Kicking Off the Election Season

Voting While Black

In this challenging new pandemic environment, we have moved on from “League Day” at the Women’s City Club to “Thursday with the League” via Zoom webinars.

Thursday, September 17, 10:00 a.m.–noon, we are proud and excited to present “Voting While Black,” a look at the living history of the struggle for voting rights and a presentation about the current obstacles to full and fair voter participation in elections.

Longtime LWV-PA member and NAACP leader Juanita West-Tillman will interview Juanita DeVaughn, a local community icon and veteran of the early years of the civil rights movement, about her personal experiences working for voting rights in Jim Crow Alabama. DeVaughn will share her hard-won wisdom about the value of voting. She urges all of us, especially today’s youth, to respect that struggle, use those rights, and VOTE.

Then Lena Kennedy, also an LWV-PA member and Chair of Government Affairs at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Pasadena, will offer an insightful analysis of today’s challenges to voter turnout, including apathy and disengagement among young people and other hard-to-reach groups, as well as the structural mechanisms of voter suppression that the League and other organizations are working hard to overcome.

We should all leave this virtual gathering feeling inspired and motivated to make sure everyone’s voice is heard on November 3. President and Voter Services Chair Martha Zavala will explain what LWV-PA is doing and how you, too, can help.

Join us! To get your Zoom invitation, reserve now at Eventbrite