Fannie Lou Hamer Leadership Program

Stressed waiting for election results? We are too! Come join and Fannie Lou Hamer Leadership Program for an hour of guided meditation, with ASL interpreters available!

Get ready for takeoff! Join our community conversation about and at 5:30pm ET TODAY!

RSVP and learn more about our program here: https://www.aapd.com/advocacy/voting/hamerprogram/

What does and mean to you? Let us know! Use our hashtag. Let’s talk about it.

We will also be discussing this as a community virtually on October 30th at 5:30pm ET. Join the dialogue. ASL interpreters and Captioner will be there to ensure accessibility.

DON'T LET VOTING SPOOK YOU! Come dream with us at our event Friday 10/30 @ 5:30 EST. Join us as we reflect on our work as young Black disabled organizers in this season of change. RSVP 4 details !https://aapd1995.wufoo.com/forms/rh56ej010vjh8p/

What does Freedom look like for Black Disabled people in 2020 and beyond? How are Black Disabled people actively dreaming up alternative visions of freedom and political power? What does it mean to center and in our work? Let’s talk about it! Join AAPD’s Fannie Lou Hamer Organizers on October 30th at 5:30pm ET for a community discussion about the intersections of Blackness and Disability, as well as how we might use voting as one part of an integrated civic engagement strategy towards Black liberation. Understanding that the Black Disabled community encompasses a broad range of people with varied life experiences, needs, and relationships, we seek to build community and start an open exchange of ideas about how people who are Black and living with disabilities imagine and work towards radical visions of freedom. We welcome people of all ages who identify as Black and/or part of the disability community. Allies are also welcome to attend and learn from our perspective.

So many of us are striving to be "civicly engaged" while navigating the tides of our mental health in 2020. Be sure to check out Mental Health America's campaign, "Vote like your mental health depends on it” for voting resources, insight on where candidates stand on mental health issues, and info how voting impacts mental healthcare.
Read more at: https://mhanational.org/vote

Our sponsor has recently released a bunch of really great voter resources to support the disabled community in preparing to vote in the upcoming General Election! Check out these Frequently Asked Questions (& Answers) http://ow.ly/MECi50BWSpA

FLH Organizer Jalyn Radziminski published a blog for Indiana Disability Rights. Jalyn and our FLH organizers want to encourage Black people, people with disabilities, and those impacted by incarceration that you have the right to vote! We understand the obstacles that these communities face. We also understand that many ex-felons do not realize that they CAN restore their voting rights vote and in some states vote immediately after release. Make your voice heard however you can. It matters.
Read Jalyn's blog here: https://www.in.gov/idr/2665.htm
Read about felon voting rights in your state here: https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/felon-voting-rights.aspx
Register to vote here: https://register.rockthevote.com/registrants/new?partner=34861&fbclid=IwAR0IN1nmjrx3s9nrb0z8IWqWEDLytsYog1GisV5mpeQMXMVnmJxLSPVjIs4

You’ve lost your voter registration card? No worries. You don’t need to bring your voter registration card with you on Election Day. But, you may need other identification since some states require a photo ID to vote.
Voting as a form of civic engagement that allows us to shape the conditions in which we organize -- we understanding the electoral politics are only one facet of the work, Voting can be practiced as “harm reduction,” as a way or “electing our target” and shaping the framework in which we continue to do our work.
Here is a link to see acceptable voting identification methods for your state: https://www.vote.org/voter-id-laws/

Photo Credit for Black woman:
https://www.freepik.com/photos/woman

Happy birthday to the indomitable Fannie Lou Hamer! She was a fierce leader that never let her disabilities stop her from fighting for the rights of Black voters and women. Her words and actions must be followed now more than ever. Learn more about her and the Fannie Lou Hamer Leadership Program that AAPD launched in her honor earlier this year. Our participants are following in her footsteps and are actively engaging in voting and activism.
https://aapd.com/advocacy/voting/hamerprogram/

Did you know that you need to update your voter registration if you moved, changed your name or want to update your political party affiliation? Each state makes its own voting rules, including how to update your voter registration. Check with your state or local election office for the most detailed and up-to-date information for where you live.

