First Moral Freedom Summer Canvassing Event Takes Place In Greensboro
/On June 30th, individuals across the state of North Carolina gathered together to go engage in conversations with their communities about local issues and voter empowerment.
In a meeting room at the Beloved Community Center an inter-generational cohort gathered to talk about the purpose of canvassing and how to start a dialogue with individuals about voting. While the ages in the group ranged from early teens to early seventies, the majority of the canvassers were early twenties and younger. It was incredibly inspiring to be plant this work in young people. The common criticism of this generation is that we lack perspective of the changing times we live in, but we were engaging in conversations that questioned the status quo.
Along with canvassing we also live streamed The Moral Monday Rally that took place in Raleigh. Rev. Barber spoke of the legacy that we were building upon. Fifty years later we are still battling for the right to vote without intimidation and financial expense. The group that went down to Mississippi in 1964 was also comprised of young people, many of whom were unable to vote, but were still willing to get in the streets and ultimately risk their lives so others could.
Their bloodshed was not in vain and neither are our votes. Every vote counts. Every vote positions us closer to being the true democracy that we aspire to be. The group that convened on June 30th understood the importance of now. We were compelled by a fierce urgency to push back against the tide of regressive policy-making that has transformed North Carolina from a progressive Southern state, into a place that has favored the rich elite and disenfranchised the most marginalized in our state.
Over the next ten weeks we will be meeting at least once a week to go canvassing in our communities. Every Monday we will be meeting at The Beloved Community Center and canvass from 6 until 7:30 pm. Please join us as we get out the vote and organize, organize, organize!
By: Holden Cession, NAACP Moral Freedom Summer, Guilford County Organizer
