Democracy North Carolina

We're hiring! With the General Assembly being distracted from jobs by breast bills, attempts to fire oversight personnel, and attacks on voting rights and education, those might not be words you hear too often in NC these days. But Democracy North Carolina is hiring undergraduate student summer interns, who are interested in non-partisan organizing, to join the team for the summer.

Interns earn a $2,500 stipend, while they build relationships and receive training that will help them start a career in social and political change. Now in its 14th year, Democracy Summer is ideal for college students interested in working in social and economic justice, community-based advocacy, research, politics, law, nonprofits, or public service.

It sure seems that way:

seniors over age 65 outnumbered young voters ages 18 to 25 in all but four counties with major universities – Orange, Watauga, Pitt and Durham. Young voters had the lowest participation rate of any age group, except in college counties like Jackson, Pasquotank, Scotland and Guilford and in several eastern counties where African Americans are the majority of voters, including Hertford, Northampton, Bertie and Edgecombe.

This goes a long way towards explaining why politicians who try to drag us back to the 1950's seem to keep getting elected. For those of you deeply involved in NCDP organizing, when's the last time you saw a 20 year-old at a precinct/county/whatever meeting? And when's the last time somebody at one of those meetings thought that missing young person was a problem?

You may remember reading about all the hard work the Democracy Summer internship teams did over the summer. In particular one project the Greenville team took on was to rally public support and meet with a majority of the City Council members to educate them about the anti-Citizens United resolution. Through their hard work over the summer, last night we won the milestone 10th city in North Carolina to pass this resolution, and the first east of 95!

And the river of green is overflowing its banks:

But two years later, the reliance on big donors has gotten worse, and the new Republican leaders in the General Assembly have blocked all campaign reforms, including proposals to require better disclosure of their own fundraising and the millions in mystery money from outside North Carolina.

But where is the outrage? And where is the right's white knight who "led the charge" against public corruption, former State Auditor Les Merritt? Well, he parked his horse after Republicans took charge of the General Assembly, and now he's handling the money of one of those big pay-to-play donors:

This clip is from the final week's blog from our Triad Team:

Through my work with Democracy NC, I have seen my worth. I plan to continue to engage others students on my campus in our work—the work of democracy. This experience would have been nothing without the mentoring and love of Linda Sutton and the companionship of Tyshia Gray.

- Keren Salim
Triad Team

Greenville Team: "(Nearly) Closing Thoughts"

It’s been a long, fun, productive summer, and I’m taking time to reflect on what I’ve learned, both about organizing and myself. We’re gearing up for a busy final week!

Fayetteville Team: "Raising Voter Turnout in Cumberland County"

My efforts to raise voter turnout all across the southeastern region have been dynamic, creative, and borderline exhaustive.

Charlotte Team: "Some Good Things Come to an End, but Greater Things Arise"

As we have reached the home stretch of our Democracy Summer experience, there lingers this sense of “sadness” amidst the enthusiasm and excitement of each day.

Looking for some good news? Check out this week's installment of the Democracy Summer intern team blogs. Here are a few clips to get you started!

Fayetteville Team:

Luckily, the week came to an end much like many difficult or challenging times during life. . . with a ray of hope. The people of North Carolina successfully fought off new Voter ID and other voter suppression measures! That’s a major victory – crucial for the general election in November. Every flyer handed out, every phone call made, every conversation with an elected official (well, with a few notable exceptions) all seams worthwhile. In the face of maddening opposition and disappointment, the people of North Carolina were also triumphant. I’m so happy just to have been a small part of that effort.

With the end of June approaching, a lot of big events going on, and the challenges faced by the General Assembly as their session draws to a close, I think it is fair to describe this week as midterms week of the Democracy Summer program. What words of wisdom do those of you who are more seasoned activists have for these young organizers in times like these?

Fayetteville Team:

The Fayetteville team has had the opportunity to accomplish a wide range of tasks in the past week. Making calls to the local Board of Elections proved to be one of the most difficult task that I have ever taken on before. The bitterness that was directed towards me while asking simple questions was simply baffling.

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.