In this Newsletter:
| Message from the Chair | We are more than our opinions |
| GWCDP News | October Breakfast meeting in the books! Welcome to our first intern, JaDasia Mitchell! Denise Waldrep accepts role as Director of Voter Engagement |
| Upcoming Elections & Voting Rights | Candidate information for County Council District 5 ACLU sues SC over redistricting process |
| Our Community | Mission Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness Piedmont Tech & SC Works Job Fair |
| News & Noteworthy | Biden-Harris Administration’s announce detailed policies in support of HBCUs |
| Legislative Updates | Chamber of Commerce Legislative Luncheon |
Message from the Chair
I have had the profound privilege to be a member of the “Racial Justice League”, a group founded by Donald Burton, local activist and president of Dream Builders. This group of volunteers has exploring ways to promote Conversation, Education, Collaboration and Action for racial justice in our community.
I want to give special credit to the recent contributions to this effort made by Rev Alexis Carter Thomas, whom we had the pleasure of interviewing at a previous Virtual Breakfast Meeting.
One of the insights she helped bring to our group is that even though we came together under a common cause, we still have differences in opinions among us. Before we can consider ourselves strong enough as a group to discuss racial justice out in the community, we had to first develop stronger bonds between ourselves and get to know each other beyond just our political and social beliefs.
In one exercise, we share stories about our mother’s mothers. We got to know each other in terms of a personal history, generational journeys that led us to where we are today! Before we tackle difficult topics on race, gender, love, religion, and so on, we had to first get to know and respect each other as humans. Failure to do that means we only see each other in terms of soundbites or social media posts. And when we do that, we end up inserting our own preconceptions to who people are and lose the opportunity to truly get to know them.
We have tough conversations ahead and if we are to have any chance of making progress and finding common ground, we need to develop strong relationships that can survive a difference of opinion..
GWCDP News
October Breakfast meeting in the books!
On Saturday, Oct 2, the GWCDP held its monthly Breakfast Meeting at the Morris Chapel Baptist Church. Video of the proceedings have been uploaded to our YouTube channel if you were not able to make it. You can also click on the images below to watch a particular segment.
GWCPD Chair, Bill Kimler, provided updates about the wildly successful Floyd’s Fish Fry & Cookout featuring Mia McLeod, Joe Cunningham’s visit to Greenwood, and testifying about SC House Redistricting
Tom Melson, candidate for Greenwood County Council, District 5, spoke about his campaign to the members of the GWCDP.
Sloan Griffin, candidate for Greenwood County Council, District 5, also spoke about his campaign and vision for the district.
John Kraljevich, Chair of the York County Democratic Party, shared his experience running for State House in 2018, piloting the Register 46 Project, and the rapid response behind the Travis Price arrest incident over the summer.
The GWCDP also recognized George Swindell as the October Volunteer of the Month for his years of service on the Executive Committee as Treasurer and for his extraordinary efforts to make the 1st Annual Floyd’s Fish Fry & Cookout a success. Thank you for all you do, George!
Welcome to our first intern, JaDasia Mitchell!
We have recently partnered with Lander University to host an internship program for students looking to gain real-world experience with campaigning, issue research, digital communication, and data analysis.
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