8 undergrads vs the world

Welcome to the second installation of the Democracy Summer blog. We have 8 hard working undergraduates helping us out this summer in teams across the state learning what it means to be organizers and activists, and learning how to blog along the way. Here's a little of what they had to say this week:

Team Charlotte

As someone who proudly carries my fusion of heritages, a daughter of Palestinian refugees who migrated to America and set roots in the South, while simultaneously a North Carolina resident born-and-raised, it is sometimes embarrassing how little of this state I call home I have actually laid eyes on. This is my first time in the Queen City.

Team Fayetteville

The biggest event of the week was my efforts to energize my own college campus. Most of the elected leaders to the student organizations are gone for the summer, so I attempted to reach out to staff to create awareness for students about organizing activities during the summer. It was so indicative of the strained climate at FSU when the two professors in the Political Science Department that I spoke with had complete opposite reactions to my efforts.

Team Greenville

Outside of phone banking, we had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Crucial Conversation with Harvard Law School professor, Lawrence Lessig, in Raleigh, NC. Lessig’s presentation was focused on Big Money Politics and he presented about 4 problems that are faced in trying to combat against big money politics and went on to speak about four solutions for doing so.

Prof. Lessig in action:

If you're up for it, click through on any of the team names, and read their full blog. You can even leave a post (no registration necessary) on their blogs to let the know what you think and that their blogs are being read. Check 'em out!