“Respect My Vote” Campaign Comes to Cleveland

The Hip Hop Caucus is a national, non-profit and non-partisan organization that connects the Hip Hop community to the civic process to build power and create positive change.

The organization operates in nearly twenty major US cities and earlier in the week brought its “Respect My Vote” campaign to Cleveland.

“It’s a campaign that generates young votes across the country and we want to use creative expression to get the young vote out,” says Jordan “Hustle” Eversley, Communications and Strategic Partnerships Manager for Hip Hop Caucus. “We want to use local tastemakers, radio deejays, rappers — everyone who creates the movement in that specific city, we want them to come to the photoshoot to influence the rest of the city,” he continues.

The photoshoot took place at Dead Logic Creative and some of the participants included FreshProduce, Ray Cash, foster care advocate Kevinee Gilmore, DJ Sam Sylk, Ray Jr., Bijou Star, Ohio Hip Hop Awards co-founder D. Lorand Jackson and several others during the two day campaign. In addition to being photographed in white t-shirts bearing the Respect My Vote logo, participants were also asked to describe how they felt the first time they voted and what issues in the city matter to them the most.

As always, Ohio will be a key state when it comes to the presidential election, Eversley realizes how imperative it was for the campaign to make its way through this region of the country.

“Ohio is a major state when it comes to politics,” he emphatically s
ays. “Also, I’m from the Midwest and I understand that there’s a lot of disconnect in the vote. There’s been a lot of misinformation and I understand the dire need for the youth to understand what the voting process actually is.”

Over the next few weeks, the Respect My Vote campaign will be rolling into cities like Toronto, New Orleans, Detroit, Charlotte, St. Louis, Miami and New York.