亚特兰大-每周一晚上，安德鲁和沃尔特·杨家庭基督教青年会的地下室成为男人们的避难所，当地领导人说，他们经常得不到避难所。
近十年来，黑人实验室每周都在寻求为亚特兰大大都市的黑人创造一个“安全、神圣和治愈的空间”，定期召集100多名男性祈祷、冥想，谈论他们面临的挑战和胜利，并向同龄人和长辈学习。
“这几乎是一种交流，”来自佐治亚州南富尔顿的视觉艺术家卡特雷尔·科尔曼(Carttrell Coleman)说，他已经参加了七年的每周例会。“这是我们分享意见和获取资源的机会。网络总是一件好事。这是一种友谊。”
在美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)暂停竞选连任后，最近的一次会议具有特殊的重要性，与会者考虑了一名黑人女性赢得总统大选的前景。副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯的候选人资格让人们重新关注黑人男性，民主党人和共和党人都认为这一群体是有说服力的，但他们多方面的经历和政治偏好往往在公共辩论中得不到解决。
哈里斯的竞选活动也重新点燃了黑人之间关于他们在这次选举中的影响的讨论。
“黑人是目标，我们掌握着王国的钥匙。这是我们的时刻，”佐治亚州黑人市议员执行主任兰斯·罗伯逊在会议期间说。“黑人建立了美国。现在是黑人拯救美国的时候了。”
传统上，黑人男性选民是美国最坚定的民主党倾向群体之一。然而，今年两大政党都认为黑人，尤其是40岁以下的黑人，是可以争取到的选民。11月，黑人是否会大量投票，以及他们在多大程度上保持对民主党候选人的传统支持，可能会成为决定性因素。
“坦率地说，我认为在这个过程的早期，许多黑人对这次选举持怀疑和恐惧的态度，”主持佐治亚州所有534个非洲卫理公会教堂的雷金纳德·杰克逊主教说。“但是自从民主党候选人名单改变后，情况有了转机。我想他们觉得他们有可以支持的东西。我认为，许多让他们持怀疑态度的问题正在得到解决。”
在黑人实验室的活动中，在场的男性来自各行各业。与会者的年龄从8岁到86岁不等，多对父亲、祖父和孙子告诉小组每一代人作为美国黑人面临的独特情况。
黑人选民历来优先考虑民权和经济流动性政策，导致民主党获得压倒性支持。
但是，随着一些年轻的美国黑人与黑人教会等机构的传统关系破裂，这些担忧如何转化为政治偏好已经发生了变化。杰克逊说:“黑人教堂在很多方面都让黑人感到厌恶，我们现在才开始努力满足这种需求并加以纠正。”。
倡导者强调，对于许多年轻的黑人男性来说，财富创造、企业家精神、警察改革和工作场所的反歧视政策等问题是最重要的。
“我们特别希望看到黑人的工作和机会，”主持黑人实验室活动的基督教青年会主席安德烈·格林伍德说。支持哈里斯的格林伍德说，经济信息对黑人男性选民来说最为重要。
哈里斯加入总统竞选，在她的黑人男性盟友中引发了一场组织风暴。在拜登退出竞选并支持哈里斯的一天后，一个为黑人量身定制的虚拟会议吸引了超过53，000名与会者，筹集了超过130万美元。该活动由黑人男性领导的团体Win With Black Men组织，自那时起，每周都举行定期会议，让组织者关注黑人男性。
“到目前为止，这些人并没有真正参与这个竞选季，更不用说为外部组织做志愿者了。我认为我们现在看到的是一种巨大的有机能量，你不能否认，”支持黑人候选人的民主党政治行动委员会集体政治行动委员会(Collective PAC)的创始人昆廷·詹姆斯说。
“赢得黑人男性”组织表示，将把筹集到的资金用于全国范围内的黑人男性参与组织。150多个团体已经申请支持。詹姆斯强调，尽管最近的筹款意外之财引人注目，但哈里斯竞选团队自己与黑人男性的接触努力可能还不够，除非它与长期信任当地社区的强大资助的外部团体相结合。
哈里斯也改进了她与黑人男性的联系。该运动认为，它为黑人男性的优先事项传达了一个成功的信息。
“这是财富和健康，”民主党战略家Antjuan Seawright说。
今年，Seawright领导民主党全国委员会在理发店和其他战场州的场所为黑人男子举办了“剁碎它”市政厅活动。他指出，黑人“并不是铁板一块”，并补充说，竞选活动假设“我们只关心刑事司法改革”是错误的。
最终的努力还旨在解决许多黑人对政治制度的长期怀疑，这种制度被认为是歧视性的，对他们的利益没有反应。其他人解决了男性对选举女性担任国家最高职位的潜在犹豫。
正是因为这些长期的挫折，共和党人也看到了向黑人进军的机会。唐纳德·特朗普经常谈到他对获得更多黑人选民支持的兴趣。包括佛罗里达州众议员拜伦·唐纳兹(Byron Donalds)和德克萨斯州众议员韦斯利·亨特(Wesley Hunt)在内的黑人共和党人在亚特兰大、费城和密尔沃基等城市举办了一系列“国会、白兰地和雪茄”活动。
“多年来，黑人一直被民主党视为理所当然，但特朗普总统的信息正在产生历史性的共鸣，因为他正在做这项工作，”特朗普竞选团队的黑人媒体主任詹妮亚·托马斯(Janiyah Thomas)说。
民主党全国委员会(Democratic National Committee)高级发言人马库斯·罗宾逊(Marcus Robinson)称共和党的外联战略是“空话、充满种族色彩的言论和令人不快的刻板印象，从质疑副总统哈里斯的身份到声称黑人选民应该与特朗普联系起来，因为他是一名被定罪的重罪犯。”
