It's been four years since Wanda Mosley helped motivate thousands of Black voters across the battleground state of Georgia to help solidify the 2020 election for United States President Joe Biden.
While polls and interviews indicated Black voters felt excitement heading to the polls in 2020, many are now feeling disenchanted by the influx in costs of living and racial justice issues they feel the Biden administration has yet to address as previously promised.
"They want to understand that their issues are being heard, that their humanity is being acknowledged," said Mosley, national director of Black Voters Matter, a nonprofit group that works to increase turnout and registration among Black voters.
Stacey Abrams, politician and activist, along with other Black organizers, played a pivotal role in orchestrating massive voter campaigns that not only secured the state for Biden in 2020 but also tipped the Senate in favor of the Democrats.
But four years later, Biden's strength among Black voters is not guaranteed, as they question Democrats' commitment to voting rights, confronting white supremacy, and other dire issues.
A Pew Research Center poll in January found Black Americans are divided over Biden's performance in office - about 49% of Black adults disapproved of it, while 48% approved, reported Reuters.
To dominate voters ahead of Tuesday's primaries, both Biden and Republican candidate Donald Trump visited Georgia on Saturday. Results in the swing state could indicate what the road looks like for Biden ahead of November's general election and procuring black voters, who are historically known as the most loyal voting block for the Democratic party.
According to Pew, 92% of Black voters backed Biden in 2020.
Opinion polls show the Nov. 5 election is looking to be a tight match between Biden and Trump, making turnout among Black Americans - who represent significant populations in battleground states like Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania - an essential aspect for any path to Biden's victory.
There are some early warning signs, revealed Reuters. Nearly a dozen voters, rights advocates, and civil rights leaders interviewed by news company said Biden's campaign has a messaging disconnect on the ground in Black communities across the nation, including Georgia, where 33% of the population is Black.
Some voters don't believe enough has been done for them.
Others are unaware of Biden's actions that directly benefited Black Americans, such as widening access to healthcare coverage, economic gains that resulted in record-low Black unemployment rates, and the Child Tax Credit expansion, which ultimately helped cut childhood poverty in half in 2021.
In January, civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton hosted Biden on his syndicated radio show, where the president boasted several of his policies, including federal contracting guidelines and lead pipe removal that aims to improve access to contracting opportunities for Black businesses.
After his sit-down with Biden, Sharpton said his phone lines were tied up with callers who said it was the first time they heard of such actions. Sharpton said he has met with Biden's team about two or three times since last March, and his message to them is simple: they need to deepen their ties to Black communities.
"I'm trying to tell them this is the feedback I'm getting and you need to fight aggressively on it," Sharpton told Reuters. "This campaign is gonna be won in between the West Coast and the East Coast. Those people, the ones that I talk to on the radio every day, are not getting this information."
Several issues are at the forefront for Black voters across Georgia.
Access to healthcare is at the top of the list. Georgia is known for some of the worst health outcomes for Black Americans in the nation. It's also among several states with the highest Black maternal and infant mortality rates in the country.
"At the heart of the work of engaging Black voters in this election is making sure that they know what the president has done," Wartel told Reuters by phone.
Strategists claim it's unlikely Republicans will garner a sizeable share of votes from Black Americans, however, the possibility that enough voters could switch to the Republican side or stay home altogether could influence this election's outcome. As the decline in popularity for Democrats continues, Republicans are taking advantage of an opportunity to grow their support among Black voters.
"A lot of them are not quite sure that Biden is the answer," said Georgia Black Republican Council Chairman Camilla Moore. "What we're seeing in the Black community is a little bit more of a willingness in terms of Republicans being an option."
Polls are showing Black voters remain increasingly alarmed by the rise in white supremacy and white nationalism-- especially over the past decade.
"People are still deeply unsettled by racism and the way that racism continues to show up and be so present for them," said Adrienne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC, a left-leaning political action committee focused on mobilizing Black voters.
Karl Booker, a longtime Georgia resident has expressed his support for Biden. "I think the Black vote is going to be pretty powerful to move Biden over the edge again," said Booker, owner of the Off The Hook Barbershop in Atlanta.
"People always talk about voting for the lesser of two evils. Right now, I feel like Biden is definitely the person to move the country forward for another four years."
