All,

Please be advised that we have decided to suspend all BWFO weekly calls until further notice. It was a difficult decision, but in the end, doing so will help us continue to focus on BWEL, and what comes next for the organization.

State Chapter Directors: We encourage you to continue to engage with your members at the state level and stay involved in the upcoming local races and issues that are important to the President, and important to the causes supported by BWFO. Transitioning the organization, especially part-time, is a much more difficult exercise than it may seem, but please know that as soon as possible, we will provide communications to every member about how you can get involved with BWEL, and continue some of the great work we started with Black Women for Obama!

Because this is Jon Stewart, it is of course high comedy. Unless you chose to watch the election results come in with the toxic waste dump of a news network Fox News, you may not have seen Karl Rove’s meltdown, and Megan Kelly’s pathetic attempt to convince Fox News’ OWN electoral vote watchers that what they had just seen was not what they had just seen. Enjoy, and you’re welcomed.

On Saturday, October 20th, the Georgia State Chapter of Black Women for Obama led by State Chapter Director Christine Williams, in conjunction with the Georgia GOTV Coalition, Rallies & 10 City Bus Tour and the Georgia Democratic Party held a FANTASTIC rally in Gwinnett County at Rhodes Jordan Park!

Speakers at the event included Georgia House Representative Tyrone Brooks, Donna McLeod, BWFO National Director of Voter Outreach, Patricia Wilson-Smith, Executive Director for BWFO, Judy Jones, BWFO National Director of Membership Outreach, as well as a number of local candidates for office, including Renita Hamilton, State House Candidate for District 105, Jennah Es-Sudan, Candidate for School Board District I, and many others. The rally was inspirational and exciting, and ALL of Gwinnett County is now FIRED UP AND READY TO GO on November 6th!!!!

I LOVE this website! A new celebrity contributor each day adding an essay on why we should re-elect President Obama. TOday is Ben StillerHave a look at the last 68 days – they’re inspirational and informative, and a lot of the information I’d forgotten about, so I know others have too!

For the remaining 24 days until the election, BWFO will post each day’s new reason – today is day number 69:

REASON 69: President Obama has improved conditions for our active and retired military. 

I am not in the military. I have never been in the military. In fact, the closest I have come to serving was making a movie about actors making a war movie. Which, by the way, was a really hard shoot. We shot in Hawaii for like three months. And it was really muddy. And there were mosquitoes. It was hell.

I LOVE this website! A new celebrity contributor each day adding an essay on why we should re-elect President Obama. Have a look at the last 66 days – they’re inspirational and informative, and a lot of the information I’d forgotten about, so I know others have too!

For the remaining 24 days until the election, BWFO will post each day’s new reason – today is day number 67:

• Day 67

  Because Obama opposes the Supreme Court’s Citizens United Decision.
  read essay →— Karen Fowler

On Saturday September 29th, the Missouri Chapter of Black Women for Obama, led by Carnika Turner, held its first Town Hall meeting at the Brush Creek Community Center in Kansas City Missouri. The featured speaker was Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, who spoke at length about the issues in this election and why it’s important to support President Obama. Stay tuned for the full video of speeches from the event – congratulations, BWFO Missouri!

When it comes to registering and voting, having the right information can often mean the difference between casting a ballot and being left out of the process. Americans – particularly young people and communities of color – are much more accustomed to receiving information via their mobile phones. This election cycle, it’s vital for voters to be able to access key information right in the palm of their hand.

In order to meet the needs of the Digital Age, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, National Association of Latino Appointed and Elected Officials Education Fund, New Organizing Institute, Rock the Vote and Verified Voting Foundation have joined forces to deploy the Election Protection Smartphone Application to provide all information and resources, in English and Spanish (branded Ya Es Hora), that voters need to fully participate in the 2012 elections.

The Election Protection App will be available on all smartphones and provides all the information and resources voters need to register and cast a meaningful ballot in the palm of their hands. The App will allow voters to:

•    Verify their registration;
•    Register to vote;
•    Look up their polling place;
•    Review key voting rules and regulations for their  state;
•    See what type of machine they vote on; and
•    Contact Election Protection via phone or email to report a problem or get answers to their questions.

Scan the QR code below with your smart phone to download the app:

Suzanne Gamboa

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Deidra Reese isn’t waiting for people to come to her to find out whether they are registered to vote.

With iPad in hand, Reese is going to community centers, homes and churches in nine Ohio cities, looking up registrations to make sure voters have proper ID and everything else they need to cast ballots on Election Day.

“We are not going to give back one single inch. We have fought too long and too hard,” said Reese, 45, coordinator of the Columbus-based Ohio Unity Coalition, an affiliate of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

Reese is part of a cadre of black women engaged in a revived wave of voting rights advocacy four years after the historic election of the nation’s first black president. Provoked by voting law changes in various states, they have decided to help voters navigate the system — a fitting role, they say, given that black women had the highest turnout of any group of voters in 2008.

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