Dunk
the Vote
Dunk the Vote is a non-partisan organization that focuses on voter registration, education and turnout. The mission of Dunk the Vote is to support and enhance accountable self-empowerment within and for Black communities.
Vote
Engage
Participate & Motivate
The Black Book: Know Your Rights
This Booklet is a resource. It will help anyone who carries it become familiar with their rights, to recognize when they are being violated, and to have the information they need to act and protect themselves.
Guides to Local Government
Residents must be engaged to address issues that affect them – many are literally life or death, such as the extreme wealth gap, violence, gentrification and displacement, declining rates of home ownership in the Black community, and many others.
Click below for our Guides to Local Government publications.
November 28th, 2025
Dear Friends,
Did you listen to the hearing? On Monday, more than two dozen people testified at a Congressional hearing in Los Angeles, describing the upheaval recent federal immigration raids have caused in their lives – vanished family members denied food, water, and phone calls, inhumane and unsanitary detention conditions, and flagrant racial profiling of U.S. citizens.
We have witnessed those same events play out in the streets and businesses of our own city in recent weeks. Perhaps we thought it wouldn’t happen here. But it is now at our doorstep.
We are fighting back. With our recent distribution of 2,800 Spanish-language copies of The Black Book through 55 sites across the state, we are bolstering the resistance and putting real tools in the hands of people who need them most, allowing people to keep vital information about racial profiling, police brutality, civil and voting rights, and the rights of immigrants with them at all times, without the need for electronic devices.
Today, while folks are out shopping for Black Friday deals, many others feel they cannot even set foot in public places, or go to their places of work. This is not how things should be.
When you are considering your Giving Tuesday donations, please weigh the immediate need to help push back against what is happening now. The Black Book project needs your support.
- $30 funds three new Black Books in the field.
- $300 supports an entire community site.
- $3,000 brings The Black Book and comprehensive Dunk the Vote trainings to Churches, Colleges, and Community Organizations throughout the Commonwealth.
Please Donate Now and be the one who puts us over our goal of 300 donations in 30 days!
www.dunkthevote4ever.org/donate/
I hope you have all had pleasant and safe Thankgivings. I, for one, am incredibly grateful for your support to continue this immediately needed work. Thank you for your consideration.
Yours Truly,
Ron Bell,
Dunk the Vote Founding Director
P.S. If you prefer to write a check, please make it out to our fiscal sponsor, Circle of Nations, and send it to Ron Bell/Dunk the Vote, PO Box 990525, 800 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02199. And, as ever, thanks for your support! We also accept donations by PayPal and credit card by clicking on the link or scanning the QR code below.
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=SZKEJM4HVKSUQ
DTV is Partnering with Real Talk Network and Boston Globe – Building Wealth in Boston: Barriers and Opportunities
Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 6 p.m. About the Event After listening to over 150 Boston residents across 26 RealTalk Network conversations, The Boston Globe’s Money, Power, Inequality team invites you to unpack what we heard. Join a panel of community experts for...
US citizens of color on high alert after Supreme Court allows racial profiling
Following Supreme Court ruling, Americans worry about being detained because of the color of their skin
Funding Community Organizations Will Win Elections
By Michael Jacoby Brown, September, 2025 With significant help from Corita Brown, and contributions from Mary Ochs and Ron Bell If the Democrats want to win the House of Representatives n in 2026 and the Presidency in 2028 they need to provide year-round funding,...
Murder in Boston review: Exploring the legacy of a racist rush to judgment
HBO’s true-crime docuseries chronicles the case of Charles Stuart, who killed his wife and blamed it on a Black man.
By Kristen Baldwin
Published on November 27, 2023 11:27AM EST
Social Media
Partnerships
Education
“Ron Bell and Dunk the Vote, Inc. are at the forefront of a dynamic civic movement… Ron Bell is a vsionary leader who continually takes initiative to create new vehicles to enhance the development of young people… He is building a civic engagement and voter program that could be a model for the nation.”