Register to vote here: https://register.rockthevote.com/registrants/new?partner=34861&fbclid=IwAR0IN1nmjrx3s9nrb0z8IWqWEDLytsYog1GisV5mpeQMXMVnmJxLSPVjIs4

Find your state’s election office here: https://www.aapd.com/advocacy/voting/upcoming-elections-2/

This week, we would like to highlight some voting resources. You are welcome to share whatever questions you have for us about how you can participate in the coming elections. We look forward to having you with us as we discuss how to be a voter, forms of voting, and why your voice needs to be heard.

This week, alongside voter registration we are lifting up the work of Direct Action and Protest with some Fighter Spotlights! Did you know that the 504 Sit-In, an early victory of the Disability Rights Movement, was supported by the Oakland chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense? Brad Lomax, Chuck Johnson, Gary Norris Gray, Don Galloway, Johnnie Lacy, Billups Groves, Ron Washington and Dennis Billups are the names of a few of the disabled Black men who were a part of the action. As an extension of their longstanding mutual aid work, The Black Panther Party stepped in to support the Sit-In by providing good hot meals, portable showers and security to the occupants. This is interdependence at work!

Here’s an Excerpt from The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service report on the landmark action, May 7th 1977: “(San Francisco, Calif.) – “We Have Overcome – can you hear it – We Have Overcome,” said the final group of handicapped and disabled people returning from Washington, some with wide smiles, others with lingering tears, bunched together in the airport lobby.

“We Have Overcome,” they sang to the depths of their hearts, just as their counterparts had sung that same tune before ending their triumphant 26-day sit-in.It was their unofficial theme song, once a source of hope and inspiration, now transformed to coincide with their tremendous victory, just as their powerful protest will soon transform the face of America.

“We understand that we are leading up to the elections is a big deal but it’s also a hard time to ask marginalized people to rally around voting” https://www.ourprism.org/article/2020/6/29/integrated-civic-engagement-is-essential-to-electoral-justice

Ever since Shayla was little, she had a passion for media and advocacy. As a little girl, Shayla would record events with her family's camcorder and write letters to state representatives. Now, Shayla is a Business and Communications major, who wants to create entertaining commercials in her career. In Shayla's free time, she also advocates for minority and disability rights.

Are you registered to vote: Register Here: https://register.rockthevote.com/registrants/new?partner=34861.

Follow Shayla on social media on Instagram

Ever since Shayla was little, she had a passion for media and advocacy. As a little girl, Shayla would record events with her family's camcorder and write letters to state representatives. Now, Shayla is a Business and Communications major, who wants to create entertaining commercials in her career. In Shayla's free time, she also advocates for minority and disability rights.

Introducing Fellow Ra Malika Imhotep! A black feminist writer, performance artist and cultural worker from Atlanta, Georgia currently living, practicing and dreaming in New Orleans, Louisiana. As co-convener of The Church of Black feminist Thought (), Ra works across mediums to apply principles of disability justice and the long tradition of Black feminist world-making to collaborative efforts that "make revolution irresistible" through innovative and inclusive approaches to political education and cultural production. Recently, Ra has been meditating daily, reading “The Way of Tenderness” by Zenju Earthlyn Manuels and thinking about how Black liberation requires us all to look deep within ourselves. As Manuels remind us, to be tender doesn’t necessarily mean soft, but raw and vulnerable. As another Black feminist cultural worker, Audre Lorde, once wrote of Black women; “We have to consciously study how to be tender with each other until it becomes a habit.”

I’m Adreenah but everyone calls me Dreezy. I am a q***r, graphic designer, female, African American, thriving with a blood disorder called Sickle Cell Disease, anxiety, and depression. My hometown is Apalachicola, Florida which is a rural community. I graduated from the University of Florida with a dual degree in Graphic Design and Art+Technology, minor in Sociology, and I will be finishing up my Arts in Medicine Certificate this year also at UF. I have hopes to get my Masters in Art Therapy in the future. I consider myself a Digital Storyteller, Act Activist, and Social Designer.

