software platform that helps leaders grow and organize communities to achieve their goals. The system offers state and local-level campaigns, of any political persuasion, access to top-notch web design and campaign organizing tools. Polling Place Lookup (League of Young Voters): By texting VOTE to 69866, voters can quickly check their polling location for their home address. The tool is powered by Mobile Commons and Google’s Voter Information Tool. Mobile Commons also recently developed technology to donate money via SMS for organizations like the Red Cross. I’m Voting (CNN/Facebook): Facebook and CNN partnered this election season to launch the “I’m Voting” app — an interactive and uniquely social tool that will make it even easier for the people who use Facebook to make their voices heard this election cycle. The app allows users to make a commitment to vote, choose the candidates and issues that matter most to them, and share that position with friends. CNN is also drawing on data collected from the app to glean insights into the major issues of this year’s election. Voter ID Requirements Map (HeadCount): Leading up to this year’s election, battles have been waged in several states over voter ID laws. Non-partisan organization HeadCount created an interactive, user-friendly map showing what each state requires voters to bring with them to the polls. Simply click on your state for additional information, including ID requirements, registration deadlines and candidate information. TurboVote: TurboVote makes the voting process as easy as renting a DVD from Netflix. All users have to do is sign up and TurboVote will keep track of rules and deadlines, and send all necessary forms so that all users have to do is sign and mail them. The Salsa Platform: Salsa is a single, fully-integrated, online platform that helps nonprofits & political campaigns of all sizes to fundraise, advocate, communicate and organize anytime, anywhere. The Salsa platform is customizable to meet unique campaign needs.

Why You Should Vote…And Bring Three Registered Friends With You
This Election campaign season is extremely scary. The attacks and destruction of facts are becoming your worst nightmare, a Political Halloween from Hell. Civil liberties, civil rights and freedoms of choice are being threatened right now like it was a “way-back” machine to 1954. The Romney camp tells outrageous lies about the work of President Barack Obama, and they have also announced equally outrageous plans for all of us if they win. Check out this new video by author and investigative journalist, Wynne Alexander. After you see it, you’ll know the trail of deception and why everyone who can NEEDS to vote on Election Day – and take three other registered voters to the polls with you. Author Wynne Alexander is an award-winning investigative journalist and historian. She has written two history books, one of which, “Get It From The Drums”, is the first musically-infused civil rights curriculum in United States history. She has interviewed, filmed, and written about national and international artists, icons, sports stars, business leaders, and politicians, including Coretta Scott King and Muhammad Ali. Visit the official website, along with WDAS History’s portal.

20 Things The ‘Hood Expects Of President Obama
20 THINGS THE ‘HOOD EXPECTS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA

LiveStream 2:45PM ET: League of Young Voters and All-Star Panel to Host #Ignite2012 Atlanta
LIVESTREAM 2:45PM: LEAGUE OF YOUNG VOTERS HOST ALL-STAR PANEL AT #IGNITE2012 ATLANTA

Voter Registration Day: Black Thought and The CBC Encourage Citizens to Get #VoteReady
BLACK THOUGHT AND THE CBC WANT YOU TO GET #VOTEREADY, HIP-HOP!

Rock The Vote Bus to Stop in Philly on Voter Registration Day; Talib Kweli and Dice Raw of The Roots Set To Perform
ROCK THE VOTE PLANS A STOP IN PHILLY ON TUESDAY; TALIB KWELI AND DICE RAW TO PERFORM

HIP-HOP VOTES!: #VoteReady Connects Hip-Hop and Congressional Black Caucus Over Voter IDs; Twitter Town Hall at 12PM EST
BLACK THOUGHT, QUESTLOVE, DJ YOUNG GURU AND HAKIM GREEN HELP THE CBC GET YOU #VOTE READY

League of Young Voters Exec Biko Baker Addresses Kendrick Lamar's Recent Anti-Voting Stance
LEAGUE OF YOUNG VOTERS EXEC ADDRESSES KENDRICK LAMAR’S ANTI-VOTING STANCE

Election 2012: What Rocks Your Vote?
VOTING IS A CIVIL RIGHT! SO WHAT WILL MOTIVATE HIP-HOPPERS TO GO TO THE POLLS?

VOTING IS THE NEW FLY…According To Coutureluv.com and The Simmons Sisters
Many big names in the urban entertainment arena have found it imperative to push voting initiatives among the young people and young adults – especially in this all-important election year. Recently, coutureluv.com, a new online store, joined forces with Angela and Vanessa Simmons to get people geared up to vote! Couture Luv provided fashion filled goodie bags with reminders on the importance of people making their voices heard and felt. The event was held at Club 50 at Viceroy Miami – Brickell with about 100 attendees, including a vast variety of socialites. The Simmons sister will continue their 50-city tour, and Couture Luv plans to do other events and initiatives to spread awareness, including a Fourth Of July sale with a portion of the proceeds going to the Obama campaign. Coutureluv.com’s owner, Ashley Williams, shares her sentiments on the event and their efforts here, “I believe that voting is extremely important, and I am glad to have been a part of this event. It was a pleasure to partner along with two other influential women who share this common idea, such as the Simmons sisters. This was a great moment for me and my company.” According to Pew Research For The People & The Press, in the last three general elections, 2004, 2006, and 2008, young people have given the Democratic Party a majority of their votes. This age group is also the most supportive in the polls and in the aftermath of elections. Hopefully, in 2012 and beyond – with the help of celebs like the Simmons Sisters – young adults will use the power of their voices, one vote at a time. Tawni Fears is a freelance writer and contributor to AllHipHop.com. Follow her on Twitter (@brwnsugaT).

