Day 4: Voter Justice & Swing States

• Deepen our understanding of voter suppression and gerrymandering in the US

• Reflect on experience of choosing a campaign/organization to volunteer with

• Continue to build a community of learning and engagement

• Gain insight and inspiration from guest speakers

1) Listen to The Economist Podcast, “Where does power lie in America?” interview with Stacey Abrams (October 2019) OR watch “Suppressed: The Fight to Vote,” (Free, 2019) OR watch All In: The Fight for Democracy (Amazon Prime, 2020).

2) Decide what campaign or organization you’d like to volunteer with--use the "Choosing a Campaign..." page to help guide your thinking.

3) Develop questions for our guest speaker. Please read bio and/or Google, and develop 3 questions you’d like to ask. Write these in your journal and add ONE to a sticky note in the JamBoard (include your name).

4) Start volunteering + logging your hours in your journal. If you haven’t heard back from the campaign or organization yet, that is ok--be patient. In the meantime, spend your time researching the states/candidates/organizations you’re planning to work with.

5) Come prepared to discuss in small groups your experiences. (It may be the process of choosing a campaign or organization to volunteer with and what you're nervous about or what questions you have. Or, it may be that you’ve been phone banking all week long.)

6) Watch "Gerrymandering Explained."

PPT for this session are here.

JamBoards for this session are here. Group Discussion + Guest Speakers

Reflection (write in journal after or during session)

• What's been the most challenging part for you in finding a campaign or organization to volunteer with? What's been the most interesting part of the process for you thus far?

• Guest Speaker Name: Date:

• What are 1-3 things that you learned, or that struck you, from our time with the guest speaker today?

• What follow up questions do you have for the guest speaker? Or, what questions arose from your time with the guest speaker?

0) Reflect on today's sessions

• What are 1-3 things that you learned, or that struck you, from our time with the guest speaker today? And from our group discussion?

• What follow up questions do you have for the guest speaker? Or, what questions arose from your time with the guest speaker?

• What's been the most challenging part for you in finding a campaign or organization to volunteer with? What's been the most interesting part of the process for you thus far?

1) Watch: 3 minutes of timeless inspiration from 2008.

2) Develop questions for our guest speakers. Please read their bios and/or Google them, and develop 3 questions you’d like to ask. Write these in your journal and add ONE to a sticky note in the JamBoard (include your name).

3) Watch a short video on effective phone banking:

• Phone Banking 101 - Swing Left Academy, 2018

• How to Phone Bank - Activism 101, 2018

4) Volunteer for your campaign/organization(s). (~3-5 hrs)

• Log your hours in your journal.

• Reflect in your journal:

  • What has been the hardest part of volunteering thus far?

  • What have you learned about yourself?

  • What have you learned about the election/area you’re engaging with?

• Come prepared to discuss your experiences.