Tour Stop Number 2!

From long phone banking sittings to travelling the west side of North Carolina was what we made our business and we absolutely beheld every moment of it with style. We had the opportunity to phone bank twice, attended a meeting with the Lieutenant Governor, made an appearance at the Homeless Helping Homeless fundraising event and even attained some petition signatures, traveled to Raleigh and to Hickory for our second tour stop of the summer. While in this small town of Hickory, we were able to incorporate 6 one-on-one meetings and were invited to speak at a training session hosted by UNIFOUR Now, nearing the end of the week, we find ourselves back here at a little java coffee shop right outside of UNCC preparing for a petition tabling at NODA tomorrow. As inspiring as the 1st month was, we have yet discovered more groups, more issues and more work for us to do. The job of an organizer is very demanding and still, very rewarding. This became apparent to us on Wednesday at a protest we attended with the other Democracy Summer interns. As we stood on the sidewalks of West Franklin Street, side by side with different community groups, we rose our voices in objection to the outrageous actions of those behind the restaurant walls. We were appalled by the politicians who had cut the education and job funding for the state and yet still had the audacity to splurge on meals that equaled the cost of a teacher’s salary. Standing there, we realized that organizers of all kind may have different views and concentrations but they still want one thing. When people come together to get things accomplished, things become better for the whole. We aren’t just working for the community but the state and what we do, what organizers do, it’s epic.

Maiysa Mesbah and Joyce Lutu