CLEVELAND — There was something powerful going on Tuesday inside the Friendly Inn Settlement on Cleveland's east side.
100 Black Men of Cleveland, Prince Hall Masons, and local Divine Nine fraternity chapters partnered with several other community organizations for a nonpartisan event aimed at boosting voter registration and turnout among Black men in Northeast Ohio.
Pastor C. Jay Matthews with United Pastors was one of the event's speakers.
"It's wrong to steal the ballot from Black men. It's wrong to lie to black men who have been lied to this country ever since we have been here, it is wrong to continue to incarcerate Black men at a rate faster than anyone in the world," Matthews said.
100 Black Men turned out to be 300 inside the Central neighborhood meeting space. The goal: get Black men to the polls. Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin took center stage.
"Black men, get in the game. This is a call to action for all Black men in our community to get involved in voter engagement this coming election season," Griffin said.
This is just the first phase because on Sept. 28, they will be going door to door in Cleveland, Matthews said.
"We have already launched our 100 churches to have 100 people vote by early mail before the election starts," Matthews said.
Aaron Phillips with Cleveland Clergy Coalition has been spearheading the efforts to get out the vote.
"We know we can put 1,000 brothers on the ground," Phillips said.
Not only on the ground but poll watching, even working the phones. For 30-year-old Darius Wesley, he knows his generation has to set the tone.
"To me it's important that we don't lose sight of what our future holds for us," Wesley said.
These men know it's been a struggle to get others to vote. Greg Lockhart is also campaigning to get out the vote. He says Black men tend to have a low voter turnout than other demographic groups.
"A lot of Black men feel that their voices are not heard. They don't think their voice matters, but it does," Lockhart said.
The group's message: Get registered. Vote. And know that numbers do matter.
Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne is in awe over this movement and can't wait to see these men with boots on the ground before November.
"When you have a thousand men coming together to help get out the votes in our neighborhood, particularly men of color out working the streets to get our kids engaged, get seniors re-engaged, there is something special out there that is happening," Ronayne said.