Last Friday, we were invited to Beaufort County’s NAACP Annual Banquet hosted by William Booth (Joyce’s father). Not only were we able to enjoy some delicious Southern food, but we had the opportunity to present information about Democracy NC! We also collected 19 postcards from people who support Voter Owned Elections. The banquet was our first hands on experience with how to inform people about Democracy NC and apply our public speaking skills to use. According to Shaunee, Joyce and I delivered a really good presentation which was great to hear because it was our first public speaking engagement.
Our second week is off to a wonderful start. Joyce and I went to the high schools in Pitt and Beaufort County and discussed ways to education 16 and 17 year-olds about the new early registration law. We were met with disappointing news when we were informed that Beaufort County did not have in-class summer sessions; students take online classes. However, we were promised a spot in the Fall Semester to discuss voter registration.
We had an interesting evening on Monday when we attended the Southern Christian Leadership Conference meeting in Greenville. We were hoping to engage the SCLC in a positive and informational discussion about Democracy North Carolina. Instead we walked into a heated discussion regarding the arrest of Councilwoman Kandie Smith. It has caused uproar amongst the minority community who are accusing the officer who arrested Kandie Smith of racial profiling and calling for the resignation of the police chief. This put Joyce, Shaunee and I in an interesting position, to say the least! However, we were thankful to have Shaunee deliver a powerful message to the crowd where she tied Dem NC’s overall message of good government to the current situation with Kandie Smith and the police chief. Our presentations and one-on-one meetings have definitely paved the road for us to continue our work and build relationships with community leaders who support our organization.
Ana
Greenville Team
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