Written by Tanya Terry, with photos provided by the Hip Hop Caucus
Featured photo: Barz & Ballots photo by JaRel Clay-Hip Hop Caucus, Associate Senior Director, Digital and Production
Doctor Alexa White, Policy Director at the Hip Hop Caucus, a member organization on a steering committee for Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP), recently recapped with the Courier how cultural organizing is being used to address campaign finance reform in Michigan. She explained that the Hip Hop Caucus and coalition partners connect abstract political issues like campaign finance to everyday experiences people understand, such as utility bills and power outages.
Through cultural events like “Barz & Ballots” held in Flint, the organization engages artists, organizers and residents to educate the public about ballot initiatives and recruit volunteer signature gatherers.
A major milestone for the Hip Hop Caucus and MMOP was achieved when Michigan’s Board of Canvassers approved the “Michiganders for Money Out of Politics” ballot initiative on a 3-to-1 vote on July 26. The campaign collected over 562,000 signatures and surpassed the required threshold of 356,958 valid signatures by 657 signatures, despite opposition from groups like “Protect Michigan Free Speech” who challenged hundreds of signatures.
This initiative aims to ban utility companies and government contractors from making campaign contributions to public officials which they feel could influence their regulation, establishing conflict-of-interest rules and closing disclosure loopholes in Michigan’s campaign finance law.
White emphasized that ballot initiatives serve as a citizen-powered tool for democracy, allowing the public to present proposals directly to voters without requiring elected officials’ approval.
White added: “Michiganders for Money out of Politics is a prime example of how that tool can be very successful. So, it depends on the state, but ballot initiative has the opportunity to put a question on the ballot and reach a certain number of valid signatures… Oftentimes we come across in the media just typical voting opportunities, like vote for your mayor, vote for your president. But ballot initiative provides citizens with the ability to present their own plans to vote on, on the ballot. And so, nationally, the promise of ballot initiative is a tool that I feel the public should be educated on…And it doesn’t really require elected officials to push something. It’s purely through citizens.”
White also highlighted that addressing campaign finance is essential for tackling broader issues including energy justice, affordable utility bills, stagnant wages and underfunded public schools.
The campaign, now in its 18th year, is now transitioning from signature gathering to voter education and turnout, with efforts to register voters and encourage participation in November’s election through the Hip Hop Caucus’s “Respect My Vote” campaign.
White said the “Respect My Vote” campaign is setting a national precedent for grassroots democracy and people power.
If the Board of State Canvassers approves the petition language, the initiative would proceed to the Michigan Legislature, which has 40 days to decide whether to accept the proposal as written and approve it into law or reject it through a vote. If the legislature rejects the measure or fails to act within the 40-day timeframe, the language would automatically be placed on the next general election ballot for a statewide vote.
Learn more at Michiganders for Money out of Politics (MMOP) – Michigan United (miunited.org) and/or respectmyvote.org
