Winston Lake YMCA Middle Schoolers

Another busy week has flown by, and it’s incredible that there are only two weeks remaining in our Democracy Summer experience. We had some great events occur this week which will go a long way to help our strategies for increased voter participation, youth civic engagement, and electoral reforms.

On Monday we traveled a few minutes down the road to the Winston Lake YMCA to speak with middle school kids who were participating in a Model U.N. club (picture above). We decided to employ a debate format that they already knew very well in order to get them thinking about youth participation in civic affairs. The students had plenty to say about problems in their schools and neighborhoods, they just needed someone to ask their opinion! We told them about the structure of the Forsyth County Board of Education and encouraged them to pay attention to local politics, current events, and to always stand up and voice their concerns. After this mini-workshop, Ray and I were destroyed in a quick pickup basketball game between us and two of the students. Our height advantage meant nothing and they seriously asked us if we were actually trying… embarrassing indeed!

Tuesday was probably the most eventful day of all this week. Ray and I had an informal interview with Jordan Green of YES!Weekly magazine, a publication in Greensboro that covers local events and politics. Mr. Green then came to our Guilford County GOTV meeting that evening. We had probably around 15 to 20 people show up to discuss ways to increase voter participation. It was a diverse group, from a rising 10th grader to a woman in her 80s. Everyone agreed that focusing on registration in turnout in the month right before an election was too little too late. The meeting generated lots of good feedback and some additional contacts in Greensboro to assist in Democracy NC’s mission. We will likely return to Guilford County to meet with some of the attendees who requested some GOTV and registration training.

Wednesday featured an extremely productive meeting with Dr. David Mount of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. He is Director of Community Outreach for the center, and told us about his strategies for connecting to other organizations and coalition building. He also gave us permission to come to various free community health fairs that are held around the county. At these events, residents in low-income neighborhoods can get free treatment and testing for illnesses and disease. He agreed that having information on civic engagement and voting rights would be helpful and that many facets of their mission overlap with Democracy NC’s goals too. Later that afternoon we met with Mr. T.C. Muhammad in Greensboro, who is involved in GOTV efforts and the Hip Hop Caucus. He gave us numerous contacts in the Guilford County area as well as some avenues to check out at NC A&T University. Hopefully Dem NC can team up with Mr. Muhammad in the fall for some major GOTV campaigns.

Thursday involved a return to the Winston Lake YMCA for a talk with some high school students. It followed a similar format as our Monday meeting, but obviously the discussion was a little more nuanced and we could register them to vote! They also signed some of our Youth pledge cards. It was amazing listening to their stories, particularly one student who was not only captain of his football team, but also worked nearly full-time at Sonic to pay for his own food and car insurance as well as take care of his younger cousins. The responsibility he was shouldering was inspiring and at the same time made our efforts to get their voices heard feel much more meaningful.

On top of all these experiences we have been phonebanking and planning for a voter registration and youth pledge card drive. And tomorrow we are attending the Stone Soul Picnic in Burlington. It’s been a busy week but it has felt good!

Until next time,

Sean Maxwell (and Ray Robinson)