Our mission
Our mission is to make sure Black communities are not simply informed about the decisions shaping our future, but equipped to help make those decisions. An informed community is a powerful community.
What SourceLine does
SourceLine helps you know what is at stake, understand what matters and shape what happens next.
SourceLine exists to inform, connect and empower Black communities through trusted civic data, political intelligence and compelling storytelling that turns information into action. As the Black Civic Data Platform, we provide accessible information about elections, candidates, legislation, public policy and the decisions shaping our communities, for every state, county and city. We go beyond the headlines to explain what is at stake, who is making the decisions, how those decisions affect our lives and where we can change the outcome.
Through insights drawn from the data, culturally relevant storytelling and resources for civic engagement, SourceLine equips Black communities to advocate for their interests, hold institutions and elected officials accountable, mobilize around shared priorities and use our collective political power.
Our numbers are power
SourceLine never assumes how any of us will vote; that choice belongs to each person. But when that many people show up, weigh in and keep watching, the count is hard to ignore, from the city council to Congress, and it can move decisions toward the progress our communities are working for.
Three things you can do here
- 1
See who decides
Type your address and see every official whose decisions reach your door, and how each one voted.
- 2
Weigh in before the vote
On any decision still open, say where you stand. Your count reaches the people who decide before they vote.
- 3
Bring your neighbors
When five neighbors weigh in, the count goes to the body that decides. Every neighbor after that makes it louder.
What you can see here
Who decides for you
Every official whose decisions reach your address, at every level, with a phone number or email where one is published.
How they voted
Recorded votes, read the same way for every party, topic by topic.
What is being decided now
Budgets, rezonings, contracts and bills that are still open, with the next date you can still be heard.
Where the money goes
Tax dollars, federal grants and other public money reaching your community, stage by stage, and who decided it.
Where we stand, by the numbers
Homeownership, income, reading, jobs, Black owned businesses, health, the air and water around you, and how much weight Black voters carry in your districts. Every figure names its source and its year.
Stories
Reporting that starts with the national record and comes down to your state, your county and your address.
How your voice becomes a count
Officials hear most from the people who show up. SourceLine helps you show up together.
On any decision that is still open, you can weigh in and say where you stand. Only people who live there are counted, and your name is never shown. When five neighbors weigh in, SourceLine sends the count to the body that decides, before they vote. Every neighbor who adds their voice makes the count harder to ignore.
That is how a pending bill or a budget line gets a public number beside it. Share an issue with your block club, your congregation or your group chat, and the count grows. After the vote, SourceLine shows how each official voted and what changed, so you can hold them to it at the next election and every day in between.
You can also send your own note to the officials who represent you. It goes to them word for word, signed the way you choose.
SourceLine Insights
For organizations
Churches, civic groups, nonprofits, schools and businesses that serve a whole community can compare places side by side, follow the decisions that affect the people they serve, and download figures with their sources for grant writing, board reports and advocacy. Tell us what you need and we will build the report around your service area.
The measure is Black progress
SourceLine does not belong to a party. A Republican and a Democrat get the same checks from the same public records. What SourceLine is not neutral about is what happens to Black communities. Every policy and every official is measured against one question: what does the record show it does for Black progress, or against it? The facts carry the conclusion. When an official gives a reason for a vote, that reason appears beside what critics say. Our numbers are shared to build, never to look down on anyone. They show where we stand so we can decide where we are going.
Why Black America needs this
A people cannot demand what it cannot see.
For too long the record of who decides, and how, has lived in meeting minutes, budget files and websites few of us have time to read. SourceLine gathers it in one place, keeps it current and turns it into something a neighbor can share in a minute. When enough of us see the same facts at the same time, we can agree on what we want, put the numbers in front of the people who decide, and hold them to it.
Start with your address. Then bring your neighbors.
Look up your address › Weigh in on what is being decided For organizations
SourceLine was built by Kazemde Ajamu, who spent years in voter education and community organizing. Read why he built it ›