Billy Porter, Black Theatre United & Fair Count Team Up to Encourage Completion of the 2020 Census

Leave it to Billy Porter to bring his signature flair to causes he cares about. The Tony and Emmy winner is also a founding member of Black Theatre United (BTU), the coalition that aims to combat systemic racism within the theater industry. BTU has joined forces with Fair Count, the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded by former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams that intends to engage, educate and mobilize around the 2020 United States Census. The two organizations have launched #Only1ofme, a new campaign featuring iconic artists of color, to inspire completion of the Census amongst hard-to-count populations. The campaign is spearheaded by Porter and ballet dancer Misty Copeland.

What are "hard-to-count" populations? Often, these populations are composed of immigrants, people of color, small children, renters, low-income people, undocumented persons or people who move around often.They may be hard to locate, contact, persuade or interview. The 2020 Census will direct the allocation of more than $1.5 trillion annually to more than 300 federal programs for healthcare, education and more. Nevertheless, the coronavirus crisis has made Census collection efforts amongst hard-to-count communities even more challenging.

If these populations do not respond, many of whom have been the hardest hit by the pandemic due to systemic healthcare disparities and economic inequities, cities, counties and states could lose out on billions of dollars that fund services needed before, during and after the pandemic, including hospitals, Medicaid, Head Start programs, school lunch programs, food stamps and more. With the Census Bureau announcing it will be ending the Census on September 30—a month ahead of the October 31 recommendation—there is increased urgency for these populations to respond. This is where BTU and Fair Count come in.

“When Fair Count reached out about the census being shortened, I thought about something Sherrilyn Ifill said to us in our town hall: 'We have to use the tools we have.' We began by asking the question, 'How can we harness our power as artists to amplify the urgency of this message?' What we have come up with is a campaign that is about each and every one of us,” said BTU founding member Audra McDonald in a statement.

Check out Porter's message below, and find out more about being counted for the census here.