Troy Blackwell, an Afro-Latino voting rights activist and former District 15 City Council candidate, as reported, has founded “Ready for Change,” a political action committee dedicated to promoting youth voter education and supporting “forward-thinking Democrats” at the local and state level. According to Blackwell, Ready for Change aims to make democracy more representative by increasing voter participation among youth, especially youth of color.

Blackwell will lead the PAC and oversee potential partnerships. Educational resources will be provided in English, Spanish, Arabic, and French to reach diverse voters, and the key issues the PAC will focus on include climate change, mental health, criminal justice reform, youth employment and the housing crisis. Gen-Z and millennials combined make up 37% of eligible voters nationally. In early 2020, New York State expanded voter pre-registration to 16-year-olds.

Meanwhile, 59.3 percent of eligible voters in the 18 to 29 age group in New York City turned out to vote in the 2020 presidential election. An estimated 82,000+ 18-year-olds who were too young to vote in November 2020 will be able to vote in the 2021 general election for New York City mayor and City Council.

“At a time when voting rights are under attack, there is simply too much at stake to sit on the sidelines,” said Blackwell. “Voter education is one of the passports out of poverty. Young people are on the frontlines everyday as agents of change, and are the leaders of tomorrow. It is imperative to engage and empower young people in the political process.”

The District 15 City Council primary race in June was ultimately won by City Councilman Oswald Feliz, as reported. The NYC Board of Elections official results showed that Feliz secured 65.2 percent (4,348 votes) of the eligible vote share after the last tabulation, beating his closest opponent, district manager for Bronx Community Board 7, Ischia Bravo.

Blackwell placed fifth out of eight candidates, with 902 votes (11 percent of the total eligible vote share) after Feliz, Bravo, John Sanchez and Bernadette Ferrara, and was eliminated in Round 4. Feliz had previously won the District 15 seat for the first time in a special election in March 2021.

Norwood News previously reported on YVote, another youth civic engagement initiative that promotes voting, as well as other forms of civic engagement among youth. Meanwhile, in March 2021, as also reported, leaders of the Bronx chapter of the NAACP shared their thoughts on voter participation among its membership, and the need for more voter education.

In addition, local resident, Margaret Groarke, wrote an op-ed ahead of the special elections held last March on the reasons why people shouldn’t just vote in the presidential election.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.