Message from the Chair
Letters to the editor.
Marches and rallies.
Social media.
Conversations at home, at work, at church, in the backyard.
There are many ways in which we need to let our voices be heard. We cannot let extreme oppressive messages dominate the airways and our Facebook feeds.
Two months ago, I started putting my voice out there, taking me somewhat out of my comfort zone. But there were things happening every week that deeply moved me and I needed an outlet to share my thoughts. I launched Monday Musings, a series of 5-minutes videos where I share thoughts on legislative priorities, flag symbolism, transgender rights, healthcare, and local lawmakers. I welcome your feedback, but even if nobody watches, I still think it’s important to speak up!
Are you interested in being heard? We would love to lend our platform to you! We can offer our website and social media pages for you to share your views in a blog or video post. Just reply to this email and let us know!
Your Voting Rights
House Democrats have passed HR 1, the most comprehensive and desperately NEEDED voting reform legislation in decades!
What’s in it? Take a look below and wonder why, oh why, would a single Republican be against this?
GWCDP News
SCDP Convention
The annual South Carolina Democratic Party State Convention was held virtually last weekend and THANK YOU to the delegates from Greenwood County who participated! If you missed it, you can watch the full proceedings which were saved on Facebook.
Congratulations to the elected leadership of our State Party! We look forward to working with them to make South Carolina and Greenwood County stronger for Democrats.
Floyd’s Fish Fry & Cookout
Mark your calendars: The 1st Annual Floyd’s Fish Fry & Cookout will be on Saturday, Sept. 11 at the Boys & Girls Club on E Cambridge Ave, Greenwood.
We’ve got two years of fellowship to catch up on so join us for live music, activities for kids, raffles and prizes, meet & greet with candidates running for office in 2022, and of course, spectacular food served by Workman’s catering.
Let’s honor the great legacy of Senator Floyd Nicholson with a turnout like we’ve never seen before! Tickets will go on sale in July, so stay tuned for more information.
If you wish to participate on the organization committee or assist with various activities, please reply to this email and let us know!
June Virtual Breakfast Meeting
Our FINAL Virtual Breakfast Meeting will be on Saturday, June 5 at 9 am. We’re going out in style with an unparalleled list of speakers! Register now to get connection information and to receive email reminders as the event draws near. Don’t wait until the last moment and risk missing a minute of this!
Spanish Translator Needed
The GWCDP has put together a nice Welcome to the Greenwood County Democratic Party brochure to inform and attract new members.
However, we would like to have a version that’s in Spanish!
If you have skills in this area, please reply to this email and let us know. We want to be able to reach as many members of our community as possible.
Precinct Organization
There are 50 Voting Precincts in Greenwood County and we now have 7 precincts with leaders! Thank you to those who have stepped up!
Anyone can be a leader in a precinct. Tune in for a brief 30-minute information session this Thursday, May 27, at 7 pm to hear about our easy Crawl-Walk-Run method to achieve the type of change Stacey Abrams and others enabled in Georgia.
It doesn’t take much – but it does need YOU!
Our Community
Adopt-a-Highway
The Greenwood Democrats Community Care Movement has adopted a segment of Cokesbury St where we can carry out our mission as stewards of our community.
Our first clean-up event will be on the morning of Saturday, Jun 26. The county will provide all materials from safety vests to bags to debris grabbers. We just need you to turn out to make this a success!
Please sign up on our website’s Volunteer Form and select “Community Betterment (trash pickup, beautification, etc)” and any other volunteer activities you are interested in.
Thank you!
News & Noteworthy
Public Transportation for Seniors in Greenwood!
Several months ago, Greenwood County Councilwoman Edith Childs shared with us that plans were in the works to bring public transportation to Greenwood for the first time in many years. We were delighted to see that County Council announced a contract with McCormick Area Transit to use its transportation services within a 5-mile area centered on the Greenwood County Courthouse. While it must be for medical or essential shopping such as grocery stores or pharmacies, it does provide a valuable service to the residents of Greenwood.
Tune in to our Breakfast Meeting on June 5 to hear more about this program from Councilwoman Childs!
Juneteenth Celebrations
GWCDP Executive Committee Member, Ahmad Hart, shared with us the following:
This is Growth…. Two cities in the surrounding counties celebrating #Juneteeth I love it & mostly definitely will be there for them both
🏾
Click on the images below to see larger posters for these events in Abbeville and Greenwood Counties.
New La Clinica Gratis (The Free Clinic) office open
Greenwood’s Community Initiatives has opened a new medical clinic at 212 Overland Dr,
Clinica Gratis is a medical home for individuals with no insurance. We also see patients who have only wellness or family planning coverage.
Congratulations on this achievement and thank you for this valuable service to our community!
Legislative Updates
Hate Crimes Bill Stalled in SC
Despite overwhelming support from the Business Community as well as the residents of South Carolina, the Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act did not pass in this recently ended legislative session.
While the bill is still alive and will be debated again in 2022, it failed due to objections from conservative lawmakers who view discrimination and hate speech as a religious freedom.
Biden’s first 100 days
NPR has provided a great writeup summarizing the accomplishments and remaining opportunities from the Biden Administration’s first 100 days in office.
Despite an extraordinary number of critical issues inherited from the previous WH occupant and encountering resistance at every turn from the Senate, we think the prioritization was spot-on and the number of actual accomplishments outstanding!
Upcoming Events
| GWCDP Precinct Leader Info Session Thu, May 27 7 pm Register Memorial Day Mon, May 31 Virtual Breakfast Meeting Sat, Jun 5 9 am – 11 am Register GWD County Council Tue, Jun 1 5:30 pm Greenwood Public Library Watch on YouTube County District 7 Litter Cleanup Sat, Jun 5 9 am – 11 am more info GWCDP Precinct Leader Info Session Mon, Jun 14 7 pm Register GWD County Council Tue, Jun 15 5:30 pm Greenwood Public Library Watch on YouTube GWCDP Executive Committee Thu, Jun 17 6 pm – 7 pm Location TBD Juneteenth Celebration – Abbeville Jun 18-20 Facebook event info Juneteenth Freedom Day – Greenwood Sat, Jun 19 12 pm – 5 pm Magnolia Park Greenwood City Council Mon, Jun 21 5:30 pm Municipal Building 520 Monument St., Room 2012 Watch on FB Live |
