Music artist Chancelor Bennett—better known by his stage name “Chance the Rapper”—is making sure his fans get the chance to vote this November.
The rapper announced he is teaming up with the NAACP to bring voter registration to his upcoming tour. Chance tagged his post with the hashtag #staywokeandvote, which is the NAACP’s official campaign to encourage African-Americans to vote.
Proud to announce I’ll be teaming with @NAACP for #magnificentcoloringworldtour to bring Voters Registration to the show #staywokeandvote
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) September 14, 2016
Teams of volunteers with the civil rights organization’s Youth and College Division will attend shows across the country to help first-time voters register, according to an NAACP press release.
“Chance the Rapper is an artist whose music praises and lifts up our common humanity, and whose call for action speaks to the yearning of this moment,” NAACP president and CEO Cornell William Brooks said in a statement.
Citing the Black Lives Matter movement and miscarriages of criminal justice, Brooks said, “This year, more than it has in a generation, we must use the power of our voices and our votes and exercise our sacred right to vote.”
In the statement, Bennett said, “Voting and becoming knowledgeable about this year’s upcoming presidential election is imperative. With a great deal of help from the NAACP, I have been able to provide this awesome opportunity for people to sign up and make the pledge to vote at a few of my upcoming shows. This is super important to me because I want my fans to know that their voices matter and that their vote counts now more than ever.”
The rapper appears to be concerned about voter discrimination in November, because he also recently posted an ACLU article encouraging Congress to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Time is running out. Tell Congress to fix voter discrimination before Nov elections #VRAA: https://t.co/W0HKEr8d4T
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) September 15, 2016
Chance’s tour starts next week in his hometown of Chicago.
