人兽性交

At the edge of , a mere 100 yards from the closest school building, stands a sacred place in the annals of the civil rights movement in Mississippi.

It was there that , co-founder of the activist umbrella group , in 1963 established COFO鈥檚 Mississippi headquarters.

And it was there that Martin Luther King Jr., , and many other courageous leaders of the movement congregated to strategize and plan how to attain civil rights for Black people. This meant registering as many Black Mississippians to vote as possible 鈥� in the face of poll taxes, literacy tests and violent intimidation by white supremacists 鈥� at a time when just 7% of eligible Black voters in the state were registered.

The headquarters at 1017 John R. Lynch St. 鈥� a street known as the cradle of civil rights activity in Mississippi 鈥� became the nerve center of the Mississippi movement.

Today, the building, with its original fa莽ade and now owned by Jackson State, is known as the , a meeting and training space for student activists with exhibits that to the past.

It is here that a coalition of students is working to rekindle the spirit of the movement and continue the march for justice by registering, educating and mobilizing voters. To their adviser, political science professor , the former Lynch Street headquarters seemed like the perfect place to resurrect student-led efforts.

鈥淟iving in a place like Mississippi, you have to become part of the solution,鈥� said the Delta-born Orey, whose mother was a social worker in Clarksdale and father a union worker.

The student group is among those at five colleges and universities that recently received more than $80,000 in Vote Your Voice (VYV) grants under the Southern Poverty Law Center鈥檚 new College Pilot Program.

The Vote Your Voice initiative is a partnership between the 人兽性交 and the聽 to increase voter registration, participation and civic engagement among communities of color in the Deep South. The 人兽性交 has pledged to invest $100 million in Vote Your Voice grants through 2032. This year, a total of 44 grassroots voter outreach organizations across the Deep South have received more than $4.6 million in funding as part of the 2022-23 round of VYV grants.

While the challenges are much different than they were in 1963 鈥� when Jim Crow laws and customs enforced segregation and Klansmen murdered civil rights activists 鈥� Orey and his students know there is much work to do.

Today, Mississippi remains one of the five U.S. states with the most and ranked for voter participation in the 2020 presidential election.

Only 28% of Jackson State鈥檚 students voted in the 2020 election, and Orey vows to reverse the poor showing.

鈥楴ot their land鈥�

Orey began teaching at the historically Black university in 2008, after periods at the University of Nebraska and the University of Mississippi, where he quit over the school鈥檚 refusal to remove the state flag that venerates the Confederacy. (The state finally voted to change the flag design in 2020.)

He knew he had to 鈥渕ove beyond the ebony tower to the urban concrete,鈥� he said, describing his evolution from a sideline academic and racial polarization voting researcher to political advocate 鈥� and bring interested students along with him.

Orey vividly remembers as a child driving with his mother back and forth to visit his grandmother in Clarksdale, passing former plantations where Black people lived in small houses on land stretching as far as his eye could see.

鈥淏aby, that鈥檚 not their land,鈥� his mother would tell him when he asked why they lived that way.

The Jackson State student group is organized on the COFO coalition model and is devoted to voter registration, education, mobilization and turnout.

In 1963, COFO brought together members of some of the most defining civil rights organizations of the time: the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The coalition was instrumental in organizing the campaign in 1963, the in early 1964, and the , known as Freedom Summer, despite brutal Ku Klux Klan retaliation across the South. In June 1964, a series of murders, bombings and church burnings culminated in the Klan kidnapping and murdering civil rights activists in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

Today, the 鈥淐OFO building鈥� is the center of mobilization activities for a coalition of students that includes members of the chapter and the Political Science Club in partnership with and the . Other top student organizations are represented, including the Fannie Lou Hamer Pre-Law Society, the Jackson State Chapter of the NAACP, Girl鈥檚 Coalition and the Student Government Association.

Role models of the past

Fred McBride, 人兽性交 senior voting rights adviser, said the grants included this year in the 人兽性交鈥檚 Vote Your Voice College Pilot Program were specifically geared toward the 2022 elections.

The objectives of the pilot program are to increase awareness of voting rights, provide civic engagement opportunities for students and their communities and to conduct nonpartisan voter education, registration and mobilization.