Hubie E. Jones
Dean Emeritus, Boston University School of Social Work
“As a young African American man, I did not understand that opting out of the system meant opting out of the the power to change the system”
DTV Leadership Intitute Gradutate
Zachary Roscoe
“I choose to give my flowers today to honor a man who never seeks to be seen or heard but is one powerful shaker and baker in our community Mr. Ron Bell!! I have known Ron for many years. I first met him in the capacity of being his employee at the Tobin Community Center in Mission Hill. He gave opportunities for growth to so many many youth through his position there and helped to change the course of so many individuals and families. If that was not enough he never said no to opportunities for his employees to reach out to families in Mission Hill and surrounding areas. Always encouraging, always supportive and most of all always leading by example. He taught us how important the power of voting is and began to reach out to others in the community, the city and the state through his Dunk the Vote Initiative. I could never figure out how he found the time and energy to make a difference e in so many areas. And still today he has not slowed down one bit. Minister, radio and t.v. personality, voter registration and education and helping folks any chance he gets. The most impressive thing to me is that Ron never rings his own bell. He just shows up and gets it done. He is an amazing human being and a more amazing friend!”
Denise Williams
Voting initiatives focus on Black voters: ‘We know more than anyone that voting has consequences’
Boston Globe article Dunk the Vote 2020
Dunk the Vote 2020 Awards
Sunday, September 27
Democracy in Action – Feline Style!
Grant Geek Diva Dawn Duncan This lovely kitty is named Lenox. He is the winner of the cat costume contest at a cat show that was held on Sunday, August 25, 2024 in Natick, MA. My friend and colleague, Ron Bell, of Boston Black News, was asked for the second year in a...
Data is Data, Even if You Don’t Want it To Be
Grant Geek Diva Dawn Duncan This post is a continuation, in some ways, of my previous posts about governance and politics being different things (https://grantgeekdiva.wordpress.com/2024/07/12/politics-and-governance-are-not-the-same-thing/). Data, in this context,...
Politics and Governance are NOT the Same Thing
Grant Geek Diva Dawn Duncan This post expands upon a post I created a few weeks ago that provided a basic introduction to the structure of the government in the United States based on the three branches of government. In that post, I also talked briefly about how...
Understanding Government Structure: A Basic Introduction
Grant Geek Diva Dawn Duncan So, I’ve been reading some books lately that have gotten my mind going about how critical people are of government and how there are so many things we take for granted that government does. It made me start feeling prompted to write some...
For Bostonians of color, wealth is often beyond reach.
Following Supreme Court ruling, Americans worry about being detained because of the color of their skin
DTV is Partnering with Real Talk Network and Boston Globe – Building Wealth in Boston: Barriers and Opportunities
Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 6 p.m. About the Event After listening to over 150 Boston residents across 26 RealTalk Network conversations, The Boston Globe’s Money, Power, Inequality team invites you to unpack what we heard. Join a panel of community experts for...
US citizens of color on high alert after Supreme Court allows racial profiling
Following Supreme Court ruling, Americans worry about being detained because of the color of their skin
Funding Community Organizations Will Win Elections
By Michael Jacoby Brown, September, 2025 With significant help from Corita Brown, and contributions from Mary Ochs and Ron Bell If the Democrats want to win the House of Representatives n in 2026 and the Presidency in 2028 they need to provide year-round funding,...
NPR: Boston-based effort reminds Black people of rights when confronted by law enforcement
July 4, 20254:27 PM ETHeard on All Things ConsideredFrom GBH NewsBy Paul Singer With sweeping ICE arrests taking place, some Black residents worry the color of their skin could make them susceptible, and they're taking steps to prevent negative encounters. AILSA...
NEWSONE: Community Activists Create ‘Black Book’ To Empower Black Residents Amid Immigration Crackdown
Richard Claytor and Ron Bell, two dedicated community leaders from Boston, Massachusetts, have developed a crucial resource to help Black residents and other communities of color navigate increasing immigration enforcement actions under the Trump administration and...
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Mission
Voting is a public health emergency. COVID has both made it more difficult and more important than ever to vote. The proposed intensive, aggressive strategy is based on the Civic Engagement Leadership Lab (Cell) model that utilizes grassroots organizing concepts and leadership development combined with well-established voter engagement strategy.
It is important to understand the long history of racism and voter suppression that continues to plague Black and Latinx communities in Massachusetts, which contributes to low voter turnout. Add COVID, as people of color are three times more likely to die from COVID, and we truly have a public health emergency.
The need we are addressing is one of ensuring that people are able to exercise their vote safely, in local, state, and national elections by promoting voter participation and protecting the public health of communities.
