“Small Gestures, Big Impact”

How has your week been?

Last Thursday, January 20th, I was officially sworn in as an Executive Board member of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys (“GABWA”). I know, I know. Some of yall are thinking “dang this girl does it ALL!” or “dang this girl is doing TOO MUCH!” “She just told us she is a new member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and NOW she’s also a new member of GABWA’s Exec. Board?! How does she find the time?!” I’m not going to lie, sometimes I feel like I’m doing too much. Sometimes I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day. But I always check in with myself daily to make sure I am taking out time for ME. And I also truly enjoy the organizations I am a part of, and because I enjoy them, I don’t mind devoting time to them. I also believe in their causes.

But yeah, I am on the Board of GABWA and I am serving as the Athens Region Vice President. If you aren’t familiar with GABWA, it is “a statewide organization founded in 1981 by a group of African American women to 1) focus on women and children’s issues, 2) increase Black female representation in the judiciary and public offices, and 3) take a proactive stance on political issues.” Its members aren’t just women, men are members of GABWA as well. Our theme for 2022 is: ‘”Many voices, one mission: connecting, serving and empowering our community.” We have a lot of plans to do just that this year, and I’m very excited!

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and GABWA are two totally different organizations and they have different histories and missions, but I realized they have some common goals: to educate, empower, and uplift the community. And lucky me, those are some of my passions! One of the major goals of 2022 for both organizations is to focus on voter education and voter advocacy.

Tuesday, January 25, 2022, was recognized as “National Poll Worker Recruitment Day.” Yup, 2022 marks the year of another election in many states, and now is the time where people apply to work the polls, and candidates file to be considered in the race. Election day is November 8, 2022, for 46 out of the 50 states, but in the spring there usually are primary elections held. “The primaries are used by political parties to determine the candidates who will run for all partisan offices in their states on the general election ballot on Nov. 8, 2022. On the ballots are legislative, congressional, gubernatorial, and statewide office contests in 46 states.” Check out the National Conference of State Legislatures website or your local government website for more information.

With this post, I want to encourage you to do two things:
(1) If you’re able, apply to be a poll worker. You can apply to work the primary election, on election day, or any of the early voting dates if they have them in your county. It’s a gratifying experience and you get to learn a lot about elections, casting ballots, and counting votes, and I’m sure you’ll get to meet new people! I worked the polls in 2020 and I will be working the polls again this year. I was previously told that most poll workers are retirees, but since COVID, there has been a shortage of poll workers. So look into it and apply! (My Athens readers, you can apply here!).
(2) Educate yourself and do research on the election dates in your county/state and on the candidates who are running. Once you find a candidate you support, try to donate to their campaign or share a post about them on social media (you can even volunteer to help on their campaign! Making phone calls, stuffing envelopes, holding signs, etc.!). I still say politics aren’t my thing, but over the past couple of years, I have learned how the small things go a long way for candidates in their campaign. At the end of the day, we should all be aware of who is running to take a leadership position in our communities.

I’m thankful and excited for these new opportunities I have received this year. I have a feeling that 2022 is going to be a game-changer for me! I hope it is for you as well! I have had a busy month so far, but I don’t regret joining these awesome organizations. I’m sure I’ll be providing you updates through blog posts throughout the year 🙂

“Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” — Genesis 2:3, NKJV.

Moni Jay, Off the Record