Souls to the Polls
Cultural Wealth Solid Gold Neighbor
by Cuevas Peacock, Assistant Director, Community Relations - Cultural Wealth
2020 saw record voter turnout across our country for an unprecedented election that saw national, state, and local races all on the same ballot. According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, “[the] number of voters who cast ballots in the three-week Texas early voting period this year surpassed the total number of Texans who voted in all of 2016." Within McLennan County, 80,705 people voted early in the 2020 elections, including 10,337 who voted by mail. It is a number significantly higher than the 34,960 voters who cast early ballots in the 2016 presidential election and the 80,544 total votes cast in 2016 by McLennan County residents. Many factors contributed to this record turnout; however, we would be remiss if we failed to highlight the work of our local chapter of the NAACP led by Dr. Peaches Henry and their efforts to bring Souls to the Polls to vote in the 2020 election.
The mission of the Waco NAACP, like that of the National NAACP, is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. During 2020, the unit has focused on political engagement. Souls to the Polls Sunday is a longstanding event spearheaded by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since the advent of early voting in elections. Taking place across the country on the Sunday of early voting, the goal of the event is to encourage African Americans to vote in large numbers. Because of voter intimidation and suppression, the Sunday caravans have become a method of protection and support as African Americans exercise their voting rights in groups.
In Waco, congregations caravan in vehicles and church vans decorated with balloons and ribbons in patriotic colors to the vote center located on the former campus of Paul Quinn College to vote together. After voting, individuals usually have a meal together and linger to visit, talk, and even dance in a party-like atmosphere. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 Souls to the Polls Sunday required voters to social distance, wear masks, vote, and grab a barbecue sack lunch on the way back to their vehicles. Nonetheless, churchgoers came out in high numbers on two Souls to the Polls Sundays, the second one occurring because of the expansion of early voting by one week. These efforts received international recognition, with national television network MSNBC covering Waco's first Souls to the Polls and The London Times reporting on the second one.
The opportunity to engage in our political process is a right given to all Wacoans that we must continue to take advantage of. The work done by the Waco NAACP to advance Cultural Wealth in our community by working to increase voter participation is well worth our salute as a Solid Gold Neighbor. Thank you, Waco NAACP, for the work you are doing to advance all within our community
Visit waconaacp.org to learn more information about ways the Waco NAACP is increasing our city's cultural wealth.