Beyoncé wants her fans to get in formation and vote.
During a Tidal X performance at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Queen Bey urged fans to go out and vote on November 8 in the upcoming federal election. The speech immediately went viral after she posted it to her Instagram account following the event.
“I know it seems like things are bad, but if you think that can’t get worse, just ask your grandparents,” she said adding:
“Remember Barack Obama is our president. You made that happen, young people made that happen. We are not helpless. The fire is still burning. Please go out and vote this November. Too many people have died and sacrificed so much for us to have our voice, we have to use it. Get information. Use our voices to do something great for our children.”
Beyoncé is right (as usual). The youth vote, the demographic many of her fans make up, is desperately low in the United States. Those people in the 18-35 demographic now comprise nearly the largest cohort of the American electorate, soon to surpass baby boomers. Yet, less than half of them are expected to cast their ballot (a 50 percent turnout in 2008 is the benchmark for the millennial age group). That number will likely decline during this election and most certainly during midterm Congressional elections.
The youth vote is particularly important to Democrats as they tend toward Clinton by almost 2-to-1, similar numbers to the Obama versus Romney race of 2012, according to The Washington Post.
Other celebrities have also stepped forward to urge young people to vote. In October, a group of over 100 actors, singers, and other artists released a video launched with the hashtag #VoteYourFuture.
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If young people want to be heard, voting is how they do it.
