Attending a general interest conference or workshop: 3 points

I was able to attend the event “Civic Power Series - The Vote, The Process, The People-Part I The Vote” at the Greater Bethany Baptist Church. This was an event covering the importance of voting and where and who to go to make sure your issues are dealt with. The panelist did an astounding job informing the audience of different ways to vote, such as 'rank-choice voting (where instead of having one candidate, you have several in a list) and giving us locations for civil discussion. As we currently live in a time where our rights are being stripped from us every day, we still must participate in the civic process, like participating in our communities, educating ourselves on our candidates, and going out to these different elections. I had learned so many more ways our government oppresses our vote because we are not aware of these things. I found it interesting how, during election season, only certain people get a door-to-door visit solely based on whether they missed a prior election. If you miss a singular election (beyond presidential), you will not be notified that that person is campaigning. This allows candidates who are not worthy of their position to begin or continue displacing that community.

This event made me realize that many people don't know who they are putting in office by not caring about other elections (mayor, governor, district, etc.). When we are not aware of who we are electing as our officials, issues do not get fixed, and voices remain unheard. This event has encouraged me to become more vigilant when it comes to my community. This reminded me of a discussion in my philosophy class about freedom of speech, particularly exercising our autonomy. When we are given it, we have the choice to either sit back and do nothing with it or advocate for different causes. I have learned more about voting from this one event than I have my entire life, which is unfortunate considering how many people do not learn about the importance of voting and voter suppression. By just going to city council meetings, a person can really help reshape the future of both their own and others' lives.

Kira McCoy