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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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.

Guides to Local Government for Residents

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

Read Review

Dear Friend,

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Enacted by Congress in 1965, this cornerstone accomplishment of the Civil Rights Era was put in place to remove race-based restrictions on voting. For more than half a century, it has protected the ability of American minorities to secure representation in our government.

Increasingly, however, in today’s America, efforts are advancing to roll back these and other hard-fought victories for equality and justice. Reversals of voting rights and protections against job discrimination, a blind eye turned to civil rights violations and denial of economic opportunities – these forces can only be kept at bay with vigilant, concrete action from real people who are willing to fight back.

With those realities in mind, we have introduced a tool to equip ourselves, our allies, and our at-risk brothers and sisters against these infringements.

“The Black Book: Know Your Rights” is a pocket-sized resource, laying out the most vital knowledge and trustworthy assistance organizations for anyone who thinks they may have had their rights violated. We believe it is a powerful and convenient reference for anyone who could experience racial discrimination or police brutality, and violations of voting, immigrant, or other civil rights.

So far we have distributed hundreds of copies, and the response from the community has been incredibly enthusiastic. We want to put “The Black Book” in as many hands as possible. The more support we get, the more copies we can print and distribute to people who need them. You can take a look at the digital version here: https://www.dunkthevote4ever.org/project/the-black-book-know-your-rights.

If you can donate right now, we can have these resources distributed as quickly as possible. Please consider directly funding this important tool at the link or code below.

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=SZKEJM4HVKSUQ

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

Hear Ron on WBUR Radio Boston !

“Local organizers strive to galvanize Black voters ahead of a pivotal election year”

Show aired on February 14, 2024

Goto Show

Social Media

An Innovative, Aggressive Social Media Campaign directed toward communities with significant numbers of Black and Latinx people

Partnerships

Develop and implement partnerships to promote potential high turnout social media events such as Watch Parties with key groups, leaders in the various ballot question movements and other groups

Education

Include a major focus on ballot questions and electoral reform, particularly Vote Yes on 2 to promote and educate communities about ranked choice voting

“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

After National Efforts, Ron Bell Plans to Return to Mission Hill

After National Efforts, Ron Bell Plans to Return to Mission Hill

Feb 8, 2021

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.

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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.

Our Team

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Address

Boston, MA

Phone

(857) 417-5058

Email

dunkthevote2020@gmail.com