KID REPORT
July 28, 2004
Talking About 'Rock the Vote
TFK Kid Reporter Lily Wasserman meets the president of Rock the Vote
 Jehmu Greene, president of Rock the Vote |
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|  Lily interviews Greene at a women's event. |
Greene: I would say the most effective thing Rock the Vote does is we give young people the ability to talk to their peers, talk to their friends and register them to vote. We have a Rock the Vote street team that has 15,000+ people who are registering voters, pounding the pavement, knocking on doors and we really provide a vehicle for young people to get engaged. A lot of times, just the fact that that vehicle isn’t there, people don’t feel comfortable. That’s what stops them from participating so we want to knock down those barriers to give young people that chance.
TFK: Could you tell me more about the street teams?
Greene: The street teams are young people who are a very diverse group of activists that we have all over the country…that do voter registration at concert tours, at record stores, malls. Wherever you can find a young person, that’s where we tell them to go…They also work to put events on and they work to talk to young people about the issues that are at stake in the election.
TFK: How old do you have to be to join?
Greene: The age to join is fourteen…We look for anyone who wants to lend some time and maybe get a free concert ticket while they’re doing it.
TFK: What is one effective thing kids under the age of fourteen can do to help get people involved in politics and get people to vote?
Greene: What kids can do who are under fourteen is to ask their parents, ask anyone they know who is 18, to vote for them…Kids can make sure that everyone they know is registered to vote…
TFK: How did Rock the Vote start? Who started it?
Greene: Rock the Vote was started by record industry executives in 1990 when a number of musicians came under attack for performing and the record industry really looked at the situation and said, “The government’s going to attack this music because young people aren’t voting and young people aren’t going to fight back and, until young people are part of the political process, this is going to continue to happen and so Rock the Vote was started so that young people could have a voice and when our issues and our culture come under attack, we have a way of fighting back…and we’re going to take control of our future.
TFK: I know MTV is a big part of Rock the Vote. Can you tell me about that?
Greene: MTV is our long-time partner that we have had a 14-year relationship with. We work with them to put our public service announcements on the air. We work with them to register voters on different events that we’re doing. Now other companies are finally trying to do the same thing. There would be no youth voting movement without MTV…
TFK: Do you have any other interesting partnerships?
Greene: We partner with the Dixie Chicks on our “Chicks Rock, Chicks Vote” campaign. We have a number of young women who have signed up for “Chicks Rock, Chicks Vote” like Michelle Branch and Lindsay Lohan. It’s a way for young women to feel empowered to make a difference…
TFK: How many members are there of Rock the Vote?
Greene: We have over 15,000 street teams. We have three offices in Los Angeles, New York, and D.C. but our membership is this generation and our generation has 35 million young voters and can decide the election and we’re going after those 35 million. We’re going to register at least 1 million and we know that we will turn out at least 20 million on election day.
