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grassroots homegrown
This section
of the MPP website features stories, articles, and experiences
from members of the nonprofit community who are involved in
voter mobilization activities.
August
17, 2004
Iron-Jawed Angels: A short history lesson on the privilege
of voting...
The women
were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night,
they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs
and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the
33 women wrongly convicted of "obstructing sidewalk traffic."
They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above
her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and
gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell,
smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold.
Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered
a heart attack.
Additional
affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating,
choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus unfolded
the "Night of Terror" on Nov. 15, 1917, when the
warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards
to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the
right to vote.
For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail.
Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger
strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat
and poured liquid into her until she vomited.
She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled
out to the press.
It is
jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade
a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could
be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch
the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave.
That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men:
"Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity."
Iron Jawed
Angels is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged
so that women could pull the curtain at the polling booth
and have their say.
August
10, 2004
Voting Rights Act of 1965 Celebrates 39th Anniversary
On June 20, 1964, Andrew Goodman, a 20-year-old student from
New York, drove down to Mississippi. He joined 21-year-old
James Chaney, and 24-year-old Michael Schwerner, two civil
rights workers from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
The next day the three traveled to Philadelphia, Mississippi
to the site of a church that had recently been burned. They
were arrested and taken to jail. While no one knows the exact
circumstances of their release, some time in the next 2 days
they were released from jail. However, Andrew, James, and
Michael never reported back to the CORE offices where they
worked.
On August
4, 1964, their bodies were found. All three had been shot,
Chaney had been savagely beaten, many of his bones were broken
and others were completely crushed.
Over the
course of the civil rights struggles of the 1960’s countless
others were killed, including Medgar Evers, Jimmie Lee Jackson,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Denise McNair, Carole Robertson,
Addie Mae Collins, and Cynthia Wesley. Thousands were beaten
by their fellow citizens, and tens of thousands more were
beaten or jailed by police officers. These people simply asked
that they and others like them be allowed to freely cast their
vote in their country’s elections, and to enjoy the
same rights as a person with white skin. These events happened
not just in the south, but also in Chicago, New York, and
all over our nation.
This fight
lives on, as too many Americans are still denied civil rights
and the right to vote. We who remain must do our parts to
ensure that turnout on Election Day shatters all records,
and that anyone who goes to the polls is welcomed and allowed
to vote.
Friday,
August 6 marked the 39th anniversary of the signing of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965. It certainly did not put an end
to the violence of the civil rights movement, and it certainly
did not mean that people were never again illegally denied
the right to vote. However, it was an important step, and
is worth remembering.
MPP would
like to take this opportunity to thank these American heroes
for their valiant efforts and for giving their lives so that
all Americans can safely and freely cast their ballots . .
. and to thank you and everyone who is working to register
voters and get them to the polls in 2004.
July 20, 2004
This week’s story
comes from Jo Ann Tesar at the Community Voting Project. Jo
sent us an email last week that detailed her creative and successful
form of voter registration. Rather than butcher her words, they
appear below in full.
“I found out today that liquor stores are not off limits
to doing grass roots, non partisan, voter registration!
RAP has a small team called the Power Action Leadership Team
that came up with the idea of Voter Thursday's. We go out each
Thursday into low income communities and set up in store fronts
with high traffic in Ramsey and Washington Counties to do voter
registration. Tonight we scheduled and conducted Voter Registration
at Big Top Liquor in St. Paul's midway area, (off Snelling and
University). Initially, I personally wasn't thrilled with the
idea of being at a liquor store, but the person who came up
with the idea was a genius! In an hour we registered 6, and
talked to probably 20 people including ex felons and people
unaware of the importance of bringing their ID's to the polls
and just general non partisan conversation about the importance
of voting and civic engagement! We did have a plan for those
folks that where obviously already inebriated, we were going
to give them a voter registration card to take home (however
this did not happen). So, the moral to this story, "leave
no liquor store unturned!"’
Talk about a VICTORY. RAP identified a great new place to do
voter registration in their own neighborhood, and they had great
success. Congratulations!
July 13, 2004
The Basilica of St. Mary’s was presented with an excellent
opportunity to do voter registration this past weekend –
the Basilica Block Party!
They teamed
up with St. Vincent DePaul to register people to vote as they
entered the block party. Volunteers were centered at a table,
but also got into the crowd a little bit with clipboards.
As one MPP staffer who was there can attest, they did a wonderful
job. Their efforts were rewarded at the end of the weekend
when they counted 182 properly filled out registration forms.
