How about some love for Nse Ufot?

[klook]

Don't get me wrong. I love Stacey Abrams. After all, I changed my avatar to her photo a couple of months ago. But in all the well-deserved praise for Ms. Abrams, sometimes we overlook the many thousands of other hard-working Georgians who are changing this state. Another of the inspiring women who've stepped up to help harness the power of Georgia's emerging Democratic majority is Nse Ufot, CEO of the New Georgia Project.



Here she is in an NPR segment from a couple of days ago:
CEO Of New Georgia Project On 'Aggressive' Voter Participation Efforts

So we've run essentially our traditional campaign, but on an aggressively truncated timeline, right? So in the immediate aftermath of the November 5 general election, we immediately went into what we call ballot curing, right? So there are tons of people with provisional ballots and mail-in ballots that were on the verge of being rejected for a number of reasons. And we would knock on their door and say, hey, we have reason to believe that your ballot is going to be rejected if you don't take your ID down to the county office, if you don't fill out this affidavit, if you don't go there and find your envelope, et cetera.

And then, immediately after ballot curing, we went into voter registration and registered about 7,000 young people and people of color across the state. And then after the voter registration deadline on December 7, we immediately went into sort of get-out-the-vote mode because early voting started December 14. And as it has been reported now across the country, we have blown through all kinds of turnout records for participation in runoff elections in Georgia. So we've been a little busy...

(LAUGHTER)

UFOT: ...Trying to make sure that as many people as possible show up again to vote in these runoffs.

continued...

We are looking at something like - we've cracked the 30% threshold for Black voters. Over 30% of the people who've shown up to vote early are African American voters. I would also add that we are looking at 115,000 people who voted in the runoff who did not vote in the 2020 general election. And over half of them are people of color. And about half of them are voters under the age of 40 - so between the ages of 18 and 39. So those are folks who did not vote in November.

The segment is well worth 7 minutes of your time: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/953073942

From her 2019 bio on shethepeople:

Powerhouse lawyer turned top voter engagement strategist, Nse has been the force behind changing the political landscape in Georgia and she does it with such pizazz -- art shows, video game competitions. She makes voting fun -- all the cool kids are doing it. That’s why she’s on a mission to reshape the political landscape of Georgia, one voter at a time. In her role as the executive director of the New Georgia Project, she leads an ambitious effort to register 800,000 new voters of color and young people while cultivating civic engagement among through an innovative blend of technology, art and culture. In November (2019), the organization hosted Game Jam, a 72-hour video game contest focused on voter protection and engagement. By combining gaming and voting, they hope to increase black and brown youth participation in the civic and electoral process.

Nse’s experience as an immigrant from Nigeria has prepared her to fight for the American Dream to become a reality for everyone. She wants to know what Georgians care about, their hopes and aspirations and what keeps them up at night. Staying focused on people and their communities is the focus of New Georgia Project’s work in 2020. They plan to register 100,000 people of color to vote, help Georgia flip the State House from red to blue and make sure there is a full and accurate census count in the state so that hard to count populations have their needs met.

This video from 2016 gives you some idea of the New Georgia Project's attitude and energy:

https://newgeorgiaproject.org/

As a long-time Georgia resident, I'm accustomed to preparing to swallow the periodic bitter pill at election time. And I'm certainly not over confident this time. But we have a fighting chance, a good chance. And the great work and positive spirit of Nse Ufot and her organization are among the big factors.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

1. OK-Go Nse Ufot!!

[SheltieLover]

2. Absolutely!

Ty!

[marble falls]

3. Cheers!

[SheltieLover]

4. 😊

[Biophilic]

5. These women are so awesome. Makes me weep with gratitude to be the same sex.

I really believe that they, and women like them, will lead this nation forward into a better place. I am so impressed by them. What amazing human beings and fellow citizens.

[klook]

6. As an old white guy,

I am so happy to be in league with them!

[Biophilic]

7. Yes. it's pretty amazing to see what they are accomplishing.

[abqtommy]

8. Thanks. There are so many names of deserving people, so little time!