As Black Votes Matter approaches 10 years, Omaha leaders reflect on a decade of student change makers

OMAHA, Neb. — As the "Black Votes Matter" tour prepares for its 10th anniversary, leaders are reflecting on how they got started and what's to come.

Since 2017, more than 350 students have traveled through eight cities across five states, learning Black history beyond the classroom. The tour comes at no cost to students because of donations from the Sherwood Foundation and the White Foundation.

Founder Preston Love Jr. says the idea started when he was a college professor in the Black Studies department and realized many of his students knew little about their own history. That realization helped spark the Black Votes Matter Institute of Community Engagement.

"To get the vote out, in North Omaha, the youth have got to be part of that. And if the youths don't have a concept of their history and the struggles, they're not gonna have a concept of going to the poll," Love said.

The connection between education and civic engagement continues to show up in the numbers. North Omaha voter turnout in U.S. House races increased 25.2% from 2022 to 2026, according to a Flatwater Free Press analysis of preliminary results.

Jeremiah Reed, a student at Central High School, has taken the tour three times, and says its message is about more than looking back.

"I think the tour has changed the way I think about the world. It has changed me as a person, and every single friend and person I've met on this tour has told me the same thing after," Reed said.

"Throughout history, if you want to look at, I mean, like SNCC, right? A student organization that organized sit-ins, right? It was the youth. It was the children; the youth are the people who will help shape our future," Reed said. "So the fact that we're able to do this for 10 years straight, that's 10 years of change makers that this tour has been able to bring."

For Simone Smith, the experience helped turn what she knew about history into confidence for her future.

"Going on that tour gave me the ability to apply all of the black history facts I know and give me the sheer audacity to run into the next chapter of my life at full speed," Smith said.

Now, Love says the tour will move forward under the leadership of Pastor T. Michael Williams and his wife, Cheryl, who have been involved since the beginning. The leadership may change, but the mission remains: Learn history, respect it, and go out and make it.

"Then lastly, for them to bring that information and education back to this community, and make it work for this community," Love said.

Applications are now open. For more information, visit 4urban.org

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