The fine
folks at the Basilica took advantage of an event right in
their front lawn, and their labor produced fantastic results!
July 6, 2004
This week’s grassroots homegrown story comes from Laura
at the Minnesota AIDS Project.
The AIDS
Project has come up with a fun plan to get staff to register
people to vote. They are going to present the plan at a staff
meeting later this month. The idea is to have each staff member
register a minimum of 5 people to vote. For some, like the
volunteer coordinators, this should be easy, but for others,
like the database manager it might be tough. Staff are being
encouraged to register not only the people they work with,
but also family, friends, and other staff.
Fabulous
prizes are being offered based on how many people each staffer
registers. Prizes are available to everyone, regardless of
participation, but if every person reaches their goal, a total
of over 300 voters will be added to the rolls!
A big
thank you goes out to our friends at the Minnesota AIDS Project,
and as always, to everyone who is engaging in voter registration
efforts.
June 29, 2004
Revive the Vote
Revive the Vote is an effort to register voters in nine Minneapolis
precincts and four St. Paul precincts with historically low
voter turnout. This effort will include door-knocking events
in August and September, in which neighborhood residents will
be paired with volunteers from outside the community. On Election
Day, Revive the Vote will coordinate calls to voters registered
during the door-knocking and provide transportation to the polls.
Volunteers are asked to contribute a 4-hour block of time for
the August and September door-knocking efforts and as much time
as available on Election Day. For more information, please contact
Jodi McCardle of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition at
612-870-3670 x12.
Voter
Registration in Homeless Shelters
The Shelter Providers Action Association (SPAA) is committed
to registering 1,000 people experiencing homelessness before
the November election. Volunteers will maintain a presence
at drop-in centers (daytime) or shelters (evening), providing
outreach, education and encouragement to homeless people in
Minneapolis and St. Paul. Initially, the goal will be to establish
relationships with people and inform them of SPAA’s
purpose. Over time, they will assist people in filling out
voter registration cards, and eventually provide transportation
to polls on Election Day. Volunteers are asked to commit approximately
2 hours a week for 4-6 weeks. For further information, please
contact Monica Nilsson at the Bridge for Youth, 612-377-8800.
Got
Voice? Got Power!
Got Voice? Got Power! is a voter registration effort in Ward
One of St. Paul (Frogtown, Summit-University, and Lexington-Hamline).
The project aims to educate residents about the political
process, register voters, and provide assistance in getting
to the polls on Election Day. Volunteer opportunities are
many and varied, and include helping at community events,
arranging discussions with candidates, and working on a city-wide
engagement “fair.” For more information, please
contact Sarah Gleason of the Wilder Foundation at 651-642-2090.
Minnesota
Alliance of HUD Tenants
The Minnesota Alliance of HUD Tenants (MnAHT) is a coalition
of residents living in federally-subsidized housing. They
organize tenants’ associations that work to preserve
affordable housing through negotiation with landlords and
by advocating for local and national policy changes. Currently,
they are in the midst of a two-year door-knocking campaign
to inform and engage residents of buildings that are at-risk
of going to market rate. Volunteers will join a team of door-knockers,
who will also be conducting voter registration as part of
the larger effort. For more information, please contact Susan
Reyes at 612-925-3603.
June
22, 2004
GLBT Pride/Twin Cities is sponsoring their annual pride parade
this Sunday June 27. Last year over 110,000 people from all
across the state attended the parade. Not only is it sure
to be a lot of fun, it is a great voter registration opportunity!
OutFront
Minnesota will be joining the festivities and setting up a
voter registration drive before the parade. Volunteers are
asked to meet at OutFront's Pride Pavilion in Loring Park
at 8:30 a.m. Coffee, bagels and juice will be available for
volunteers. Monica Meyer will be conducting a short voter
registration training at 9:00 a.m., followed by assigning
volunteers to their parade area. Since we are only allowed
to canvass before the parade, everyone should be done by noon.
For more
information or to sign up, please contact Connie Kauppi at
OutFront Minnesota. Connie can be reached at 612-822-0127
x100.
June 15, 2004
This week’s story is one that we here at MPP experienced
ourselves and would like to share with you.
We have
heard of three times already that the Secretary of State’s
office has run out of voter registration cards. This news
is a testament to the incredible voter registration efforts
going on in Minnesota, and to the nonprofit community’s
role in those efforts. GOOD JOB!!!!!!!
Even more
exciting though, is what awaited us when we made a recent
trip to the Secretary of State’s office to pick up some
cards. Behind the desk there is a mountain of boxes full of
voter registration cards. It stretches under a desk and goes
as far as the eye can see. Some quick multiplication and a
bit of guessing (math isn’t our strong point) gave us
an estimate of between 60,000-80,000 blank, unused voter registration
cards just waiting for you to go pick up and get filled out!
