democracyncmel-blog

[democracyncmel-blog]

The 3 T’s to make a 🔥 petition:

Target: pick who your target audience is // it is helpful to pick someone who has a strong voice on the issue

Tone: adjust the tone to fit your audience // be polite when addressing legislators

Timeline: drop petitions ASAP // the one who releases a petition first is the one who gets the post signatures

Follow these tips and your petition will be fire. Go out and get those signatures! 

[democracyncmel-blog]

This week Team Charlotte attended the NC NAACP’s Mountain Moral Monday in Sylva, NC. The event featured an array of citizens who resided in the mountains, as well as various civic leaders from across the state. Rev. Barber, the NC NAACP President, took the stage with passion and frustration as he articulated the legislature’s failure to meet the needs of its citizens. He seemed to channel Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through his references of love and hate. I vividly remember the power behind one statement in particular: “Hate needs to shut up and love needs to stand up!” 

When you consider Rev. Barber’s words and the larger work we are conducting through Democracy Summer, you begin to see the true universality of voting rights and inclusivity in America. This week’s Moral Monday spoke to recent events in Orlando, as well as in our state. As families and communities work to heal from the wounds of queerphobia and homophobia in the sunshine state, we are also working to help heal the wounds that have been caused by voter suppression and an unresponsive legislature. Although undermining the right to vote and mass shootings differ in their scope of violence, we must understand that people are being harmed in more ways than one. 

 Thinking about Rev. Barber’s fiery discussion of Orlando and North Carolina politics highlighted the work that needs to be done in the political world. The issue of voting in North Carolina has been manipulated to ratify violent policies that disproportionately harm people of color, youth, LGBT+ folks, as well as the elderly. Moral Monday certainly showed me that our fight is so much bigger than North Carolina. Although much of our work is done here, we are a piece of a larger puzzle that needs to be put together BY American citizens rather than corporations and corrupt politicians. As you can see, Democracy Summer is giving students like me the opportunity to take ownership of a piece of the puzzle.

 I feel a sense of empowerment as I hold my metaphorical puzzle piece. We have a compelling duty to fight for the right to vote and to advocate for a system that is inclusive of all people regardless of their background and multi-layered identities. As I bring this week’s Tumblr post to a close, I’d like to conclude with more of Rev. Barber’s engaging words: “When you undermine the right to vote, when you suppress the right to vote, you tear at the very heart of our democracy.” 

 Side note: Check out Team Asheville in our photo! How cool are they!

[democracyncmel-blog]

Early Voting has begun for the June 7 primary in North Carolina - find out what’s going on!