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Kinston, North Carolina, may be ground zero for the next challenge of the Voting Rights Act that reaches the U.S. Supreme Court.

Yesterday morning I watched the president sign into law the historic health care bill, and after shedding a tear for the pundits and talking heads for the loss of their beloved controversy, I paused to consider the sweltering political climate created by the vitriolic debate leading up to the signing of this bill. Politicians from [...]

When you want to get to the bottom of something, it's always a useful hint: follow the money. Whether you're a hard-hitting journalist or you drive around in a van solving mysteries, it's usually the fastest and most reliable way to ascertain anyone's motivations. For me, the cynical assumption that everyone is after their own [...]

Two seemingly unconnected events converged this week to make me think long and hard about what it will take for people to pay attention and vote in off-years when we don't have the motivating factors of major candidate personalities or a dislike of the status quo to drive voters to the polls? The first event [...]

“Whoever has the most toys wins.” I used to laugh (albeit pityingly) at this slogan whenever I saw it on tee shirts during my NYC days boom days in the late 80’s and early 90’s. It was mildly funny then. It’s not so funny when the Supreme Court makes it official. It is now okay [...]

Ok, so over the past couple of weeks sans Democracy North Carolina, I had a chance to look back and reminisce about the summer and things that I took away from this experience. This summer was a blessing in many respects...First of all, I got an opportunity to apply principles of community organizing that I [...]

First of all, I hate saying good bye. As many people may have figured our by now, I’m a pretty upbeat person. I like to laugh, I LOVE to make jokes, and I genuinely like forming friendships with people. I put this blog off until the last possible moment because when I press ‘publish,’ I [...]

I want to begin this reflection by saying, all of ya’ll are amazing people for different reasons and I am extremely grateful I was able to experience this opportunity. First, I have been able to extend my passion for advocacy. I have learned that there is a deeper layer of advocacy and grassroots organizing. Previously, [...]

Time really seems to fly when you are working hard! Especially for CHANGE! So now our internship is pretty much over and it is time to reflect on my summer with Democracy NC... First, I have met many influential and inspirational people that believe in change and are out here trying actually change things! I [...]

Democracy Summer overall was an amazing experience. This experience allowed me to meet all types of people and interact in different situations that I would have never been able to otherwise. One of the best examples was Lobby Day. The preparation for Lobby Day was tedious and tiresome. Reniki and I were constantly calling legislators [...]