Avengers actor Anthony Mackie urges voters to take action: ‘There’s power in numbers’

Anthony Mackie is adding his voice to the global unrest in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, as the Black Lives Matter movement and other social justice causes have impelled those throughout the entertainment industry (from a corporate level all the way down to the fans) to look inwardly and outwardly at how they can effect change and amplify voices of protest.

Speaking on The Tonight Show, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier actor made it clear that one of the most vital and impactful ways to effect that change is through a very fundamental tenet of American democracy: voting. Inspired by a premiere during which he got to "stand out on the balcony where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated," Mackie gave an emotional speech about how people can change the country so that they aren't "50 years later, 55 years later, dealing with the exact same thing."

A tearful Mackie spoke about his iamaman.vote initiative, which hopes to register one million men to vote. "We have to do something," Mackie said. "We realized there's power in numbers. We have a great opportunity right now to change the scope of the world. And I realize all the time, and I say to these people, 'A sheriff is an elected position, a mayor is an elected position, our president is an elected position, your D.A. is an elected position.'"

Voting is the way to push out those being protested, Mackie said. "We're going to do everything we can so that these people, that are jeopardizing the future for our kids — you want to hurt somebody, you get rid of their job and you put somebody in that position who could actually help because there's so many people out here. It's just not right." That's why he's trying to inform, register, and help a large voting base use their right to vote, especially in places like Georgia, which recently had such a botched voting experience that there are widespread claims of voter suppression.

"Do it. Go vote right now — and you could do that," Mackie said. "You can vote a month before. If you know who you're voting for, go vote now. And we owe it to ourselves to show how powerful we are as a community and as a group, because everybody out there marching and protesting, if you're marching and protesting, if you really want to be heard, register to vote."

Fans can find voter registration information here.