I use design as a catalyst to initiate real conversation, amongst real people, about real issues. Much of my work has a social justice theme. My top medium would be video and digital media. You can check out my work at http://ow.ly/IA1V30raFXw I have volunteered and facilitated art and story-telling workshops in UF Health Shands Hospital, juvenile detention centers, and within the community including schools. I spent this past year doing community organizing and I love it! I currently volunteer with the Sunrise Movement and I’m working on starting my own blog. I can’t wait to see how my experience in this program will shape the black community and my journey. Read about her journey here: http://ow.ly/Ilmt30raFXx

Follow on social media:
Twitter:
Instagram:
Facebook: Adreenah Wynn

The Fannie Lou Hamer Program stands in solidarity with Be sure to check out , , and many other organization's efforts for this campaign! Learn more about their amazing work here: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/517057-national-black-voter-day-launched-by-bet-and-national-urban-league
Register to vote: https://register.rockthevote.com/registrants/new?partner=34861

Next we would like to introduce Fannie Lou Hamer Fellow Jalyn (She/They) Radzimniski. Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jalyn Radziminski is fueled by their passion to unite education, non-profits, government, political and grassroots community initiatives to promote equity both socially and systematically. They are passionate about the intersections of mental health, disability, and prison abolition. Through this fellowship, Jalyn is excited to work with this cohort to explore how to make space for those who live with a disability to be able to pursue activism without sacrificing our needs. See their thoughts on on twitter

Follow Jalyn on social media:
Twitter & Instagram tag:
Facebook Radziminski

Are you registered to vote? Register Here: https://register.rockthevote.com/registrants/new?partner=34861.

We’ve just started working as a mixed-ability cohort running a campaign while the world is literally on fire. This is already teaching us so much! We are asking ourselves tough questions about time, capacity and well-being. We want to promote methods of organizing and civic engagement that don’t lead us to burn out. We want to resist the urge to rush and take our time to do this work with the care it deserves.

We want to talk with you all about what looks like and feels like in this current moment ! Join us as we put into practice by dreaming out loud and taking care of ourselves! What do your look like? Stay tuned as we tell you a little bit about ourselves and what we are dreaming about!

Introducing FLH Leadership Fellow, Tolu () Adedoja (He/Him) ! Tolu was born in Nigeria and moved to the United States in 2017. He is highly interested in public policy, and often participates in a lot of volunteer and community service projects. He is also a human rights advocate with special interest in disability rights.

Quoted Text Reads:

“Before and during the time of Fannie Lou Hamer, voter suppression, specifically targeted at black people, was real. Unfortunately, despite all the efforts and sacrifices of our heroes from the past, voter suppression is still among us. Black people are still systematically denied the ability to vote, as proven by a study. Black people with disabilities are probably the most affected here. With profound inaccessibility and systemic ableism still plaguing our nation, it is no surprise that voters with disabilities are blocked from the ballot box. But real change will not occur if we do not make persistent, conscious efforts to see it happen. This may involve some sacrifices, but this is the only way we can pave the way for a better life for the next generation of black people, just as Fannie Lou Hammer did for us.”

Check out the rest of his article on Fannie Lou Hamer’s Legacy and our Civic Engagement Work! American Association of People with Disabilities
Link In Bio! https://www.aapd.com/flh-hamers-legacy/

Are you registered to vote?: https://register.rockthevote.com/registrants/new?partner=34861.

Through the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD's) Rev Up Campaign, the Fannie Lou Hamer Leadership Program, is a program is designed for young (ages 18 – 30) Black disabled advocates who are committed to boosting voter registration and civic engagement across Black communities with disability leading up to the 2020 elections. This campaign is “For Us, By Us, With Us” as we explore different ways to fight for our communities freedom.