Local Black activists organized a debate watching party Thursday night at the The Nubian Summer Drive-In in Roxbury, gathering in support of former Vice President Joe Biden from the safety of their cars during the second and final debate between Biden and President Donald Trump.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, speaking from the stage before the debate, urged the audience to vote and not to become too comfortable with the poll numbers showing Biden out front. “Do not ride the poll-o-coaster, even when it is favoring your candidate," Pressley said. "Likes on Twitter do not vote. Polls do not vote. People vote. And friends don't let friends not have a plan to vote.” Drivers honked their horns in loud approval from the more than 90 cars gathered in the lot.
Local resident Charles Clemmons Muhammed, sitting in the driver's seat of his car, said midway through the debate that it seemed to be a draw. “I really came here to see some fireworks. I don’t see any fireworks yet. It’s even right now for me.”
Debate organizers had reworked the format to prevent the constant interruptions that marred the first debate, including silencing the candidate's microphones when their time expired.
Roxbury resident and Black Lives Matter activist Asia Jackson — who sat with a carful of young people watching the debate — said she felt that Biden won. She also applauded the organizers of the event for arranging for area residents to watch from their cars and at a safe social distance.
The Nubian Summer Drive-In is a 40 ft. screen drive-in type experience set up over the summer by local Black non-profit organizations with support from the City of Boston. Local organizer Louis Eliza, a co-host of the event, said in a statement, “Nubian Summer Drive-In is the only safe venue for political events.”
With in-person gatherings scrapped by the pandemic, "We'll do what we have to make sure we're able to help facilitate the historic voter turnout we're experiencing in our community and communities like it all over this country," he said.
