This week one of our main goals was to get on the local radio station WOOW am 1340. Broadcasting starts at 8 am and we of course had to be there early. Initially we were supposed to go on the air on Thursday but, like we were warned of, we ran into some pot holes. The head broadcaster wasn’t there and his replacement was his daughter who had no idea she was coming in to work, and no idea we were coming in to speak. To top it all off the studio mics were not working. However, we remained optimistic and like always, things worked themselves out. We were able to go on the air Friday morning.
On the air we focused on the redistricting that is taking place in Greenville. The host was very interactive and asked us great questions including what we thought of the redistricting that was going on in Greenville. We urged Greenville residents to go the upcoming city council meeting where a public hearing on the district maps to be presented to the council would take place. We also talked about the Voter ID bill and the effects that it would potentially have on voters and briefly on Voter Owned Elections. We were asked to answer many questions on the spot that required us to think on our feet, kind of like the public speaking challenges that we did during our training sessions. For example the radio host asked, “Tell us, where someone would go to contact you or to get involved?” and I (Jasmine) so gracefully answered “You can Google us” because I forgot the web address. Luckily it came to mind before the end of broadcasting and I was able to make a smooth recovery and made the web address one of the last points that we gave the listeners. After all, Adam did remind us to make sure the last thing we said made a lasting impression.
Earlier in the week we also wrote a letter to the editor, which also gave us some problems. We submitted the letter using the office address and phone number. We were questioned as to why Durham residents were concerned about redistricting in Greenville. After explaining that we were both residents of Greenville, we were then notified that the paper did not typically publish co-written letters or letters “orchestrated” by organizations. As put by the editor there were “a couple of problems” with our letter. Nevertheless, like our radio interview, things worked themselves out, and we ended up getting our letter published.
We have had a very eventful first week to say the least and we are definitely looking forward to the upcoming weeks.
Jasmine and Shaniqua
Nice work, Greenville! And excellent letter — hard to see why a letter that basically calls for citizens to pay attention to what their government is doing and give input into its decisions would be controversial in any way. It seems like a basic responsibility of citizens to do just that.
We’ve had those charges leveled at us before in Greenville about being an “outside group” and no amount of respectful explaining or linking to our mission and local coalition web pages seems to be getting through to whoever has that opinion in Greenville. It’s a shame, really, and a sign of our polarized times. There is a big difference between trying to tell people what to do — and being dedicated, like we are, to empowering local residents by teaching them the advocacy skills they need to let them take their *own* stance on issues. We are, in fact, the exact opposite of an organization that just comes in and tries to tell people what to do. Maybe your good work this summer will help correct that misperception?
You both did such a good job in the interview! I think we’re pretty much local celebrities at this point 🙂