鈥淪o many important issues affect students: loans, school costs, the . So there is a great incentive for action,鈥� McBride said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e talking about the youth vote, college campuses are a great resource, but they are also a great way to connect with other Vote Your Voice community partners, thereby connecting students to residents often living just blocks away from college campuses. Programs like our pilot program are instrumental in educating young voters and demonstrating the importance of this fundamental exercise.鈥�

The Jackson State group used its $14,000 grant for student worker stipends, voter registration and education efforts by athletes at a voter registration forum, and other activities. At the panel event, one of Jackson鈥檚 city election commissioners outlined each candidate鈥檚 profile and showed sample ballots for each race. A Jackson State representative from the local NAACP and star linebacker Aubrey Miller appeared on the panel.

Such events, Orey said, combat 鈥�,鈥� a political science term to characterize candidates鈥� disinformation strategies that 鈥渢rickle down to the masses,鈥� unaware that certain candidates are working against the interests of voters of color and poor white people. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of the 鈥楽outhern strategy,鈥� where politicians bamboozle poor whites into voting against services that they need, like Medicaid,鈥� Orey said.

On Election Day, the student group held a festive 鈥淪troll to the Polls鈥� event 鈥� also known as 鈥渄ancing to the polls鈥� 鈥� on the school鈥檚 Gibbs-Green Plaza outside the campus polling station. Fraternity and sorority members danced and marched to music, and food trucks lined the plaza. Athletes and others spoke about activist celebrity role models of the past, like and . Simone鈥檚 song 鈥溾�� expressed her lifetime of rage and frustration against racism and inequality and was partly inspired by the assassination of Medgar Evers in the summer of 1963.

Orey said that in cultivating the next generation of voting rights activists he is motivated by the passion and commitment of students like Jackson State junior Maisie Brown.

Brown, one of Orey鈥檚 research assistants, was named by as 鈥淐ollege Student of the Year鈥� in October. She has appeared in magazine, on CNN and in other local and national media outlets for her leadership during the Jackson water crisis.

鈥楤rain drain鈥�

While Brown was still in high school, her activist impulse led her to organize a march to the Jackson capitol after George Floyd鈥檚 murder by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020.

Brown told the 人兽性交 that she considers herself 鈥減rivileged鈥� as the only child in a two-parent, civically engaged household where voting was always a priority.

鈥淚n Mississippi, young people have voter apathy because they don鈥檛 see the effects of voting because in Mississippi, we are stuck in the status quo,鈥� said Brown, who also tracks state legislation as an advocacy coordinator for the Jackson ACLU.

鈥淗ow can we make change if we aren鈥檛 voting? We need to show what we won鈥檛 accept. When we have registration, people are more than willing to register. That鈥檚 the easy part. It鈥檚 getting people to actually vote [that鈥檚 the hard part].鈥�

Brown cited school loans and the state鈥檚 abortion prohibition as the two issues young people like her care most about.

鈥淢ississippi already struggles with a brain drain,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ith a complete lack of access to abortion in the state, progressive young people have more reason to leave.鈥�

For those who stay, Brown said that her participation in Orey鈥檚 Jackson State coalition 鈥渉as strengthened my resolve. It鈥檚 reignited my interest in focusing on young people. In the past, I focused on registration. Now I want to focus more on education and mobilization and learn what鈥檚 going on in the state Legislature so I can educate people on the local, more impactful issues before they vote.鈥�

Here is a look at other Vote Your Voice College Pilot Program grant recipients and how they are using the funding:

Civic Engagement Team 鈥� Grant amount: $22,000

On Nov. 8, Alabama voters passed a to remove racist language from the state constitution, which enshrined white supremacy when it was written in 1901. The language permits school segregation by race, poll taxes, a voting literacy test and 鈥渋nvoluntary servitude,鈥� which forced Black incarcerated men to . Despite Supreme Court decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education, which outlawed school segregation in 1954, Alabama left the language intact during the 978 times the constitution was revised.

The win was big for professor and student adviser Monica Clarke, along with the students, faculty and volunteers she supervises as chair of AAMU鈥檚 . The team used its grant to train, equip and pay students, who registered over 500 fellow students and AAMU staff in orientation classrooms, at football games and in residence halls.

