Ani DiFranco, our favorite activist-feminist-singer-author, is spearheading an effort to encourage people to vote in the coming midterm elections through a concert called “Babefest.”
Started in Buffalo, New York in 2016, this concert– now on its third iteration– is a traveling festival of music, community, and activism.
This year’s edition will take place in Brooklyn this September 21 and will benefit EMILY’s List, a political action committee that elects pro-choice Democratic women into office.
Babefest: A concert with a mission
Since it was first established, the mission of the concert is to urge the community to “rise up” and vote in the upcoming midterm elections.
Aside from DiFranco, Babefest will feature performances from the Resistance Revival Chorus, Torres, and Amy Leon.
The Resistance Revival Chorus is a group of 70 women who came out of the Women’s March to sing protest songs. The group also performed alongside Kesha at the 2018 Grammys.
Torres’ 2017 critically acclaimed album Three Futures made year-end best-of lists in Newsweek, Noisey, and NPR. She has broken boundaries in music by owning sexuality in a way that is typically reserved for men.
Amy Leon is an artist, poet, and educator. She initiated the #selfiepoetryproject to bring more visibility to her experience as a woman of color.
Babefest & EMILY’s List
For this year, the concert will support EMILY’s List, one of the most successful political organizations and the nation’s largest resource for women in politics.
The group has previously raised over US$500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates.
Over five million members of this grassroot community helps Democratic women win through competitive campaigns.
To support the group’s program, there will be a half-day training session on September 22. Registration check-in will be from 9am to 10am, and the training will go from 10am to 3pm.
The training will be done through EMILY’s List’s “Run To Win” program for pro-choice Democratic women thinking about running for elected office.
With this training, EMILY’s List will guide women through planning their run by teaching them how to get their house in order and by showing them how to get ready to take the initial running steps in order to win.
Babefest: Get the vote out
With the coming midterm elections this November, EMILY’s List has its job cut out for it.
Lucinda Guinn, Vice President of campaigns at EMILY’s List, said: “This election cycle, we have trained more than 5,000 women, in-person and online, preparing them to run or help other women run for office.”
“Working with these phenomenal artists featured at Babefest helps to spread our mission while bringing attention to the need of more women being represented at every level of government,” Guinn said.
“Lack of voter participation has led us to the brink of disaster,” DiFranco said, “Without speaking in hyperbole, voting this November is more crucial than ever before.”
“Let’s rise up by all simply stepping into a voting booth on the same day. Let’s think of each other and feel the power of acting together. Let’s get this party started!” she added.