Ohio
The Freedom Black Led Organizing Collaborative (The Freedom BLOC) builds Black political power in Ohio and equips the Black community with capacity-building tools on civic education, civic engagement, campaign management, and leadership development that will ignite and foster greater electoral turnout in historic smaller urban centers in Northeast Ohio (Youngstown, Toledo and Akron) and surrounding rural areas.
The Freedom BLOC is a vehicle for collective political expression, educating the Black electorate and the broader Black community on issues impacting their lives and mobilizing them to turn out to vote on measures and candidates that support and enforce equitable policies for Black Ohioans.
Recent Achievements
The Freedom BLOC contributed to historic wins in Ohio in 2023.
Voters overwhelmingly passed an amendment to the Ohio constitution to restore reproductive freedoms in the state, protecting decisions about abortion, contraception, and fertility treatment.
Ohioans voted to reject a Republican-led measure to require 60% of the vote – rather than a simple majority – to pass ballot initiatives going forward.
In 2023, The Freedom BLOC registered or re-registered over 9,000 new voters in their ongoing effort to combat the effects of voter purges regularly conducted by the Republican Secretary of State. The Freedom BLOC also initiated BLOC University, with 19 graduates in its first cohort, to educate and equip new leaders to promote civic engagement in Black communities throughout Ohio.
What Makes Ohio Crucial in 2024
Ohio’s Senator Sherrod Brown faces a competitive race for reelection in a “red” state, and his seat is essential for Democrats to hold the U.S. Senate.
Three tight U.S. House seats in Ohio are must-holds for Democrats in 2024.
Three Ohio Supreme Court justices face reelection this year, and the result may determine whether the Court will protect measures voters supported in 2023.
An amendment to the state constitution establishing a citizen redistricting commission will appear on the November ballot, giving voters the opportunity to end gerrymandering in Ohio.
What Flip the Vote’s support means for 2024
The Freedom BLOC has ambitious plans in 2024, including registering almost double the voters they registered in 2023. They are also collecting signatures for ballot measures on issues that are of the biggest concern to members of their community, like tenants’ rights, public safety, and a fair wage. With support from Flip the Vote, The Freedom BLOC will be able to deepen its footprint, particularly in U.S. House Districts 13 and 9, which are key swing districts, activating communities there for the 2024 elections and for ongoing progressive power building.
“We have to connect voting to people’s everyday lives . . . People are getting evicted from their homes. People are losing their jobs. The last thing they think about is voting. The way we talk about voting — we talk about voting for the President, which is so detached from people’s everyday lives. We have to begin local education campaigns around voting and tie voting to people’s everyday way of being.”