Here in Greenville we have been so busy, and for the first time this week Jasmine and I spent some time “flying solo”. On Wednesday, we went on Minority Voice, a cable access program on Cable 7, and talked about the Photo ID bill and redistricting. The Minority Voice interview was our first TV appearance, so we were both excited to get started. When we got to the television studio we met the person that would be interviewing us, and the three of us talked to try to get to know each other prior to the show. During that time, the interviewer told us what he wanted to talk about on the show. He said that we would ask about the Photo ID and the redistricting process. That sounded simple enough but, during the interview, the questions did not go as planned. Sure, he asked us about the Photo ID bill and redistricting, but the questions definitely took a different turn. For example, the interviewer asked if we thought that the lines drawn were an attempt by the Republicans to keep the black population down. We did not know how to answer that question, but since Shaunee wasn’t able to be there we had to say something. Fortunately, we answered that question pretty well and the interviewer moved on. Then, he asked Jasmine and I if Democracy NC has a position on the reduction of the school board here in Pitt County. Again, we did not know how to answer that question, and there was a brief silence until one of us spoke up and said as far as we knew there was no official stance on that issue.
On Thursday, we went back to Wilson and Rocky Mount for a few presentations and one-on-ones with community organizations in the area. Our first stop was a teen mentoring program in Wilson where we talked about the importance of voting and being informed of the issues in our state. We even got some of the teens to pre-register to vote! Then, we headed to Rocky Mount where we had the bulk of our meetings for the day. Finally, we came back to Greenville for the redistricting hearing that took place at the Brody School of Medicine. When we got to the hearing, we were surprised to see that so few people had shown up. There were even less people there than at the hearing the City of Greenville held for its citywide redistricting process. Despite the low turnout at our site, it was nice to hear the opinions of people around the state, and Jasmine even made a statement on behalf of Democracy NC!
This weekend, Jasmine and I are working over time again at an event called Deltafest. We will be working to get even more petition signatures and people registered to vote. Until next time!
Shaniqua and Jasmine
It was great working you this week. It’s always good to see young people getting pre-registered to vote.
‘No comment’ is an interviewee’s BEST FRIEND! It’s followed very closely by some evasive answer that doesn’t really answer the question, but ties back to our talking points.