A new tool, Transit to Turnout, for anyone in Charlottesville or Albemarle to look up their voting location with a bus stop overlay. 

https://transittoturnout.org/

To everyone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired, I hear you. But we have to continue to fight for the future we want. 

Why Not Voting Gives Away YOUR Power

After 250 years, this American Experiment hasn’t delivered its promises for everyone. It’s broken in ways that are obvious to anyone paying rent, filling a prescription, or watching their child’s school lose resources year after year. I understand why some people are tired of being told to vote as if that alone fixes anything.

But after decades of social justice work, I can tell you that not voting doesn’t punish the politicians who’ve let us down. It just gives your power away to other people, free of charge.

Your vote is the most important currency you have. It is the one thing every citizen holds equally, regardless of income, zip code, or last name. When we deposit that currency together, collectively, as a community, we get the government we vote for. Not the government created by people who count on you to stay home. Not the government that makes it harder for people to vote so they can continue to make the wealthiest even richer. Not the government hellbent on starting a war in Iran, or covering up the Epstein Files, or deliberately increasing the cost of gas and deploying ICE into our neighborhoods. With our vote, we can elect leaders who will actually look out for their constituents instead of working to get reelected. 

Because every vote from us is a vote for us. 

How OUR VOTES Shape Our Schools, Health Care, Roads, and Rights

The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act are a direct result of our vote. The Affordable Care Act was a direct result of our vote.

Voting is how we all decide who gets taxed and who doesn’t, and what those dollars build or fail to build. It shows up in whether our roads get fixed, whether our children’s schools are funded, whether our seniors age with dignity, and whether the next generation has a fair shot.

When government runs amok — when oversight and accountability disappear — the results are everywhere: in the price of groceries and gas, in poor food safety decisions, in wars overseas, and in federal police terrorizing neighborhoods. 

Decisions our elected officials make touch us all, in more ways than we even notice at first. 

 – Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO

THE MIDTERMS: WHY EVERY VOTE MATTERS

 The NAACP has filed an amicus brief in support of the American people, fighting the Trump Administration’s efforts to reduce access to the ballot box through mail-in voting. Through the amicus brief, the NAACP isurging the United States Supreme Court to reject the Trump administration’s efforts to impose new restrictions on mail voting, a longstanding, safe, and trusted component of the nation’s electoral system. The NAACP’s brief highlights the real-world impact of the administration’s attempt to use the U.S. Postal Service as a tool to disrupt and block access to vote by mail this election season. 

“This is nothing more than a desperate, ill-advised and unconstitutional attempt to weaponize the U.S. Postal Service to deny and block voters access to vote by this mail,” said Kristen Clarke, General Counsel of the NAACP. “That’s why wehave filed litigation challenging this administration’s haphazard attempt to make it more difficult for Americans to make their voices heard this midterm cycle. We are calling on the Supreme Court to deny this administration’s attempt to leapfrog over the appellate courts to secure an outcome that would result in the mass disenfranchisement of eligible voters. We reject this administration’s voter suppression efforts and will continue fighting to protect the right to vote for every American in our country.” 

The NAACP’s brief argues that the proposed restrictions threaten access to the ballot for millions of eligible voters and would undermine a voting method relied upon by roughly one-third of Americans. The brief also warns that blocking access to mail-in voting would disproportionately burden Black voters and other historically marginalized communities who often depend on mail voting to overcome barriers to in-person voting. 

The NAACP has filed this amicus brief as part of the NAACP’s broader efforts to oppose voter suppression and defend democratic participation nationwide. The Association has consistently challenged attempts to erect barriers to voting, including efforts to limit mail voting, reduce early voting opportunities, impose burdensome voter identification requirements, and restrict access to voter registration. 

The NAACP will continue fighting in the courts, in legislatures, and in communities across the country to protect the right to vote and ensure that our democracy works for everyone. To view the brief, click here.  

September 3, 2026

Contact: Chyna Fields, cfields@naacpnet.org 

WASHINGTON  — Today, the NAACP announced the launch of a national campaign, the Roadmap to Generational Wealth, an initiative dedicated to dismantling the systemic barriers that fuel the widening racial wealth gap in America. This comprehensive program delivers a roadmap designed to equip the Black community with the tools, resources, and support necessary to build and sustain generational wealth.

The roots of the racial wealth gap have come from centuries of institutionalized racism, policy-driven discrimination, and systemic inequities that have deliberately excluded Black Americans from asset accumulation. The NAACP’s new initiative emphasizes that Black Americans must be empowered to benefit from the U.S. economy, not merely as workers and consumers, but as owners, investors, and primary drivers of their own economic progress to advance civil rights.

“This administration has defunded and dismantled policies and economic safeguards for  Black people to gain and maintain generational wealth in this country,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO. “We must fight to restore and expand the pathways that allow Black families to build, protect, and pass down that wealth.”

The Roadmap to Generational Wealth delivers a multi-layered framework:

• Financial Education and Literacy
• Savings 
• Credit
• Post-Secondary Education
• Employment and Career Advancement
• Investments 
• Homeownership
• Estate Planning
• Retirement Plans

Get the Roadmap

“We fight for the rights of Black and Brown people to have strict policies put into place for the security of generational wealth,” said Keisha Bross, Director, NAACP Center for Opportunity, Race and Justice. “This means the creation, protection, and implementation of policy and legislation that drives opportunity. We will provide families with insight and plans to build generational wealth for years to come.”

The launch of this initiative marks a pivotal point in the fight for civil rights and economic justice, on the heels of our recent leadership in the 2026 March on Washington. The NAACP is continuing the impact by laying the groundwork for a future where Black wealth is protected and passed down through generations. To learn more about the Roadmap to Generational Wealth campaign and how to access these resources, visit naacp.org. 

The NAACP launched an investigation into the U.S. Department of Justice’s plans to deploy over 1000 personnel to polling places during the 2026 midterm election cycle. 

The NAACP filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Department’s Civil Rights Division requesting records concerning the legal authority of the Civil Rights Division to deploy election monitors to investigate “vote fraud,” a list of all jurisdictions where the Department plans to send election monitors, training materials for monitors, any information on the qualifications to serve as an election monitor, information on the Department’s plans to adhere to state laws that prohibit or restrict the activity of monitors, and more.

Kristen Clarke, NAACP General Counsel, shared the following statement:

“Voter intimidation tactics are unacceptable and an affront to our democracy. The ability to cast a ballot, free from fear or harassment by government officials, is a basic civil right. We will not stand by idly as this administration orchestrates a scheme to suppress voting rights and discourage voter participation through mass deployment of federal election monitors. At every turn, this administration has shut down voting rights cases, filed baseless lawsuits, and worked to restrict access to the ballot. All eligible voters have the right to cast their ballot free from fear or harassment by a federal government that is bent on denying voters access to the polls this election season.”

This request follows the DOJ’s recent deployment of election monitors to nearly a dozen polling locations across America during this year’s primary elections – and in some cases – with little to no notice to the public. Courts have recognized that unnecessary law enforcement and government presence at polling sites can cause fear, create confusion, impose burdens on election officials, and have a chilling or coercive effect on voters.

The NAACP remains committed to empowering voters and fighting against voter intimidation and disenfranchisement at every level. We continue our work to ensure justice and to prevent federal overreach intended to keep eligible voters away from the ballot box. For more information, visit naacp.org. The full request letter is available here.

NAACP Albemarle-Charlottesville Branch

PO Box 6205

Charlottesville, VA 22906

OUR PHYSICAL ADDRESS REMAINS THE SAME:

703 CONCORD AVENUE

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22903