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Despite reports of historic African-American participation at the polls, the Barack Obama campaign claims there are 8 million African-Americans still not registered to vote. To try to gain some of those votes, the campaign is registering people at barbershops and hair salons. While working the Democratic convention floor, ESSENCE.com asked some well-known African- Americans why aren't more Blacks going to the polls.
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin stopped to chat for a few minutes as she rushed through the Pepsi Center: "Many of us feel disenfranchised," she said. " I know the importance of every vote. I won by very few votes," she said, adding that we have made more people feel that their vote will actually count.
Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph said many African-Americans feel no one is listening to them. "There are a lot of people I've met as I've gone around the country who do not feel like anybody is going to care. They still feel invisible. I've had young people tell me, `What am I going to register for? There ain't nobody going to really listen to me. Look where I am.' And when I look at where they are," she said, "I understand how they feel about that. And nobody has come into the community. A lot of people talk a good game, but you've got to get in the community and see how people really live."
The Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network is starting the "Not This Time" campaign, serving people in key states. They plan to go into churches and community centers, and checking people's registration in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. " I think that we're not going out there to register them. I think that there is a lot of people that want to vote that are afraid to say that they don't know how to register. They're afraid to come forward so we have to go get them," he told ESSENCE.com "We're going to hit the streets and bring people back out in those areas to register voters, as well as check the rolls. Imagine if every pastor and their members signed up so we can check to make sure their vote has not been discounted. We can't wait until they show up on Election Day. We need to do it now."
