Rock The Vote Still Rolling

NEW YORK--Rock the Vote met with little media attention in the time leading up to the 1997 elections. But while some may have wondered what had become of the organization--or just plain forgotten about it--Rock the Vote was quietly and systematically registering more than 515,000 voters and making plans to further step up its activities on a wide variety of fronts in 1998.
Says Donna Frisby, acting executive director of Rock the Vote, 'We did not have as strong a media presence last year--we weren't a new thing anymore. But we were out there in the community. We were in the faces of young people, which is what really counts.'
Among the organization's initiatives to reach youth were the new voter-registration phone number, 800-REGISTER, and voter registration available over the Internet.
Formed in 1990 by members of the recording industry, Rock the Vote seeks to educate young people aged 18-24 about current political issues, freedom of speech, and the power of the vote.
Frisby, formerly development director for Rock the Vote, is a leading candidate in the organization's search for a new executive director following the departure of Ricki Seidman in August. Identifying the need to reach chronically overlooked black and Latino youth with the Rock the Vote message, Frisby organized Rock the Vote's urban-outreach initiative beginning in 1992 and, along with LL Cool J, founded the organization's Hip-Hop Coalition for Political Power.
'People of color are not as familiar with the Rock the Vote name,' says Frisby. So in the last few years, the Hip-Hop Coalition has tailored its campaign to those of all races who identify with hip-hop culture, holding political 'info forums' with artists and activists like Chuck D., LL Cool J, and Farai Chideya, as well as record company executives like Hiriam Hicks, president of Island Black Music. Forty R&B radio stations took on Rock the Vote as a public-service campaign, and volunteers focused on reaching traditionally black college campuses and R&B communities at the grass-roots level.
'One thing about urban and hip-hop communities,' Frisby adds, 'is that you can't tell people to just vote, because they feel they're outside the system.' Hence, plans for the Hip-Hop Coalition in 1998 include continued cooperation with Black Youth Vote, the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, and other traditional organizations to get young people of color registered to vote.
'(Rock the Vote is) rejuvenating now, getting ready for the congressional elections and gearing up for '98,' says Frisby. 'We want to get young people registered and educated, train activists, get young people to the polls next year, and get them speaking out about issues that are important to (them).
'(Rock the Vote is) different because we target young people using pop culture,' continues Frisby. 'We have at our fingertips the people who made Madonna and Sean 'Puffy' Combs, and this helps us get in the face of young people who might not otherwise be interested in politics.'
Frisby admits that the organization could 'do some things to get us in the media more,' citing the strategic use of radio to give Rock the Vote a regional presence as well as the successful cooperation with MTV in the past to in-crease national exposure.
But even when the organization is flying under the media radar, the numbers indicate that Rock the Vote is getting the job done, Frisby says.
(c) BPI Communications, 1997 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED