PushBlack is a left-of-center racial-activist media and voter-outreach organization that creates media content targeted to Black Americans with the overarching goal of “black liberation.” Founded in 2015, the group claimed in 2024 that its content reached 9 million individuals monthly and that it had sent over 400 million voting-related messages since 2020, claiming credit for 100,000 voter registrations.

The group further says that it has sent over one billion messages focused on “challenging and replacing harmful white supremacist narratives with uplifting narratives centered on Black liberation.” The organization receives funding from a variety of left-of-center grantmaking organizations and received a joint gift of $1 million from New Profit and the Skoll Foundation in 2020. ^{1 2 3}

Background

PushBlack was founded in 2015 and was granted tax-exempt status as a charitable organization in 2018. As of 2022, the group claimed that its messaging and content reached 9 million Black Americans monthly with daily content featuring “Black history stories, criminal justice reporting, finance content and an evergreen voter registration effort, all with the goal of promoting and facilitating Black liberation.” The organization’s audience engagement model includes a Facebook messaging service that allows individuals to share voting messages with friends, and sizeable filings on social media platforms including TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. ^{4 5}

Activities

According to PushBlack, the organization has facilitated in sending of 400 million voting messages since 2020, and over one billion total messages sent. The group claims that its efforts have led to the registration of over 100,000 voters and led to over 1 million Black Americans voting who would not have otherwise. ⁶

In describing its civic engagement program, the group states, “Black voters are being disenfranchised. That disenfranchisement happens through legislation, as well as media and misinformation that seeks to devalue or dismiss Black votes. This leads to ripple effects where Black interests and issues are continually underrepresented in our government and legislation.” ⁷

URL Media Network

In 2022, PushBlack joined the URL media coalition, an organization founded in 2020 to “address the persistent underfunding of Black and Brown media organizations and the ongoing underrepresentation of BIPOC communities in mainstream media.” Other partners of the coalition include Black Voice News, Documented, Epicenter-NYC, Native News, and the Haitian Times. ^{8 9}

Funding

In 2020, left-of-center grantmaking organizations New Profit and the Skoll Foundation announced a $1 million grant to PushBlack in “unrestricted funding and strategic advisory support over the next two years to democracy entrepreneurs Julian Walker and Eskedar Getahun as they and their team look to grow and deepen the organization’s impact.” ¹⁰

Other funders of PushBlack include the Center for Public Interest Research, Accelerate Change, Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts Education Fund, Advocates for Informed Choice, and the Progressive Multiplier Action Fund. ¹¹

Leadership

Julian “Jay” Walker is the current CEO and a founding member of PushBlack. Walker previously worked for the Atlanta Black Star and the Chicago Urban League. ¹²

Tareq Alani is a co-founder and the chief product officer of the organization, he previously worked for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Working America AFL-CIO, and Fund for the Public Interest. ¹³

1. “New Profit and Skoll Foundation Invest $1 Million in the Democracy Organization PushBlack.” New Profit. September 16, 2020. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://www.newprofit.org/go/new-profit-and-skoll-foundation-will-invest-1-million-in-the-democracy-organization-pushblack/
2. “PushBlack joins the URL Media network.” URL Media. October 25, 2022. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://url-media.com/pushblack-joins-the-url-media-network/
3. “Impact.” PushBlack. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://www.pushblack.org/impact
4. ^[1] “PushBlack joins the URL Media network.” URL Media. October 25, 2022. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://url-media.com/pushblack-joins-the-url-media-network/
5. “Impact.” PushBlack. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://www.pushblack.org/impact
6. “Impact.” PushBlack. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://www.pushblack.org/impact
7. “Impact.” PushBlack. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://www.pushblack.org/impact
8. “PushBlack joins the URL Media network.” URL Media. October 25, 2022. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://url-media.com/pushblack-joins-the-url-media-network/
9. “About.” URL Media. October 25, 2022. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://url-media.com/about/
10. “New Profit and Skoll Foundation Invest $1 Million in the Democracy Organization PushBlack.” New Profit. September 16, 2020. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://www.newprofit.org/go/new-profit-and-skoll-foundation-will-invest-1-million-in-the-democracy-organization-pushblack/
11. “Full Text Search: PushBlack.” Nonprofit Explorer.  Query Conducted March 9, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?page=2&q=pushblack
12. “Julian Walker.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianwalkertv/
13. “Team.” PushBlack. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://www.pushblack.org/team