Our guess is that by ordering 80,000 cards they thought they
would have enough to last until the election. So let’s
shock them; let’s make them order new cards a month
from now!
The next
time we visit the Secretary of State’s office we would
like to see a much smaller stack. So get to it! Let’s
make these next 5 months the busiest the Secretary of State
and County Elections Offices have ever had. Get started, double
your efforts, or set up a new program or initiative. Flood
those offices with stacks and stacks of properly filled out
cards.
Tell us how it is going. MPP will give a fabulous prize to
the person who reports turning in the most cards by July 1.
June
8, 2004
This week’s grassroots homegrown features Mark, Gene,
and the rest of the good people at Arc of Hennepin-Carver.
Arc works with disabled citizens and provider agencies, and
makes sure that people get the help that they need. Arc is
planning an aggressive voter mobilization operation, including
voter registration, education, and get-out-the-vote operation.
Their goal is to get 150 of self-advocates involved. Self-advocates
are people with cognitive disabilities who are acting on their
own behalf. They are also working to register their members
and donors, and help to get them to the polls.
Arc’s
plan involves not just registration, not just education, not
just GOTV, but all three and more. They are working to involve
their members and the self-advocates they work with on a long-term
basis. That involves possible candidate forums and rides to
the polls, but also involves looking past November 2nd, and
trying to make participation in the voting process a larger
part of people’s lives.
Arc will
be advertising their plan and the resources available by sending
mailings and emails to the people on their lists. They will
also be placing ads in the brochures and information sent
out by agencies they work with.
Arc is
doing great work and we thank them for their efforts and commitment!
May
25, 2004
This week’s story features Erin Rein from HIRED. HIRED
helps people prepare for and find jobs. Their clients include
at-risk youth, people making the transition from welfare to
work, low-income adults and dislocated workers.
HIRED
has 14 offices in the Twin Cities with a total of 156 employees.
As part of their work on HIRED’s government relations
committee, Erin and colleague Renee Schissel are helping to
coordinate a voter registration contest among the 14 offices.
The plan
is to start the drive after the July 4th weekend and have
it run for a month. Each office will be offering the people
they serve the option of registering to vote. Every staffer
will have a goal to register 10-20 people in that month. If
the drive is successful, HIRED will be responsible for adding
well over 1000 people to the voter rolls!
MPP would
like to thank Erin and HIRED for their efforts, and encourage
other organizations to follow their plan.
May
18, 2004
This week’s story features Barb Rose, who volunteered
with West Side 100 as part of the Cinco de Mayo Celebrations
on May 8th.
West Side
100 is a project of the West Side Citizens Organization, which
works to develop and improve St. Paul’s West Side. West
Side 100 teamed with Juneteenth, National Voice, and the Community
Voting Project to do voter registration at Cinco de Mayo.
Barb estimates that the group registered over 200 people that
day thanks to volunteers who staffed a booth and worked the
crowd from 8am-8pm.
Barb herself
remembers a young woman with a baby stroller who wasn’t
planning to register and seemed apathetic to the whole idea.
A friend of the woman registered, and she was able to convince
the young mother of the importance of voting, both for her
and for her baby. The woman registered, and along with the
others that day, there are 200 more people who will be voting
in November with their communities and their children in mind.
More information
about West Side 100’s efforts can be found at www.wsco.org
May
13, 2004
This week’s story features Pat Robles, who is with the
League of Women Voters in Plymouth and was an election judge
there during the 2002 election.
She talked
about it being a confusing election at many polling places
due to the complications involving the death of Senator Paul
Wellstone. The lines were frustrating many of the voters at
her polling place, and things were not running smoothly. An
Asian American man walked in with his entire family. The man
walked to the table and told everyone there that he and his
wife had just become citizens, and that they were going to
vote for the first time! He proceeded to the check in table
and told the judge there the same thing. Then he picked up
his ballot and told the story a third time. He filled out
his ballot, and as he went to cast his vote, the election
judge that was there to help him announced to the entire room:
“This man has just become a citizen, and he has just
voted for the first time!” As Pat watched the vote being
cast, she said that “You could practically hear the
Star-Spangled Banner playing in the background.”
We can
help make the voting experience as enjoyable for everyone
as it was for this man. Please sign up to be an election judge!
(Last updated: July
25,
2005)
Questions? Comments? Contact Josh Schenck Winters, josh@mncn.org
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