2023 Imagine Black Candidate Endorsement Questionnaire

Thank you for requesting an endorsement from Imagine Black.

Imagine Black is a 501(c)(4) political advocacy nonprofit focused on building Black political power to change policy and governmental systems in Oregon. Imagine Black will endorse and elect candidates for office who are unapologetically ready to win transformative change to provide real and immediate improvements in Black Oregonian lives.

Our endorsement questionnaire has been extended and closes on April 1 2023, at 11:59 pm. Endorsement announcements will be published on April 20, 2023.

Imagine Black’s political efforts are community-informed, multi-issue, and guided by Imagine Black’s mission, vision, and values. Our endorsement process reflects our work and priorities in local, state, and national politics. 

We are particularly interested in races that include progressive candidates aligned with our Black Queer Feminist lens. The Black Queer Feminist lens focuses on lifting the voices and experiences, and prioritizing the issues of historically silenced and vulnerable groups within Black communities – specifically, queer, trans and GNC, femme, poor, disabled, working, and undocumented people. 

If you would like to practice your answers on a google document before submitting them on Typeform, we recommend you view the questionnaire: here. Please note we will only accept submissions via the Typeform.

A political endorsement is an official statement of support from Imagine Black for a particular candidate. It means the candidate's record, performance in office, or promise of future relations align significantly with Imagine Black’s mission and values to better serve the progressive Black community.

An Imagine Black endorsement for a candidate means the candidate can tell voters they have the visible support and backing of Imagine Black. An Imagine Black endorsement may also include additional financial, communication, and field resources, including but not limited to inclusion in  Imagine Black’s voter guide, research, statements of support, financial contributions, social media outreach, mailings, phone banks, scriptwriting, and campaign volunteers.

Imagine Black will only endorse in races that will directly impact our base, including campaigns at all state and local government levels, from school boards to statewide offices. Imagine Black reserves the right to not endorse a candidate in any race because we are using our Mission, Vision, and Values to guide us toward any endorsements. We may decline to endorse in some races entirely. Imagine Black will make our endorsement process public on our website and social media and share it with partners, but we will not proactively send it out to all candidates. Suppose an elected candidate cannot align their advocacy, voting record, or efforts with what they expressed in seeking Imagine Black’s support. In that case, we will rescind our endorsement for the elected candidate.

If you have additional questions, please contact democracy@imagineblack.org.