Greenwood County Democratic Party

After the discussion on Hate Crime legislation and hearing the words of Charleston Massacre survivors, several members in attendance felt moved to share their personal stories.

Joe Bryson from Abbeville reminded us about the importance of accessible and available mental health services for those that need it.

After the discussion on Hate Crime legislation and hearing the words of Charleston Massacre survivors, several members in attendance felt moved to share their personal stories.

Rev James Thompson was almost assigned the position of pastor of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. He lost several friends in that tragedy. He shares his thoughts here.

After the discussion on Hate Crime legislation and hearing the words of Charleston Massacre survivors, several members in attendance felt moved to share their personal stories.

Audrey Witherspoon was a member of the Greenwood County School Board during the Oakland Elementary shooting in 1988. She shared her eyewitness account of the aftermath.

We watched a recent Senate Judiciary subcommittee meeting on the Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act. We listened to testimony from two survivors of the Charleston massacre at Emanuel AME Church. Then we watch Greenwood’s Senator Billy Garrett, unmoved by what he heard, be the sole dissenting vote on this bill.

Read more about this hearing: https://apnews.com/article/hate-crime-bill-south-carolina-41587b0ddaf63a528d6e3019541955ad

One can only imagine the frustration that Senator Tom Davis is feeling after seeing over eight years of work to get the Compassionate Care Act passed be block by irrational fears and misinformation. We listened to Sen Davis lay it all out in the open in a tragic and moving speech he gave last week.

Dana Ellis, Coordinator of Volunteer Services for Greenwood County Library Services, talks about all of the offerings of the public library system as well as some behind-the-scenes info on how it’s run.

Shantate Morton, Community Outreach Coordinator for Carolina Health Systems, spoke to us about a grant received from New Morning to provide family planning services for the uninsured and underinsured.

https://newmorning.org/

We talk about the upcoming Floyd’s Fish Fry on May 13 ( you can buy tickets online here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fff23).

We also share a montage of speakers at the Appreciation & Recognition event for Sen Floyd Nicholson in March. You can see the full speeches on our YouTube channel.

The following events were reviewed:

• SCDP Black Caucus Sunday Dinner
• Easter Egg Hunt on Apr 8
• Cokesbury St. Cleanup on Apr 22
• The 1619 Project Watch & View on Apr 27