On the latest episode of Basic Black, airing tonight at 7:30pm on GBH 2, Facebook, and Twitter, host Callie Crossley is joined by four political experts to discuss the act of voting, its meaning and its cost in the upcoming presidential election. The guests include Gov. Deval Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts, former presidential candidate and the host of the Being American podcast; Julio Ricardo Varela, founder and publisher of Latino Rebels and co-host of the In the Thick podcast; Tanisha Sullivan, president of the Boston NAACP as well as a member of the GBH Board of Advisors; and Wilnelia Rivera, political strategist and president of Rivera Consulting.

Patrick, who briefly threw his hat in the ring on the Democrat side for president earlier this year, discusses what is driving people of color to the polls this year, and the role that Black women, in particular, have played in those efforts.

“There are all of these marvelous groups of grassroots organizers loosely knitted together statewide — I saw this in Texas in 2018 — almost always actually led by Black women, which I think is incredibly inspiring, and they understand and are making the case that this is personal," he said. "And when I say ‘this’ I don’t just mean this election. I mean civic and political engagement. That they have power and they have to exercise that power. And I think it’s incredibly important that that is coming to the fore at this moment.”

Patrick also comments on the interracial and intergenerational makeup of protestors following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in May.

“I have in my lifetime rarely seen the kind of interracial — as Tanisha mentioned, or maybe it was you, Wilnelia — intergenerational, but also interracial collaboration and cooperation that we saw in the protests following the George Floyd videotaped lynching," he said. "They started out with an awful lot of Black and brown people on the streets. They got bigger and were sustained as more and more white allies showed up. And I think it’s important for us to acknowledge that truth.”

Watch the full episode of Basic Black tonight at 7:30pm here.