When I was in college, at a small state school in North Carolina, legislators in my home state were in the throes of waging a long campaign against voter participation, targeting students, among other groups. With Voter ID laws being passed and struck down in courts every few months, redistricting after redistricting, and unclear rules for absentee balloting, so many of my friends felt frustrated and out of touch with our electoral system.

During the 2016 elections, it became a personal mission of mine to show up as a peer educator, and help as many people as I could to exercise their right to vote. Working with the non-partisan group Democracy NC, I volunteered on election day as a Vote Protector. My job was to be a friendly face outside of our campus polling location, and to support people who faced problems when they went in and tried to vote. We also were collecting data across the state to better understand how voter suppression was operating in real time.

North Carolina is a tough place to be a young voter, and it’s a tough place to be a poor or Black voter too. There are systems in place that are difficult for those on the margins to navigate, and there are more aggressive and racist ways that, to this day, voter intimidation happens in our state.

This is why I was delighted to learn that First Unitarian’s UU The Vote efforts will focus on North Carolina. My home state is a vibrant, beautiful, place with dual legacies of violent racism and creative, resilient justice movements. I can tell you firsthand that both of these legacies are alive and in contest today, in this election. My people need all the help we can get.

Throughout the coming months, under the leadership of Social Justice Director Dana Buhl, and with the sponsorship of many of our Social Action Groups, there will be abundant opportunities to help get out the vote in NC. It’s looking like this will include times to work simultaneously and in partnership with Unitarian Universalists in NC doing this work.

Our work will commence this Sunday, with a Launch Party after our church service! (RSVP Here)

At this event, we’ll get to ground in the moment, and write letters to voters to encourage them to push past the barriers in front of them to get out and vote in this year’s election. Those who attend will get to hear from JaZahn Hicks, the national UU The Vote campaign manager, and Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson, director of UU Forward Together NC. It will be a chance to learn more about our faith-based vision for electoral justice throughout our nation, and why NC is a crucial state to be working in for those of us who care about reproductive rights, healthcare, and the preservation of democracy. 

I’m so excited that this congregation is embarking on a journey of partnership with and commitment to our Unitarian Universalist and other justice-loving siblings in North Carolina. I hope you’ll do what you can to show up for this work in the coming months. It’s so joyous that we get to share in it together.