Sheryl Lee Ralph, E. Faye Williams, & Evelyn Gibson Lowery Challenged Women to Get Out the Vote at Multicultural Forum
“Women make are the majority voters in Georgia; that’s power,” said Evelyn Gibson Lowery, chair of sclc/Women’s Organizational Movement for Equality Now and co-convener of the forum. “It was important for us to bring together women of all cultures to talk about the influence women have at the polls and to encourage all women to actively participate in the political process.”
With Fox 5 News anchor, Lisa Rayam presiding, the upbeat event included women of all ages from children bearing get-out-the-vote signs they created to seniors distributing voter education materials. Dr. E Faye Williams, National Congress of Black Women, traveled from Washington, DC to discuss the ballot power of women nationally. The former counsel to the U.S. Congress, Williams said women are the majority voters and 2008 demonstrated the power women have at the polls.
“Women all over the world are powerful,” said Helen Kim Ho, Asian American Legal Advocacy Center. “We all care about fair opportunities in work or business. We all care about the economy. We all care about education. We care about public safety. And, right now we have some civil rights and human rights issues going on that make this election so important for many reasons. We need you to go out to vote and take everyone you know along with you,” she added.
Honorable Shirley Franklin pointed out that the significance of this election can not be underestimated. “Some people are doing okay but most folks are having a hard time. We cannot ignore the fact that government policy makes a difference in the lives of everyone from the cradle to the grave,” Franklin added.
“The speakers exemplified the power of women,” said Rita Jackson Samuels, of the Georgia Coalition of Black Women and co-convener of the forum. “We had Mayor Dixon of Riverdale, Dr. Violet Johnson of Agnes Scott College, Monica Maldonado from the Latino Community, Krista Brewer from Georgia Women’s Actions for New Directions, former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, and several college students were in attendance.”
Lauren Yvettte Williams, Clark Atlanta University, Shenaika Davis, Agnes Scott College and Emma Harger, Georgia State University talked about the impact the collegiate vote had on the 2008 election and discussed what they are doing on their campuses to get-out-the-vote in 2010.
Three North Atlanta High School students, “The Trio,” Miss Georgia 2008, Chasity Hardman, and Rene Crutcher, provided the music during the event. Those who were not old enough to vote were urged to make sure to tell their family, neighbors and teachers to vote.
After a moving soliloquy, actress/singer/activist, Sheryl Lee Ralph gave the audience their marching orders. “Don’t let this moment be the end of it” Ralph said. “You must get involved. You must get informed. You must get educated. You must take action. Vote and make sure everyone you know votes.”
Partner organizations included:
sclc/Women’s Organizational Movement for Equality Now, Inc.
Georgia Coalition of Black Women
Asian American Legal Advocacy Center, Inc.
Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials Women’s Division
Georgia Caribbean American Heritage Coalition
Georgia Women’s Actions for New Directions (WAND)
League of Women Voters of Georgia
Georgia State Conference of NAACP
Women in NAACP
Watts Group Organizational Development Consortia
Clark Atlanta University African American/Africana Women’s Studies
St. Peter Missionary Baptist Church
MLK March Committee
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Atlanta Urban League
Alln1 Security Services
Spelman College
KoolNique Community Solutions
Planned Parenthood Southeast
The White House Project
NAACP Youth and College Division
ABOUT sclc/WOMEN
Founded in 1979, sclc/Women’s Organizational Movement for Equality Now, is a nonprofit organization providing a diverse array of services to improve and empower at-risk and low-income families. Programs include: youth mentoring, domestic violence education, HIV/AIDS education, computer training and the annual Evelyn Gibson Lowery Civil Rights Heritage Tour.
ABOUT GCBW
Founded in Macon in 1980, Georgia Coalition of Black Women has been in the vanguard on women’s issues for more than 30 years and was a lead advocate for the establishment of the Georgia Commission on Women, as well as numerous observances of Women’s History Month around the state. A major focus of the nonprofit, community-based outreach organization is to impact public policy and to facilitate the participation of women in government, with emphasis on the electoral process.