对于许多参加黑人实验室活动的人来说，重振的总统竞选是确保他们的利益在政府最高层得到解决的机会。
“我当时在街上做一些疯狂的事情，这救了我的命，”来自亚特兰大的室外技术员达蒙·博德(Damon Bod)谈到他在黑人实验室活动中的经历时说。博德说，他的整个直系亲属都死于暴力，这次活动为他提供了咨询和一个社区。
他说他会在选举中支持哈里斯，因为支持他的人觉得她会促进黑人的利益。
“我一直在关注这件事，希望她能有所作为。我的兄弟们说她会的，认识我的人。但只有上帝知道，”博德说。
Black men emerge as key constituency in 2024 race
ATLANTA --Every Monday evening, the Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA basement becomes a sanctuary for men who, local leaders say, have too often been denied one.
The Black Man Lab, which for nearly a decade has sought weekly to create a “safe, sacred and healing space” for Black men in metropolitan Atlanta, regularly gathers more than 100 men to pray, meditate and talk through challenges and triumphs they are facing and learn from peers and elders.
“It’s almost a communion,” said Carttrell Coleman, a visual artist from South Fulton, Georgia, who has attended the weekly meetings for seven years. “It’s an opportunity for us to share our voices and get resources. The networking is always a good thing. It’s a fellowship, of sorts.”
One recent meeting in the immediate aftermath of President Joe Biden’s suspension of his reelection campaign took on special weight as attendees considered the prospect of a Black woman winning the presidency. The candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris has refocused attention on Black men, a demographic that Democrats and Republicans view as persuadable but whose multifaceted experiences and political preferences often go unaddressed in public debate.
Harris’ campaign has also reignited discussions amongst Black men about their influence in this election.
“Black men are the target, and we hold the keys to the kingdom. This is our moment,” said Lance Robertson, executive director of the Black City Councilmen of Georgia, during the meeting. “The Black man has built America. Now it’s time for the Black man to save America.”
Black male voters are traditionally one of the most consistently Democratic leaning demographics in the nation. This year, however, both major parties view Black men, especially those under the age of 40, as attainable voters. Whether Black men turn out in high numbers and to what degree they maintain traditional support for Democratic candidates may prove decisive in November.
