By Malaika Jabali· Updated November 2, 2022
We hear the same thing every election cycle: “this is the most important election of our lives!”
Black people have every reason to feel skeptical about those claims when big things in our lives feel like they haven’t progressed. While there needs to be really big, structural changes to close the racial wealth gap, eliminate police violence, and have free, universal healthcare and education in the United States, elections can make a difference in many other ways. Without flexing the right to vote this election cycle, Black people can be pushed back even further.
This is especially relevant in the 2022 midterm elections, where some candidates have made it clear that they are perfectly fine getting rid of some of the gains Black people have made to stay in power.
We did a deep dive of key issues Black women told us they care about, and we asked Black candidates how they’ll address them for our 2022 “Paint The Polls Black Voter Guide.” With Election Day less than a week away on Tuesday, Nov. 8, here’s just some of what is at stake:
READ MORE: Paint The Polls Black Voter Guide
01More money in our pocketsIf conservatives control Congress, the chance to increase the federal minimum wage, support unions that fight for better wages, and have student loan cancellation could disappear. 
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images 02Criminal justice reformActivists have called for investments in Black communities for crime prevention and real consequences for police officers who abuse their position. This could be lost without allies in state, local, and federal government. 
Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images 03Reproductive rightsDespite the Supreme Court overturning Roe, Congress and state governments can pass laws to keep young moms from having forced births that can cost them their lives and futures, but only if pro-choice candidates win their races. 
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images 04Social Security and more affordable health careSome conservatives don’t want social security—a program many of our Black moms and dads and grandparents rely on— to be automatically funded. They also oppose reforms that can keep the costs of healthcare and prescriptions low, which is another blow to our wallets. 
om Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images TOPICS: midterms 2022
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