A coalition of the country’s best-known civil rights and civic groups is betting that the most effective way to reach Black men before the midterms is through other Black men. The NAACP, the National Urban League, 100 Black Men of America, Black Men Vote and Woke Vote will hold a nationwide Week of Action from Oct. 19 to 24, ending with the first National Black Man Voter Day on Saturday, Oct. 24. Their goal is to mobilize 100,000 Black men ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
The effort is built less like a rally and more like a field operation. After five weeks of national organizing calls, organizers say they have built a network of local captains, community hubs, voting plans, buddy systems and rides. “This movement has never been about simply getting thousands of brothers onto a call,” said Dr. Wes Bellamy of 100 Black Men of America, who said more than 5,000 Black men have engaged with the work so far.
Why Black Men, and Why Now
The campaign is aimed at a group both parties have spent the last two years trying to read. Black voters remain Democrats’ most reliable bloc, but Donald Trump won 15% of Black voters in 2024, up from 8% in 2020, according to Pew Research Center’s study of validated voters. Much of the attention since has focused on Black men, especially younger ones. As we reported this month, turnout and the maps will decide what that loyalty is worth.
Organizers frame the bigger risk as staying home rather than switching sides. Research by HIT Strategies found that one in four Black men ages 18 to 45 were uncertain or unlikely to vote in the midterms, and that jobs, affordability, education and homeownership topped their concerns. In a midterm, when turnout drops across the board, that hesitation can matter as much as any shift in party preference.
The same test is playing out among Latino men, the other group most closely tied to Trump’s 2024 gains. As we reported this month, an election-year debate is now testing whether Latino men’s shift toward Trump holds, and the early evidence suggests it may not. A new Pew survey found that Trump’s approval among Latino voters who backed him in 2024 has fallen from 93% to 57%, and as we reported today, that support is showing cracks heading into the midterms. For organizers trying to reach Black men, the lesson cuts both ways: voters who moved toward Trump can move again, but only if someone gives them a reason to show up.
The coalition is also careful about how it describes the stakes. “This is not about asking Black men to save a political party,” said Mike Bland, executive director of Black Men Vote. “It is about Black men recognizing our collective power, defining our priorities and holding elected leaders accountable.” The initiative is formally nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates.
Five Pillars and a Week of Events
The Week of Action ties voting to what organizers call five pillars of Black men’s well-being: mental, physical, spiritual, financial and civic health. Planned events include community wellness gatherings, barbershop conversations, faith-based events, financial empowerment sessions and voter education. Supporting partners include Black Voters Matter, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Until Freedom and the National Action Network.
On Oct. 24, the campaign plans group voting events, Souls to the Polls activities, caravans, group rides and campus mobilizations in states where early voting is open. In states without standard early voting, organizers will share information on absentee ballots and Election Day voting. Participants are asked to make a voting plan, find their polling place, line up transportation and bring another man with them.
“We are calling on Black men across America to make a plan, bring a brother with them, and show up in force,” said National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson called the midterms “a critical turning point for our community and our democracy.”
Building Past Election Day
Organizers say the infrastructure is meant to outlast this election. Bland said the network is “building toward 2028, the 2030 Census and beyond,” a sign the groups see Black men’s civic participation as a long-term organizing problem rather than a single get-out-the-vote push. The same men the campaign is trying to reach are also at the center of other shifts SSC has been tracking, from Black men returning to HBCU campuses to Black Americans moving South and building political power there.
The effort is part of a broader fight over men voters this cycle, with both parties competing for working-class men across racial lines and Black and Latino men at the center of it. Whether 100,000 men show up on Oct. 24 will be one of the first real measures of how much organizing, rather than advertising, can move them.
The coalition will hold a national press call on Monday, Oct. 19, and a final national organizing call for Black men on Tuesday, Oct. 20. More information on local events is available at blackmanvoterday.org.