Hello LWVDV Members!

My name is Cathleen Kirk (some of you may know me as the Membership Chair) and I’m your President of the Month (PM) for April 2022.

• April is Black Women’s History Month and what better way to start than honoring the President’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to take the seat which will be left vacant by Justice Breyer at the end of the current SCOTUS term. If her nomination is confirmed by the Senate (vote is due on April 4), Judge Brown Jackson would be the first Black woman to hold a seat on the highest court in the United States. As Vice President Kamala Harris noted, Judge Brown Jackson “stands on the shoulders of giants.”

One of those giants is, of course, the Vice President herself as the first woman and Black woman to hold the office. From Ida B. Wells to Ruby Bridges, who is still an activist today, and so many more, April is a good month to learn more about these trailblazers. Good for kids, but also for adults who like to read about important figures and unsung heroes, Women in Black History: Stories of Courage, Faith, and Resilience (Williams Jackson) is a good choice as is Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880–1920(Higginbotham).

• Your League is in full gear preparing voters for the upcoming mid-term elections: the California Statewide Primary Election on June 7, 2022, and the General Election on November 8, 2022. We need volunteers to help with upcoming Candidate Forums for the Primary election. Click here for more information. Contact Martha Goralka at voter.services [at] lwvdv.org for more information and training -- this is a great opportunity to learn more about the candidates while helping the League and voters.

• An Election Reminder: April 5, 2022 Special Primary Election - Assembly District 11. District 11 includes parts of Contra Costa, Solano and Sacramento Counties, including Antioch, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Oakley and 22% of Pittsburg. This is a special primary to fill the Assembly seat vacated by Jim Frazier in December 2021. Click here for more information.

As always, there are several articles and dates to note in the current issue of the Voter. Please do read all issues fully and see where you might want to plug in as a volunteer for any of our activities and events. If you don’t know where to start, you may email us at lwvdv [at] lwvdv.org and someone will follow up as soon as possible. And anyone can contact me at membership [at] lwvdv.org - if I don’t know the answer, I’ll find someone who does.

Cathleen Kirk