UltraViolet Celebrates Historic Biden-Harris Victory Made Possible by Women of Color
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, November 7, 2020
CONTACT: Anna Zuccaro | anna@unbendablemedia.com
UltraViolet Celebrates Historic Biden-Harris Victory Made Possible by Women of Color
WASHINGTON, DC -— Moments ago, the Associated Press confirmed that Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris won the 2020 presidential race, with more votes than any presidential ticket in U.S. history.
In response, Shaunna Thomas, executive director of UltraViolet, a leading national women’s advocacy organization, released the following statement:
“The results of this election are clear: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ historic victory is possible because women, particularly Black women, across the nation made their voices heard. Throughout American history, Black women and women of color have led the charge against injustice and sparked social change. Today, they changed the course of American history.
“Because of their leadership Kamala Harris is the first woman, Black woman, and Indian-American to serve as the Vice President of the United States.
“Americans turned out in record numbers to stand with and for each other. Across the country, women, especially Black and Latinx women, organized herculean efforts in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia to deliver the votes that put Biden in the White House.
“We have no illusions. This is the beginning, not the end. America is not going to magically fix itself. Black, Indigenous, and women of color are still fighting to exist and thrive in the face of white supremacist violence, sexual violence, the COVID-19 pandemic, a systemically rotten criminal justice system, massive disparities in healthcare access and outcomes, attacks on reproductive freedom, and so much more. We have a lot of work to do.
“The difference is that now we have an Administration we can, and will, hold accountable for ensuring that our nation builds back better – and as it does so, makes an inclusive society, and an economy that works for everyone. We will fight to make sure the new Biden-Harris Administration does this by prioritizing the needs of women across America.”
“Congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
“Now we celebrate, before getting back to work.”
In 2020, UltraViolet Action organized the first ever Women’s Disinformation Defense Project, a war room of progressive organizations focused explicitly on preventing the spread of racist and sexist disinformation targeting women candidates and voters. Designed to defend Vice President Kamala Harris and other women and women of color running for office, and inoculated women voters from attempts to smear these candidates, UltraViolet’s $1.2m election work included:
- Media accountability campaigns focused on de-platforming those that perpetuated racist and sexist disinformation, including the publication of a comprehensive media guide on how the media can cover women politicians and people of color in politics. This also included calls on the DNC to block all Democratic presidential candidates with active non-disclosure agreements for sexual harassment and workplace abuse on debate
- Platform accountability – focused on holding platforms like Facebook and Twitter accountable for the spread of racist and sexist disinformation, as well as the promotion of right-wing violence and QAnon conspiracy theories.
- Direct voter engagement, popularizing the fact that voters should expect right-wing disinformation attacks focused on racism and sexism, and countered it with positive messages to low propensity voters in battleground states, creating a permission structure encouraging turnout. This included running a six figure ad buy in English and Spanish targeting young, Black, and Latina voters with turnout and pro-Biden content.
In total, UltraViolet’s efforts reached 36 million voters with electoral outreach programs across organic and paid media.
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