Dunk
the Vote
Dunk The Vote
Dunk The Vote 4 Ever (DTV) Civic Engagement Leadership Lab (CELL) is a non-partisan initiative, focused on increasing participation and turnout considering voting as a public health emergency, using social media to strengthen ground game.
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Participate & Motivate
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.
Black Men Committee celebrates Black Males/Downtown Boston
Black Men Committee celebrates Black Males/Downtown Boston https://www.facebook.com/100003249082282/posts/4323340561117537/?d=n
When you pray, move your feet’: Black faith leaders, politicians get out the vote Sunday – The Boston Globe
FULL ARTICLE: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/24/metro/when-you-pray-move-your-feet-black-faith-leaders-politicians-get-out-vote-sunday/
Activists, MIT media specialists take up ‘disappointing’ Black candidates’ races
The many facets of the Sept. 14 preliminary election are still being debated in many corners of the city, but within the Black community – particularly among activists and Black former candidates – the sentiments of disappointment and frustration were made clear soon...
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
November 3, 2024
Dear Friend,
As I reflect this Giving Tuesday, I’m filled with gratitude for the Dunk the Vote family we’ve built together—community members, partners, donors, and volunteers like you who make our work possible. Thanks to you, 2024 has been a year of connection, reflection, and progress.
This year, Dunk the Vote made significant strides. From producing our popular Know Your Government guide to energizing communities with events like Dance the Vote and our impactful voter engagement campaigns, your support ensured thousands of voters were enfranchised and informed.
Through collaboration with organizations like the Jack and Jill Foundation, we trained and mobilized young leaders to connect directly with voters. And our message reached even further through media features and documentaries, showcasing the critical role Dunk the Vote plays in shaping Boston’s future.
Your belief in our mission powers everything we do. This Giving Tuesday, you can make a meaningful impact. We hope you will consider a meaningful donation, one that will directly fund a stipend for a community worker, training materials for a rising leader, or food for a community gathering. Together, we can create lasting change.
Thank you for being part of this movement.
Yours Truly,
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
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
Confronting COVID-19 – Harvard School of Public Health
As we approach the second year since the COVID-19 virus was first identified in the U.S., several states have recently rolled back precautions, including mask mandates and capacity limits. As CDC Director and Harvard Chan alumna Dr. Rochelle Walensky recently wrote, “I do think that the next month or two is really pivotal in terms of how this pandemic goes. As we scale up vaccination, we really do need to decrease the amount of virus that is circulating.”
Black History Month Vaccine Event – Dunk the Vote CELL
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and other elected officials are speaking at the Reggie Lewis Center, which is hosting a unique two-day event to give COVID-19 vaccines to Boston’s Black and Latino residents.
After National Efforts, Ron Bell Plans to Return to Mission Hill
Some two decades ago, in the hot, late summer afternoons that are typical of Boston, one could routinely find Mission Hill native and Dunk the Vote founder Ron Bell canvassing the ins and outs of Mission Park – knocking on doors in the Alice Taylor Development – and handing out voter registration cards on Tremont Street.
Dunk the Vote featured in Commonwealth Magazine
Dunk the Vote and Rob Bell were featured in Commonwealth Magazine. “Turnout numbers highlight wealth, racial disparities”
Black Boston News Broadcasting Live from Dudley Cafe
November 27 & 28 10AM & 4PM
Boston Black News will cover this story live.
CityLine: Sunday, Nov.1, 2020: Amplify Latinx & Dunk the Vote
Ron Bell and Dunk the VOTE on CityLine
Voting initiatives focus on Black voters: ‘We know more than anyone that voting has consequences’
Boston Globe article Dunk the Vote 2020
DTV 3 Point Shooting Contest at Malcolm X Park
DTV 3 Point Shooting Contest at Malcolm X Park
Dunk the Vote 2020 with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Conan Harris
Dunk the Vote 2020 with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Conan Harris at Early Voting site at Shelbourne Community Center in Roxbury
Get Out The Vote 2020 – Images
Check out the images from Dunk the Vote's "GET OUT THE VOTE!" initiative.
DTV Listen!
Help with Registration
Find PPE
Help with Mail-in Voting
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.