The Winston Mutual building rises from the parking lot and distinguishes itself from the surrounding residential areas and the shopping center to the rear. I arrived at my new work location in downtown Winston-Salem trying to remember everything I had been taught in training. The previous week, I and nine other newly hired interns from across the state met at a hotel in Durham to learn from Democracy North Carolina’s staff about the basics of organizing, state politics, and campaign reform. The three days of lectures, group exercises, and public speaking instruction had gone by in a blur. Now it was time to put everything we had learned into practice.
The past few days have been both encouraging and frustrating. My experience so far has been like the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities… “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Well, not exactly that bad. I don’t mean to really compare the first week of Democracy Summer to starvation and poverty combined with the excesses of the French aristocracy. But it has been surprising how one morning I can feel upbeat and positive about our efforts to organize and advocate for change but then feel exasperated a few hours later as I attempt to phone bank and only reach a handful of supporters. It certainly has been a roller coaster of a first week. Overall though, I am confident we are making some significant headway in spreading our message of Voter-Owned elections (VOE).
Our team is responsible for 16 counties in western North Carolina. This includes developed areas like Forsyth and Guilford along with more rural areas like Davie and Davidson County. We have been busy so far with our phone banking, meeting with local organizations and political groups, as well as making connections through one-on-one meeting with local leaders and community activists. Our priorities to this point are educating citizens about Voter-Owned elections and recruiting people to join us for our upcoming Lobby Day on June 22nd. We have met with representatives from the National Pan-Hellenic Council, a leadership group of area fraternities and sororities, given brief talks to Winston-Salem State University political science classes, spoken at a retreat of Progressive Democrats in Greensboro, and attended a session of the Forsyth County Board of Elections. We have scheduled legislative appointments for our Lobby Day and will be speaking at NAACP meetings in the upcoming weeks. Tonight, I will be attending a meeting of the Davidson County Democratic Women and talking about, yep you guessed it… VOE!
I can already tell I am not only receiving a civic education in grassroots organizing, but a professional education too. I am learning to be assertive, talk about complicated subjects off the cuff, and make connections with influential people in local politics. I am excited about the rest of the summer, and I know that as Ray and I learn the ropes things will go more smoothly. The roller coaster continues…
-Sean
