LaTosha Brown

LaTosha Brown is an American community organizer, political strategist, and consultant. She is the co-founder of the voting rights group Black Voters Matter,[1] which has been noted for its work on the 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama and its influence during the 2020–21 Georgia state elections. Brown was born in Selma, Alabama and attended Selma High School and Auburn University at Montgomery. After unsuccessful bids for the Alabama State Board of Education and the Alabama House of Representatives, Brown began working and founding a series of nonprofit organizations centered around disaster relief, Black voting rights, and funding grassroots community development initiatives. In 2016, Brown and fellow activist Cliff Albright founded Black Voters Matter, an organization whose work is credited with significant voter registration and get out the vote efforts in several elections, notably that of United States Senator Doug Jones of Alabama in 2017; the 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia; and the 2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia.

LaTosha Brown
An image of political consultant LaTosha Brown from the shoulders up.
Brown speaks about Black Voters Matter to the Movement Voter Project in 2020.
Born1971 (age 51–52)
Selma, Alabama U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materAuburn University at Montgomery
Occupation(s)Political consultant
Community organizer
Years active1998–present
Known forCo-founder, Black Voters Matter

Early life and education

Brown was born in 1970 in Selma, Alabama[2] to a farming family.[3] She attended Baptist churches as a child.[4]

Brown's parents separated when Brown was young, and she and her mother moved in with Brown's maternal grandparents in Mobile, Alabama.[5] Brown describes her grandmother as her "soulmate" and a significant influence in her life; from the age of six Brown accompanied her grandmother to the polls where her grandmother "dressed in her Sunday best" and emphasized the importance of her ability to vote: She was born in 1910 and not permitted to do so for most of her life. Brown's grandfather, who had been similarly denied access to the polls throughout his life, carried a poll tax receipt in his wallet as a reminder.[6][7]

Brown was fascinated with power from a young age: She recalls frequently asking her mother who the owner or leader was each time they entered a restaurant, store or church.[3][5]

Brown attended Selma High School[4] and had early aspirations of becoming a jazz singer, an interest that she continually incorporates into her work.[5] She attended Auburn University at Mongtomery where she studied political science and government.[4] She became a mother during this time and left the university, taking a job at a clothing shop where she began her activism, discussing with customers the books she was reading to pass the time at work.[3]

Bids for political office

State Board of Education

In 1998, Brown ran for the Democratic nomination for the Alabama State Board of Education's fifth district seat. Her opponent was fellow Democrat Willie J. Paul.[8] After a week-long count of the ballots[5] Paul was declared the winner by fewer than 200 votes.[9]

After the results were certified, the Wilcox County sheriff admitted to storing 800 uncounted ballots in a safe.[9][10] Since the ballots were discovered after the election was certified, Brown was told they could not be counted. Her only recourse was a lawsuit, which she was not financially able to pursue.[5]

Alabama House of Representatives

In 2002, Brown ran for the Alabama House of Representatives District 67 seat against fellow Democrat Yusuf Salaam. On June 25, Salaam won the runoff election by 138 votes.[11] Brown officially contested the election. In a June 27 press conference from the Dallas County Courthouse Annex, she and her advisors alleged several irregularities within the voting records, including crossover voting, missing voter lists, illegally opened election boxes, and votes from deceased individuals.[11]

Nonprofit work

TruthSpeaks Consulting

In 2004, Brown founded TruthSpeaks Consulting,[12] a philanthropy advisory consulting firm in Atlanta, GA.[13]

Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium

In her position with TruthSpeaks Consulting, Brown founded the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium in 2018.[14] "to create a new philanthropic model and framework that will increase investments for Black girls and women in the south."[12] In 2020, the Consortium announced a ten-year, $100 million initiative to support local community organizations in several southern towns and cities who support the empowerment of Black girls and women.[14]

Hurricane Katrina/Gulf crisis response

Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Brown founded and chaired the disaster relief organization Saving OurSelves Coalition, which organized local churches and community organizations to bring food, shelter and medical care to Mississippi and Alabama communities devastated by the storm.[15]

