Group aims to ‘glam’ the vote
Black women’s group uses social media, fine attire to drive turnout
Dress up in your finest clothes. Cast your vote. And post your proud, glamorous selfie on social media with the hashtag #GlamtheVote.
It’s how an all-female Black organization in Palm Beach County is trying to fire up voters and make sure everyone’s voice is heard this election.
With less than two weeks left to vote, the effort, started by the West Palm Beach chapter of Links, a national volunteer organization consisting of professional Black women, is spreading across social media.
Although the non-partisan campaign is focused on reaching Palm Beach County women, organizers hope it will trend through Florida and around the country.
“We came up with it as a way to get people enthusiastic about voting,” said Tricia Thompkins, president of the West Palm Beach Links chapter.
Civic duty may be the main motivation behind the effort, but it also gives women an opportunity to dress up during a time when the coronavirus shutdown made gym shorts, flip-flops and pajamas more common daily attire. And maybe bring some much-needed levity to a stressful time.
“One lady said it was the first time she had dressed up and put on high heels since the pandemic,” Thompkins said. “Since we’ve started this campaign, we’ve really seen it taking off.”
Members of the Links chapter also adopted the Pleasant City voting precinct under a program run by Supervisor of Elections Wendy Link. The historically Black precinct was on the verge of being shut down due to lack of poll workers, said Destinie Baker Sutton, a chairperson of the National Trends & Services Facet of Links.
Closing down voting locations in Black neighborhoods often increase mistrust of the elections system in the community, Sutton said. Now, the ladies of Links staff the Pleasant City precinct to keep it open for voters.
“It’s significant that when people come out to vote at a historically Black precinct that it’s open and that they see people from the community that look like them working,” Sutton said. “I think it builds trust.”
The Links organization has its roots in civic engagement dating back to its founding in 1946. The organization also provides educational services and cultural activities in the community.
After helping to register about 2,000 people to vote in this year’s General Election before the deadline, the group began working to ensure those voters actually make it to the polls.
The campaign attracted Kitty Lundan to participate, the West Palm Beach mother whose song about the fear of losing her Black sons to police brutality garnered national attention. The group hopes
Lundan and other leaders influence their social media followers to vote and spread their #GlamtheVote movement.
“It’s not so much how you vote, it’s that you vote. Our message is just one of: ‘it’s important to have your voice be heard,” Thompkins said.
The campaign holds special importance for the Black community, Thompkins said, after decades of voter suppression.
“It’s about ensuring that the community is not disenfranchised and remain aware of all of the different options on how to vote,” she explained. “We can make our community aware of their options to early vote, even if they fill out their ballots at home and go to the supervisor of elections’ office and drop off their ballots.”
The Broward County chapters of the Links are also running non-partisan initiatives to make sure the community is empowered when voting. The North Broward County chapter partnered up with the Florida Mobilization project to help with phone banks and also held a virtual gospel concert to help local voters learn about the amendments on the ballot. The Fort Lauderdale chapter hosted multiple forums about the voting process, when to request a ballot and the importance of having a plan in place for voting, whether that’s in person or by mail.
“We know that our ancestors fought really hard for us to vote, so this is something that we do not take lightly,” North Broward County chapter President JoeAnn Fletcher said.