By Stacey Mars
Volunteer Coordinator, GCDP

Stacey Abrams once said, “We can use our words to fight back against oppression and hate. But we must also channel our words into action.”

The last four years have proven that, as a country, we still have a long way to go fighting hate and oppression. But we know it can be done successfully having seen Georgia go from red to blue in this last election. I hope that the work done by women like Stacey Abrams of Fair Fight and Latosha Brown of Black Voters Matter inspired you the way it did me. If they can turn Georgia blue, I’m sure with hard work, focus, and a little bit of elbow grease we can turn SC blue.

Here are some of our plans:

Volunteer Huddles: These meetings are a chance for volunteers to learn about how to sign up to volunteer for upcoming events. They are also opportunities to train on how to canvass/literature drop, phone bank, and text bank. The meetings will be the last Wednesday of every month through October. Register here.

Listening Tour: If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that you can think you know what someone needs and be completely wrong. With that in mind, the Greenville County Democratic Party chair, Eli Valentin, and leadership are going to embark on a Listening Tour to engage with the residents and community activists of underserved communities in Greenville County. Engaging these communities will allow the GCDP to gain better insight into the needs of the residents. Education on the local races in the city of Greenville and surrounding areas will also be a point a focus.

Weekends of Action: As local and state races gear up, candidates will need help from volunteers to get the word out about their candidacies. The GCDP will provide information on how to volunteer for those campaigns. We are also launching Weekends of Action that include literature dropping, phone banking, and text banking.

Block Parties and Back-to-School Drives:  Politics is a serious matter but it doesn’t hurt to have some fun in the process, right? Right! During the summer – pandemic permitting – the GCDP will host block parties and back-to-school drives throughout the county that will feature local DJs, local restaurants, small businesses, and local candidates.

Voter Registration Drives:  Fair Fight and other organizations were able to turn GA blue due to increased voter registration and turn out in communities of color. In 2021, the GCDP will have the same focus and coordinate voter registration drives at the Listening Tour, block parties, back-to-school drives and other events that are planned throughout the year.

These events sound good on paper, but we need your help to make them a reality. Sign up to join our volunteer team and turn #BlueIn22.