In 2010, Brown also co-founded and served as the first Executive Director of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health. During her tenure, the organization gained national prominence, secured partnerships and granted more than $6 million to grassroots organizations throughout the Gulf Coast to help with both hurricane recovery and the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[16][17][18]

Grantmakers for Southern Progress

In 2014 Brown was made the project director of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, a working group of the Neighborhood Funders Group.[16][13]

Black Voters Matter
Main article: Black Voters Matter

In 2016, Brown and her friend Cliff Albright founded Black Voters Matter (BVM), a 501(c)(4) organization to connect with and support grassroots community infrastructure in Black communities in the Southern United States. Although BVM is credited with significantly combatting voter suppression in key Senate races in 2017, 2020 and 2021, Brown maintains that BVM's work is about Black voters asserting and assuming power by exercising their right to vote.[6][5][8]

Philosophy

Brown's work is focused on challenging Conservatism in the American South,[19] and the effects of voter suppression, particularly concerning Black Americans.[20] She emphasizes the importance of supporting Black women and girls from a young age, citing the intersection of racism and sexism they experience.[21]

Personal life

Brown is also a jazz singer.[13]

"Currently, she serves on the board of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the Southern Documentary Fund, the U.S. Human Rights Network and the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center."[22]

Awards

References
  1. "Black Voters Matter Fund co-founder Latosha Brown weighs in on voter intimidation". CBS News. October 27, 2020. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  2. Danney, Micah (August 24, 2020). "LaTosha Brown's Alabama roots inspired the work she's doing for Black voters". Alabama Political Reporter. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  3. Fouriezos, Nick (June 17, 2020). "The Soulful Singer Making Sure Black Voters Matter". OZY. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  4. "Brown Salaam won't push religion". The Selma Times‑Journal. June 23, 2002. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  5. Callahan, Yesha (February 8, 2021). "Black History Now: LaTosha Brown's Next Goal Is to Flip the Country". Shondaland. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  6. Burch, Audra D.S. (December 29, 2020). "Turning Out the Vote in Georgia". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  7. Asmelash, Leah (November 2, 2020). "Why this bus tours the South to get disenfranchised voters to the polls". CNN. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  8. Skomro, Isabel G. (February 12, 2021). "Activist and Organizer LaTosha Brown Discusses Voter Mobilization at Kennedy School Event". The Harvard Crimson. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  9. Hughes, Susan A. (February 16, 2021). "History, activism, and the power of Black voters". Harvard Kennedy School. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  10. Connley, Courtney (November 6, 2020). "How Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown and other Black women changed the course of the 2020 election". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  11. "Brown cites alleged voter irregularities". The Selma Times‑Journal. July 19, 2002. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  12. "LaTosha R. Brown". TruthSpeaks Consulting. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  13. "LaTosha Brown". The Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  14. Cravey, Beth Reese (September 16, 2020). "New 'Black Girls Dream Fund' to support organizations that empower Black girls and women". The Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  15. ""Saving Our Selves" Coalition Doing the Hard Work in the Gulf States". Our Time Press. October 1, 2005. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  16. "NFG Announces LaTosha Brown as Project Director for Grantmakers for Southern Progress". Neighborhood Funders Group. December 1, 2014. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  17. "Board:LaTosha Brown". Southern Documentary Fund. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  18. "Champions of Change: LaTosha Brown". The White House. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  19. Craven, Julia (October 7, 2020). "The South Runs the Country". Slate.
  20. "LaTosha Brown: Trump's voter suppression efforts have backfired on GOP". MSNBC. October 19, 2020. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  21. Brown, LaTosha (July 9, 2020). "Reimagining An America That Uplifts Black Girls". Essence. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  22. "Meet Latosha Brown". mslatoshabrown.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  23. "Black Voters Matter Co-founder LaTosha Brown Named Hauser Leader". Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership. August 10, 2020. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
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