“We got our steps in, then got our votes in.”
You have the POWER to make a difference that will have an impact on the immediate future. See Black Girl Justice League member Sharon Watkins Jones from Houston, Texas for inspiration. As a public affairs consultant and staunch voting advocate, Sharon has been encouraging people to vote for years. She has walked through neighborhoods, fought against voter suppression, helped to increase voter turnout, and dispelled the many myths that deter people from engaging in the process.
What is the most urgent message you hope people hear at this moment?
Voting is essential! If it were not so important, there would not be so many forces trying to keep our communities from exercising our right to do so. Do whatever you must to cast your vote! Mask up, get in line, stay in line. Make a plan, and see it through!
You are a big voting advocate and have been for many years. Tell us more about your voting advocacy work and the impact you’ve helped lead.
I was a political director for a major civil liberties organization and helped to recruit volunteers and manage voter education initiatives. In 2019, I started my own political consulting business and at any given time, I am managing political campaigns and providing consultation to persons considering a run for office. I also participate in voting advocacy work as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., The Links, Inc., and Jack and Jill of America, Inc. — all of whom are currently partnered with our Forever First Lady Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote. I am a deputy voter registrar in Harris County. I keep my voter registration cards in my car and am ready to register a new voter at a moment’s notice.
You participated in Black Girl Justice League in 2016. What was that experience like for you and what’s one thing you hope BGJL accomplishes in 2020?
In 2016, Houston trekker Joy Durham and I called and texted our GirlTrek friends and picked a date to walk near an early voting polling location. We got our steps in, then got our votes in. We posted photos to social media to encourage others to do the same. There is a sense of urgency in 2020 that is quite different. This election season finds us in the middle of a pandemic, an economic struggle and a literal fight for our Black lives. Black Girl Justice League must remind us all that our foremothers faced even greater challenges, and they rallied their collective strength to make it through. We owe it to them, for the blood and tears they shed, to let nothing keep us from the polls.
Who is one Black woman who inspires you most and why do you choose to walk in her footsteps?
I am perpetually in awe of Shirley Chisholm. The audacity to think she could run for President of these United States and to actually do it is amazing. I live by her words, “if they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.