鈥淥ur main goal is to register students to vote, but we have to educate them,鈥� said Clarke. 鈥淎 lot of our students don鈥檛 understand the need to vote or never voted before because they come from a family that didn鈥檛 vote. We have to show them that everything we do is connected to the vote. That the air we breathe, the food we eat, the clothes we buy, every decision we make in our lives can be traced to the vote.鈥�

Mu Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. 鈥� Grant amount: $10,450

Emory鈥檚 Mu Alpha Chapter brothers educate, register and conduct get-out-the-vote activities among students, faculty and administrators under the rallying motto 鈥淎 Voteless People Is a Hopeless People.鈥� That motto is also the name of a national program established in 1937 by Mu Alpha鈥檚 national organization, the first intercollegiate Black fraternity, founded in 1906 at Cornell University.

For Malcolm Phillips, Emory鈥檚 Mu Alpha Chapter president, the motto is as relevant today as it was then, when white Southerners disenfranchised 鈥� and disempowered 鈥� the Black community through poll taxes, lack of voter education and threats of violence. A September on-campus voter drive with partner yielded more than 50 new registrants, Phillips gleefully reported 鈥� 鈥渋n just two hours!鈥�

After registration ended Oct. 11, Mu Alpha continued to use its grant to hold table events to check registration status and provide nonpartisan voting information: anything from absentee ballots to the campus polling location. It held a candidates鈥� forum and used social media to extend its campaign to the greater Atlanta metro area.

Mu Alpha will hold another event forum in February 鈥� this time for newly elected officials.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to target officials who ran on noble platforms to hold them accountable to do what they said they would do,鈥� Phillips said.

Alpha Phi Alpha 鈥� Beta Sigma and Beta Iota Lambda Chapters in partnership with the Southern University Chapter of the NAACP 鈥� Grant amount: $25,000

At Southern University-Baton Rouge (SU), getting out the vote is a 鈥渇amily affair.鈥� Members of Alpha Phi Alpha; its undergraduate chapter, Beta Sigma; its graduate (alumni) chapter, Beta Iota Lambda; and its student chapter of the NAACP collaborate to get out the vote. Notably, , the NAACP co-founder, was an Alpha Phi Alpha member.

Before the November midterms, chapters and the NAACP held numerous, grant-supported voter registration and education events. These included a 鈥淐hat and Chew鈥� nonpartisan, 12-candidate forum; a 鈥溾�� effort聽(Southern鈥檚 mascot is a Jaguar) that provided transportation on the first day of early voting; and 鈥淟et鈥檚 Taco Bout Voting鈥� on Nov. 1 鈥� the last day of early voting. They set up phone banks, voting information and registration tables at 鈥淧retty Wednesdays,鈥� a regular weekly 鈥淒ress for Success鈥� event for fraternities and sororities. Through its Beta Sigma and NAACP student chapters, they modeled their 鈥渟tudents for change鈥� voter outreach on the NAACP鈥檚 鈥溾�� principle. On Election Day, in true Louisiana tradition, students met at the student union and held a parade to the nearest polling station.

鈥淸O]ur vote really is our future,鈥� said Derrick Warren, Southern University Associate Dean 鈥� College of Business and adviser to Alpha鈥檚 Beta Sigma Chapter.聽It truly captures the spirit of Alpha Phi Alpha鈥檚 鈥溾�� campaign.

鈥淣ot voting is a vote, whether people realize it or not. 鈥� That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so important that we make as many people aware as we can.鈥�

鈥� Grant amount: $13,000

The Clarence L. Barney Jr. African American Cultural Center (AACC) at Louisiana State University plans to partner with various student groups on campus to register and mobilize students to participate in Louisiana鈥檚 upcoming 2023 elections. Partnering student groups include LSU NAACP, LSU Black Student Union, Geaux Vote, AACC Ambassadors and other diverse student organizations.

Picture at top: Jackson State University students participate in a Stroll to the Polls event on Election Day. A coalition of Jackson State University student organizations has received a Vote Your Voice grant under the 人兽性交鈥檚 new College Pilot Program. The Vote Your Voice initiative is a partnership between the 人兽性交 and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta to increase voter registration, participation and civic engagement among communities of color in the Deep South. (Credit: William Kelly)