Artists all over America are fired up to support the historic candidacy of Kamala Harris for President of the United States of America. The announcement of Governor Tim Walz as the VP nominee has continued to generate energy and excitement in creative communities. This creative brief is intended to provide ideas, inspiration, and guidance.
It is the work of artists to vision more civil, more capacious, more generous, and beautiful worlds. Artists can inspire collective meaning-making and civic discourse. We don’t have to think the same way, but we can listen to each other and treat each other humanely, while we remind each other to exercise our civic duty to vote. Taking a cue from Stacey Abrams, voting might not get the result you want, but not voting definitely won’t. Also, it’s crucial to focus not only on the White House but also on down-ballot races, ballot initiatives, state legislatures, school boards, every level of government.
To catalyze engagement, we need especially to reach:
In addition, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities need to see themselves as belonging in the current and future America. As an example, the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) community has been the fastest growing one in the United States. In the 2020 election, nearly 60% of AAPIs headed to the polls and had the highest voter growth rate (47%) of any racial group. Turning out the vote among BIPOC voters, and ensuring that they are allowed to vote are top priorities.
Key Battleground States:
Key states with Abortion ballot initiatives
If you have ties to one of the states above, you can make content which centers that state.
Those who believe in reproductive freedom are also a major constituency.
Abortion is a central issue in this election and in the Harris campaign. Abortion and reproductive freedom will be on the ballot in key battleground states via ballot measures in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Maryland, and New York (with many more potentially announced, such as Arizona, Arkansas, and Montana, where measures are awaiting certification). Access to abortion is supported by a majority of voters across the U.S., and the issue has been shown to increase democratic and independent voters in deep red states.
Economic fairness and freedom
The Biden Harris administration has delivered on its promise to make a more inclusive economy that works better for everyone. 11 million jobs have been created. Unemployment is at a 50 year low and has returned to pre covid levels in only three years. It took the economy nine years to rebound after the financial crisis of 2008. 2.6 million Black jobs were created including the job of Vice President. Medicare can negotiate drug prices and capped the cost of insulin at $35 and gas prices are down $1.60 since 2022. $170 billion in student loan debt have been eliminated which has benefited over 40 million Americans and 20 million have seen their loans fully canceled. https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/
Creative work, including visual art, videos, memes, songs, and merch, should:
Caveats:
Project 2025
In this election cycle, the public is becoming increasingly aware of Project 2025 and its goal to erode all forms of social justice and reshape all branches of government. Red Wine & Blue has easy-to-ingest resources to distill the nearly 900 pages of the Project 2025 Playbook: https://redwine.blue/project2025/
Please distribute the Red Wine & Blue resources to your network and emphasize the importance of voting to derail Project 2025. The destruction of grassroots journalism, civic discourse, and democracy that we are witnessing today is the result of seeds that were planted long ago. There is a direct line between the Powell Memo of 1971, the Mandate for Leadership of 1981, and Project 2025 (the latter two of which were spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation).
Themes of the campaign to play with: “FREEDOM.” Another theme, as Vice President Harris said in her launch video, “When we fight, we win.” And on the campaign trail, “We’re not going back!” Also, experiment with “Vote. Win!”
If you design a poster that incorporates an image of Kamala Harris, show her eyes, smile, get her skin tone right, and her hair, give the feeling that she represents the future, joy, clarity.
Have a version with her alone, and try out 3 versions with text (poster style): “When we fight, we win!”, “FREEDOM”, “Harris for President”.
The Guardian’s 18 Things to Know about Kamala Harris
WNYC’s Interviews with 5 People who knew Kamala before she was VP
The announcement of Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota has expanded the ticket in exciting ways. Gov. Walz is a former high school teacher, Army National Guard veteran, football coach, advisor to LGBTQ+ students, and 5-term Representative in the U.S. House. See his official bio on the campaign website here.
He brings humor, joy, folksiness, and a working class, midwestern background to the ticket. Here are articles that share details about his life, accomplishments, and character:
Politico’s 55 Things to Know about Tim Walz
The Guardian’s Tim Walz Cheat Sheet
Official Campaign Links
Kamala Harris for President: https://kamalaharris.com/
Merchandise: https://store.kamalaharris.com/
When you share content, please tag the campaign social media handles as well.
IG:
https://www.instagram.com/kamalaharris/
https://www.instagram.com/timwalz/
FB:
https://www.facebook.com/KamalaHarris/
https://www.facebook.com/govwalz
X:
This is a self-mobilizing initiative, and it’s best to be rogue and innovative. There is a chance that some content might be lifted up by the official campaign. But most important is to reach your people and communities.
Register to vote: https://vote.gov/
Voting guidelines and dates: https://www.usa.gov/how-to-vote
Poll worker information: https://www.eac.gov/help-america-vote
Organizations working on GOTV efforts nationally and locally:
Important Civic Engagement Organizations:
Tuesday, November 5 is Election Day, but it might be a while before we know the actual results. There will be tampering with the states; there will be tampering with the votes. But the margins shouldn’t be so slim that tampering makes a difference.
As Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest living National Park Ranger (at Rosie the Riveter Park in Richmond, CA), has said, it’s during these times of upheaval that democracy is being redefined, and we all have access to the reset button.
Thank you so, so much!
“The precise role of the artist, then, is to illuminate that darkness, blaze roads through vast forests, so that we will not, in all our doing, lose sight of its purpose, which is, after all, to make the world a more human dwelling place.”
—James Baldwin
This content was created by Tanya Selvaratnam with Hannah Rosenzweig, independent filmmakers and cultural strategists with decades of experience organizing artist-driven GOTV initiatives.
