The resurgence of a 1960s organization that helped Black politicians make strides in elections is now working to drive the Black vote in the Black Belt states.
The Southern Elections Fund is a North Carolina-based program aimed at mobilizing Black voters. According to its website, SEF is “fighting massive voter suppression with massive voter registration.” The SEF focuses primarily on voters in the southern Black Belt states. The Black Belt stretches across Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. According to the U.S. Census Quick Facts, the average poverty rate for these 11 states is about 18 percent compared to 14.8 percent for the United States overall.
Originally founded in 1969 by Julian Bond, the SEF originally assisted in electing local and state level candidates for office in the south. In 1970 the SEF aided in the elections of three Blacks in South Carolina and two Blacks in Alabama to being the first ever Black elected officials to those states’ legislatures since the end of Reconstruction. Throughout the early 1970s, Bond’s organization provided funds and advice to more than 800 candidates, 70 percent of whom were elected to office.
