For Black Voters Matter, the goal is greater community power

Black Voters Matter co-founders LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright aim to increase the political power of Black communities

LaTosha Brown opened with a song. Speaking about voting rights one recent spring day in Selma, Alabama, the Black activist delivered the civil rights anthem “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize” in a voice showcasing her background as a jazz singer. She told her audience, through music, that the fight for equal access to the ballot box was as urgent as ever. The song drew cheers from a few dozen listeners, young and old, who had gathered before the brown-bricked African Methodist Episcopal church in a city known for its poverty as much as for its troubled racial past. For Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, the song served to introduce a question.