In this Newsletter:
| Message from the Chair | Getting things done |
| Upcoming Elections & Voting Rights | Primary Election Day in Greenwood County District 5 |
| GWCDP News | Breakfast Meeting on Saturday, Nov 6 |
| Our Community | 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Historical Preservation Site |
| We Need Your Help! | Meeting locations Carnell-Drummond-Mays Dinner Committee Chair Printed logo |
Message from the Chair
I sometimes fellow members complain along the following lines:
“Why did we elect Democrats to be in the majority if they can’t get XYZ done?”
where XYZ is any of a number of important issues such as Voting Rights, Climate Change, Immigration Reform, etc.
Let’s be clear: Democrats indeed have the White House and the majority in the US Congress. It’s therefore in the US Senate where there’s been the greatest struggle to see the progress we worked so hard to bring about in the 2020 election. The Senate is nearly perfectly divided with 50 Senators who are Democrat (or caucus with the Democrats, like Sen. Bernie Sanders) and there are 50 Republicans. VP Kamala Harris serves as a tiebreaker.
It only takes one to gum up the works, whether it’s Joe Manchin tanking environmental action or Kyrsten Sinema, who opposes prescription drug pricing reform.
But what if Jaime Harrison had been elected to the US Senate from South Carolina. My, how things could be different!
I would like us to rephrase the above question to the following:
“What can we do to elect more Democrats so that XYZ can get done?”
Lets localize this question a bit: When reviewing voting precinct data in Greenwood County, one sees they can fall into one of two categories:
- Those which are heavily Republican and have a high turnout
- Those which are heavily Democratic and have low turnout.
There’s one precinct in the City of Greenwood that voted strongly for Democrats but only had a 56% turnout – far below the 72% average across the state.
Imagine if turnout in that precinct were 80% or higher.
Imagine if that were the case in other Democrat-leaning precincts across the state.
Imagine if this led Jaime Harrison to victory in 2020.
Imagine all of the great legislation that would now be passing on this very day!
Now let’s stop imagining and WORK to make that happen in 2022! We need to stop making meaningful change other peoples’ responsibility and start to make it our own.
Upcoming Elections & Voting Rights
Primary Election Day in Greenwood County District 5
Today’s a big day for the residents in County Council District 5 as there’s a Democratic Primary underway! Click on the image below to learn more about these three great candidates.
Voting is open from 7 am to 7 pm. Be aware that two of the precincts have been permanently moved:
- Coronaca precinct has changed from from St. Mark United Methodist Church to the Coronaca Fire Department at 125 Willard Road
- Graham’s Glen precinct has relocated The Burton Center to St. Mark United Methodist at 111 Fuller St.
GWCDP News
Breakfast Meeting on Saturday, Nov 6
Our next Breakfast meeting is coming up shortly and there’s a location change – for a good reason!
We will be meeting from 9 am to 10 am on Saturday, November 6 at the Boys & Girls Club cafeteria (the same place where the Floyd’s Fish Fry was held). The new location and shortened time will allow us to participate in the special celebration of the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Historical Preservation Site right next door! See below for more information about this very important 3-day event.
But we will still have speakers, news, food, and socialization aplenty. Mark your calendars and then come on out for great back-to-back activities!
Our Community
10th Anniversary Celebration of the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Historical Preservation Site
On the first weekend of November, there will be a 3-day celebration of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays and the 10th anniversary of the Historical Preservation Site that bears his name. Click the image below to see the full program, which includes a Panel Discussion of distinguished scholars at Lander University on Friday and a worship service at Dr. Mays’s childhood church.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
If you can assist with any of the items below, please reply to this newsletter email and let us know!
Meeting Locations
The public rooms at the Greenwood library have been booked far in advance and are no longer readily available to host our various committee meetings. Our Executive Committee, Search & Support Committee, Precinct Leadership group and others are looking for a place to gather and conduct business!.
If you know of churches, schools, or businesses that have meeting rooms we could use, please let us know! Our important mission needs to continue.
Carnell-Drummond-Mays Dinner Committee Chair
Our virtual Carnell-Drummond-Mays Dinner in 2020 was a resounding success! We would like to hold our 2021 CDM dinner in-person (and a little belated) at the end of January. But we need someone to help organize it!
No experience is necessary and the Committee Chair will get a ton of support from seasoned volunteers. There is no better way to get to know your fellow Democrats in Greenwood than to spearhead an event like this. Just ask April Tumminelli and Ahmad Hart who have led our two most recent events!
Take a chance – you won’t be disappointed!
Printed logo for our Podium
We have acquired a nice, professional podium for use at GWCDP events. What would make it even better would be a professionally printed 1-foot diameter logo that we can place right on it!
What you see in the image to the right is home crafted, inkjet-printed and pasted on cardboard. It worked in a pinch – but can you help us do better than that? Any tips or ideas, just hit that REPLY button!
