Back in the late 1970s, an organization was formed by some young, motivated Franklin County black Democrats. They included Michael B. Coleman, who went on to become Mayor of Columbus; Bill Anthony, who went on to become chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Party; and Patsy Thomas, who went on to serve as an Ohio judge.

Other founders included Cathy Mock, James Evans and Dannette Palmore, amongst others.

Their organization, the Ohio Young Black Democrats, eventually seemed to fizzle out. But a new generation of motivated young people has come along to pick up the torch. In November 2006, Anthony met with a small group of individuals, with the hope the group would re-emerge to help contribute to the gubernatorial race as well as other races that year. They took up the challenge and organized an African-America beauty and babershop initiative, in which they canvassed local shops and salons, distributing political literature, and talking to patrons about voting.

In 2007, they elected officers to lead the organization, including Crystal M. Cook as president, Samantha Simpson as vice president, Clifton Williams III as treasurer and Jalyn Park as secretary.

The organization has been on the ground in 2008, canvassing barbershops, salons and neighborhoods, and extending their efforts to help down ballot candidates get out the vote. Vice president Samantha Simpson sat down with PolitickerOH.com to talk about their efforts.

Simpson said the newly revitalized organization will be targeting Ohio congressional districts 1, 12 and 16, as well as the race for attorney general and the race for president.

Simpson said that the organization was revitalized as leaders of a previous generation, like Anthony, saw it as important to start getting young people involved and showing them the ropes. She said they started off doing stuff around Franklin County.

“In February of ’07, we decided that we wanted to become a statewide organization,” she said. “We wanted to get young black Dems, and really anybody who wants to be involved – we’re an inclusive organization – involved in what we’re doing around the state.”

The move into a statewide organization is an expansion from the original organization, which focused on Franklin County.

Simpson said that the organization now has about 65 members, along with honorary members over the age of 35 like Mayor Coleman and House Minority leader Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus). Simpson said that was just in Franklin County. She said the group also has a stir of interest in Akron, Cleveland and Cincinnati, and has begun conversations with people in Toledo. She said that these areas will be involved this election, and following the election the group will help these areas better organize.

Simpson said that the group will be using the same strategy in 2008 that they employed previously.

“We would go to barber shops and beauty salons, talking to patrons, letting them know who was on the whole ticket, and why they should vote for them,” she said. “The barbershops and beauty salons are pretty sacred places for black people, so that was a really big hit for us because we were able to engage in conversations. People brought up different issues. They really enjoyed the fact that we actually had candidates with us because they were able to get a one-on-one with the Mayor, or councilman, or party chairman. And then, to see the young people involved, it really got them going.”

Simpson said that the group has developed a rapport with the businesses and now when they go in they are known. Simpson said the group also did the usual phone calls, and door-to-door, but visiting the barbershops and beauty salons had become one of their favorite activities.

Simpson said the group would be targeting Ohio’s 1st, 12th and 16th Congressional districts.

“Our goal is to really work with the campaigns, to see what they need from us,” she said. “But what we offer is – our constituency is – the young African American. So we want to target the urban areas.”

Simpson pointed out that the three Democratic candidates in those districts, state Sen. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill) for Ohio’s 1st, businessman David Robinson for Ohio’s 12th and state Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance) for Ohio’s 16th are not black, and it helps for them to see they have support from these young black people going out to canvass for them.

“We’re going out knocking on doors, saying, ‘Hey, we like this candidate. He’s going to do a great job for your Congressional district and we feel that you should give him your support,’” she said. “Just having a presence around has been a huge deal for these candidates, but we also want to make sure we get out the vote, that the black people come out and vote because we really want to see them in office. We want them representing us in the state of Ohio.”

Simpson said that the organization offers canvassing and phone calls and wants to make sure that they can be a liaison to the African-American community on behalf of the candidates. She said they chose to target the three races because they are competitive.

“It’s going to be a good, hard fight,” she said. “It’s going to be a challenge. We’re serious before this challenge. It’s important to us that we have a great relationship with these candidates. It’s important to us that they win. And the African-American community plays a crucial part in that.”

Simpson pointed out that the organization would also be working hard to elect presumptive presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), as well as Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray (D-Grove City) as Ohio’s next attorney general.