Today, Women With A Vision is kicking off our Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE) work! By mobilizing our base of no income, low income, and working class Black women living in the 4^th, 5^th, 6^th and 7^th Wards of New Orleans, we are creating new pathways for Black women to interact with policy makers and to shape the policies that impact our lives. Our IVE work this year will focus on deepening voter engagement and registration, collaborating with constituents citywide through the Power Coalition, and increasing overall voter turnout for the upcoming elections.
During the last campaign cycle, Black women were repeatedly called upon to speak to the issues affecting our country, to provide solutions, and to create an atmosphere of excitement and encouragement for the democratic process. However, our work to mobilize our communities was too often not met halfway by policy makers who could implement solutions to the issues that directly affect us and our families.

To quote the late Audre Lorde, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” This campaign cycle we are working to make the power of the southern Black Feminist intersectional analysis that arises from WWAV’s community heard and moved on. The policies that cause Black women to not live our full lives are created by entities that do not see us as full human beings. That’s why we know that if we are going to change the policies, we must first change the policymakers.

Our existence is political. Every day, we are working in community nationally to safeguard ourselves from the war being waged on Black and brown people at the federal level. Locally, we have the power to mobilize directly to force candidates to make commitments to Black women in upcoming city and state election cycles. We need a sheriff, a mayor, a city council, a district attorney, state legislators and judges that are committed to creating a system that (1) is equitable and fair, (2) provides access and opportunity, and (3) does not push our community into the margins.
The people united will never be defeated. Through our IVE program, WWAV is here to ensure that Black women in New Orleans and throughout the state of Louisiana have the tools we need to make our voices and demands heard. That’s how we build justice and transformation for all!