Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis
Alexis, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I come from a long family line of being involved in civic engagement. My mother was a member of SNCC in college, and my parent’s started the 1st chapter of the NAACP in the small midwestern town that I’m from, so I’ve been involved in social justice since I was a little kid canvassing to register voters with my parents. It translated to myself pursuing social justice as a career, and in 2020 at the height of election season and with the racial awakening of George Floyd in our forefront, I was working for a racial justice organization focused on voting in Black communities. My self and my coworker, two black women deeply involved in politics, found ourselves looking for political news outlets and podcasts that would reflect ourselves and the issues that directly affect our communities. We didn’t find many, so we started Black Girls Do Politics, a C3 and C4 non profit organization that provides trusted news and political information for Black women as well as a fellowship program and other civic engagement opportunities. Black Girls Do Politics was founded to make social change through media, operations, fundraising, and other mediums not often available to diverse voices. Last summer we were accepted into the Google News Initiative Fellowship Program, and have been building out our platform even more since then, as we recognize Black communities want and need more trusted political news sources.
Today, we engage Black women and Black communities in the political space through our podcast and other media platforms. We partner with other political non profits and media organizations for civic engagement, including voter registration drives and other organizing and advocacy activities. This summer we will launch a fellowship program, and in fall 2025, we will be launching a monthly newsletter, as well as a political candidate school for BIPOC women who want to run for office.
Black Girls Do Politics uses media and other mediums to meet people where they are to engage them about politics and other social justice issues. The majority of people don’t get their news from a newspaper or TV station newscast, most people engage with politics through podcasts, blog posts, and other online platforms and mediums, so we use Black Girls Do Politics to reach our community where they consume news the most. Additionally, a recent Onyx Impact Study (https://www.onyximpact.org/uploads/1/4/7/3/147321580/onyx_impact_landscape_analysis.pdf) showed that there is a disproportionate amount of misinformation targeted at the Black community, so we look to be a trusted and authentic source for this information for our community. We are also non partisan, so we stress that we cover both sides of an issue, and encourage people to educate themselves to make their own informed choices. We’ve had both Black democrats and republicans on the show, so we strive to show that we are represented on all sides of an issue.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s never a smooth road starting a small business, especially in media and in the political space. We are non partisan, but have experienced people targeting us because we are focused on news for Black communities. We’ve had candidates on the podcast from both parties, but for some people it doesn’t matter. It has been especially hard to find financial support as a non profit, especially with the withdraw of many sources of DEI funding. Regardless, we are committed to providing the news and talking about issues affecting Black communities. I hear from people all of the time how much they enjoy the podcast and its made them want to learn more or get more involved with an social justice issue, so we know that we are making change, one listener at a time.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Black Girls Do Politics was co-founded by Renee Smith and Alexis Buchanan Thomas in 2020 and is a C3 and C4 non profit organization that provides trusted news and political information for Black women. With disinformation targeted towards Black women and Black communities in particular we wanted to provide credible authentic sources for news around issues that directly affect their communities. We also provide opportunities for Black women to become more involved in politics and social justice through careers that are include but are also outside of running for office, whether it be media, fundraising, operations, etc.
Black Girls Do Politics was founded to make social change through media, operations, fundraising, and other mediums not often available to diverse voices. Our mission is to provide news and politics tailored towards Black women in a media landscape that does not often represent them. We are an authentic trusted news source for BIPOC women, as well as we present resources and opportunities to become further engaged in social justice issues through our fellowship program and volunteer opportunities.
We host a podcast that you can find on all of your favorite podcast platforms. We also publish weekly news blogs on our website: www.blackgirlsdopolitics.org.
You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter dropping this fall on our website.
We are a non profit, so you can support independent grassroots journalism for Black communities by donating here: https://blackgirlsdopolitics.org/donate-us/
How do you define success?
Success for Black Girls Do Politics is seeing as many as BIPOC women as we can engaging in the political space, especially Gen Z and Millennial Black women. Our generation is the next one to carry the torch, so we have to become more involved. I tell people we all have a place to play in the movement, whether that is protesting, or being the one who supports the protesters with bottles of water or supplies. Both roles are equally important, so success for us is getting Black and BIPOC communities engaged in politics in whatever way works best for them. Just get involved!
Pricing:
- Donate here: https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/black-girls-do-politics
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blackgirlsdopolitics.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackgirlsdopolitics/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackgirlsdopolitics
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexis-buchanan-thomas-b5a79b9/
- Twitter: https://x.com/blkgrl_politics