Beats, Ballots, and Booty Calls: Why Should We Vote?
YOUR “HIP-HOP” VOTE IS BEING COURTED AS WE SPEAK…BUT DOES IT MATTER IN ELECTION 2012?

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Wall Street Summit Panelists To “Occupy Hip-Hop” in NYC
REV. JESSE JACKSON’S ANNUAL ECONOMIC SUMMIT TO INCLUDE “OCCUPY HIP-HOP PANEL”

Slavery is Back in Effect: Rap, Race and Republicans
“Racism was here but they didn’t take it seriously, and they said that I was crazy.” – Final Solution, Sister Souljah The auditorium was packed with reporters as the Republicans held their recently televised “Hip-Hop debate,” where they gathered to decide what to do with poor Black and Latino youth. Some of the suggestions were putting African Americans back on plantations and deporting all Latinos to Mexico. It was the most highly rated show of the week but since Nicki Minaj was scheduled to make a guest appearance on “Love & Hip Hop” that night, most of the ‘hood missed it…. While most of Hip-Hop has been focused on the beef between Common and Drake, or the birth of Jay and Beyonce’s baby girl, the Republican presidential candidates have been waging their traditional war against the poor. Let’s keep it real. No matter who wins the 2012 election, Blue Ivy Carter is gonna be good. However, chances are you won’t be. There are plans being made to have you back pickin’ cotton while rappin’ “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Although, the Republicans may go in on each other in debates, what they have in common is their hatred of the ‘hood. Recently, news sources have reported on Ron Paul’s newsletters that contained articles that dissed Black people. How Rick S#######, allegedly, said that Black folks were down with OPM (spending Other People’s Money.) Not to mention the OG “angry white man” himself, Newt “Gangsta” Gingrich, suggesting that poor kids should pick up brooms and become school janitors. (Picture Lil Tyrone and Lakesha walking around the high school gym with a mop and bucket singin’ “It’s a Hard Knock Life.”) But when you try to put Newt and the boys on blast, they start braggin’ about how they are the “party of Lincoln” and are really our homies. Bull. Because they think that most of us can’t read, they are able to con the people into believing half truths and straight up lies. But as The DOC said back in the day, “I am not illiterate, no , not even a little bit.” So it’s time to pull the sheets off of ’em. In reality, Abraham Lincoln never freed anybody, as he only gave lip service to the problem by “freeing” slaves during the Civil War in areas where he had no control. He was also no friend of Black people. According to Lerone Bennet in his work, Forced into Glory, Lincoln said repeatedly that he was a White supremacist, and that he wanted to deny Blacks equal rights because of their race.” Not quite the Honest Abe you read about in history books, huh? Also, it must be noted that it was a Republican that sold Black folks out and ended Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Era ended when, in 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes made a deal to remove troops from the Southern States so that he could become president (The Hayes-Tildan Compromise). Thus, unleashing an era of terror on the recently emancipated Black folks. It is a historical fact that African Americans did not start gravitating towards the Democratic Party until the 1930’s, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” which, according to Dr. John Hope Franklin in From Slavery to Freedom, “gave many a sense of belonging that they had never experienced before.” And even after that, the southern Dixiecrats were notorious for being anti-Black. However, the biggest sham the Right Wingers pull off is the play-on-words. The real enemy of poor and oppressed communities is a “conservative political ideology” (not a specific political party) that has been bounced around between both parties but is now in the hands of the Republicans. Since, according to Webster’s dictionary, “conservative” means “tending to preserve established institutions,” they are trying to keep the balance of power in this country in the hands of old rich, White men who do nothing but play golf all day and tell Negro jokes. They have been determined to conserve power by any means necessary and those means have been ugly, especially in recent history. According to Cleveland Sellars in The River of No Return, in 1968, Republican Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon “ran for the presidency on a barely disguised ‘repress n**** and other malcontents platform’ and the streets ran red with blood immediately after he took office.” Beginning with the era of Reaganomics, Hip-Hop ran head on with the Right Wing. As early as 1984, Melle Mel rapped on “Jesse” that, “They want a stronger nation at any cost/Even if it means everything will soon be lost.” The run-in that Tupac Shakur had with Conservatives in the early ’90s is a part of Hip-Hop history. What is interesting is that one of the architects of the Right Wing Rap Attack, Bill Bennett was quoted years later suggesting that one way to lower the crime rate would be to “abort every Black baby.” Also, while most of the Hip-Hop Nation was focused on the East Coast/West Coast beef during the mid-’90s, Newt Gingrich and the Right Wing were staging a Republican Revolution to “take back America.” One of the tools that the Conservatives have successfully used are the scare tactics where they either tried to convince Molly in Iowa that a big, Black boogie man was waiting in the bushes to get her (the Willie Horton ads). Or convince 8th grade drop out, Billy Bob in Alabama that the reason he couldn’t get a job was because some lazy “minority” took it (Jesse Helm’s “white hands ad”). So, in 2012, we see history repeating itself. Same dirty tricks; different day. While the feasibility of voting really helping the ‘hood is debatable, being ignorant of current events isn’t. Like KRS said on “The Mind,” “Whether you know it or not/ You’re deep in politics/ All inside of it/ In fact, you’re the issue…” “Don’t let this government, diss you.” TRUTH Minista Paul Scott’s weekly “This Ain’t Hip Hop” is a column for intelligent Hip Hop Headz. His website is […]