“To be frank, I think early on in this process a lot of Black men viewed this election with much skepticism and dread,” said Bishop Reginald Jackson, who presides over all 534 African Methodist Episcopal churches in Georgia. “But since the change in the Democratic ticket, there has been a turnaround. I think they feel they have something that they can support. I think a lot of issues which made a lot of them skeptical are being addressed.”
At the Black Man Lab event, the men present came from all walks of life. Attendees' ages ranged from 8 to 86, with multiple pairings of fathers, grandfathers and grandsons telling the group about the unique circumstances each generation faces as Black men in America.
Black voters have historically prioritized policies on civil rights and economic mobility, leading to overwhelming support for Democrats.
But how those concerns translate into political preferences has shifted as traditional ties to institutions like the Black church have frayed for some younger Black Americans. “The Black church, in a lot of respects, has been a turnoff for the Black man, and we’re only now working to address the need and correct it,” Jackson said.
For many younger Black men, advocates stressed, issues like wealth creation, entrepreneurship, police reform and anti-discrimination policies in the workplace are top of mind.
“We want to see jobs and opportunity for Black men, especially,” said Andre Greenwood, chair of the YMCA that hosts the Black Man Lab event. Greenwood, who supports Harris, said economic messages will be most important to Black male voters.
Harris' entrance into the presidential race has unleashed a flurry of organizing among her Black male allies. A day after Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, a virtual conference tailored for Black men garnered more than 53,000 attendees and raised more than $1.3 million. The event, organized by Win With Black Men, a collective of Black male-led groups, has hosted regular meetings every week since then to engage organizers targeting Black men.
“Up until this point, these folks were not really engaged with this campaign season, let alone volunteering for outside organizations. I think what we’re seeing now is a massive level of organic energy that you can't deny,” said Quentin James, founder of the Collective PAC, a Democratic political action committee that supports Black candidates.
Win With Black Men said it would direct the raised funds to organizations nationwide for Black male engagement. More than 150 groups have applied for support. James stressed that while the recent fundraising windfall is notable, the Harris campaign's own engagement effort with Black men may not be enough unless it is paired with robustly funded outside groups that have longstanding trust in local communities.
Harris has also revamped her outreach to Black men. The campaign believes it has a winning message for Black men's priorities.
“It’s wealth and it’s health,” Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said of the message.
Seawright leads the Democratic National Committee's “Chop It Up” town halls for Black men at barbershops and other venues in battleground states this year. He noted that Black men “aren’t monolithic” and added that it is a mistake for campaigns to assume “we only care about criminal justice reform.”
The culminating effort also aims to address longstanding skepticism among many Black men about the political system, which is seen as discriminatory and unresponsive to their interests. Others have tackled potential hesitancy among men about electing a woman to the nation’s highest office.
Republicans, too, see an opportunity to make inroads with Black men precisely because of those longstanding frustrations. Donald Trump often speaks of his interest in garnering greater Black voter support. Black Republicans, including Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, have hosted a “Congress, Cognac, and Cigars” event series in cities including Atlanta, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
“Black men have been taken for granted by the Democratic Party for years, but President Trump’s message is resonating at historic levels because he is doing the work," said Janiyah Thomas, Black media director for the Trump campaign.
Marcus Robinson, a senior spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, called Republican outreach strategy “hot air, racially charged rhetoric and offensive stereotypes, from questioning Vice President Harris’s identity to claiming Black voters should relate to Trump because he is a convicted felon.”
For many attendees at the Black Man Lab event, the reinvigorated presidential race is an opportunity to make sure their interests are addressed at the highest levels of government.
“I was in the street doing wild stuff and this saved my life,” said Damon Bod, an exterior house technician from Atlanta, of his experience with the Black Man Lab event. Bod said he lost his entire immediate family to violence and that the event provided him counsel and a community.
He said he would support Harris in the election because the men who supported him felt she would advance Black men's interests.
“I've been looking at it and hopefully she'll do a bit of good. My brothers have said she will, people who know me. But only God knows,” Bod said.
