Why We’re Rebranding a Flavor to Celebrate the Power of Black Voters

September 20, 2022

Whether you’re excited about it, exhausted by it, or somewhere in between, you probably know that we’re closing in on what’s certain to be a historic midterm election. With more reasons than ever to make your voice heard, and with some states trying to make it harder to do so, we felt we needed to do something big to help out. That’s why we’re rebranding our fan-favorite Limited Batch flavor, Change is Brewing, to highlight the power of Black voters and encourage voter participation.

Change Is Brewing has the same euphoric flavor you remember (Cold Brew Coffee Ice Cream with marshmallow swirls and fudge brownies? yes, please!), but it features a brand-new pint design by Black multidisciplinary artist Laci Jordan. And this year we’re working with Black Voters Matter in Georgia to make sure that Black voters, despite that state’s extreme efforts to make it harder for them and others to cast a ballot, will have their voices heard loud and clear.

Over the past 240+ years, America has slowly expanded the right to vote. It hasn’t been easy, and progress has too often been followed by setbacks, but for a long time we’ve been able to rightly celebrate the good work being done to ensure that more and more people can vote.

Until now.

In recent years, extremist politicians in Georgia and other states have intentionally made it harder for people to cast a ballot, especially young people and people of color. (The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision to gut the Voting Rights Act effectively gave a thumbs up to voter suppression efforts by any state that feels democracy is overrated.) According to the Brennan Center, since the begin­ning of 2021, 18 states have passed 34 restrict­ive voting laws, which can dispro­por­tion­ately affect voters of color. The far right knows that our votes have power. And we are going to show them just how powerful we can be.

Why are right-wing leaders in so many states so eager to keep people from the ballot box? Because they know their extremist ideas aren’t popular—and the more people who vote, the less likely they are to win elections.

It’s especially true that when Black voters turn out, they swing elections, transform what’s possible in politics, and change the course of history. A record turnout from Black voters in the 2020 election, for example, flipped the US Senate and upended the balance of political power in Washington, DC.

Black Voters Matter (BVM) is a Georgia-based organization dedicated to building power in Black and other marginalized communities. BVM isn’t focused only on Election Day: It’s working in communities 365 days a year in big cities and small towns all across the state.

Georgia has a complex history. Atlanta, Georgia, is the cradle of the civil rights movement. It’s Martin Luther King’s birthplace and home to the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he first became a minister. The great voting rights leader John Lewis represented the Atlanta area in Congress for 17 terms.

But Georgia also has a history of violently suppressing the vote. While Georgia has seen a huge increase in the number of eligible Black voters over the past 20 years, Republican officials have also purged hundreds of thousands of voters from the voter rolls since 2019. Similarly, after witnessing the transformative power of Black voters in the 2020 election, right-wing Georgia politicians passed voter suppression legislation and gerrymandered voting districts in an effort to dilute that power. Black Voters Matter is working to make sure that doesn’t happen.

We’ll be working with BVM from now until Election Day throughout Georgia to sign people up to pledge to vote—and scooping Change Is Brewing everywhere we go!

Elected leaders in Georgia and elsewhere are trying to rig the electoral system instead of winning the battle of ideas. They know that majorities of Americans support abortion rights, gun-control legislation, contraception, marriage between people of the same sex, police reform, LGBTQ+ rights, and so much more. When we all vote, far-right candidates who want to strip away our rights lose. That’s why they’re trying to change the rules and make it harder to vote.

The good news is we have the power. We can vote those politicians out of office. No, the system isn’t as free or fair or easy as it should be, but those of us who believe in love and justice and doing what’s right are in the majority. Change really is brewing! Pledge to be a voter and make your voice heard this November.