Step-Up to the Polls, a voter education event and step show competition, was held in Riverside, California, to highlight the power of the Black vote and the cultural influence of the Divine 9.
The event featured speeches from local leaders and politicians, including Assemblymember Corey Jackson, Supervisors of Riverside County Chuck Washington and Karen Spiegel, Mayor Acquanetta Warren, and San Bernardino City Unified School District Board Member Felicia Alexander.
The event was organized by The Black Voice News, Mu Xi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Eta Nu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and the San Bernardino-Riverside Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
With less than 20 days until Election Day, over one hundred community stakeholders and candidates showed up for the first Step-Up to the Polls event, a voter education event and step show competition that featured local Divine 9 fraternities and sororities. The Divine 9 is nationally recognized as a group of nine historically Black fraternities and sororities, with more than 300,000 members.
Hosted by Black Voice News and held at the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts in Riverside on Oct. 19, people of all ages came to watch D9 members perform traditional step routines, and promote the importance of voting, as well as participate in chances to win cash prizes.
The event featured speeches from multiple local leaders and politicians like Assemblymember Corey Jackson, Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren, Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson, Third District Supervisor of Riverside County, Chuck Washington, San Bernardino Community College District Board of Trustees members Joseph Williams and Dr. Cherina Betters, San Bernardino City Unified School District Board Member Felicia Alexander, San Bernardino City Councilmember Damon Alexander, among many other impactful changemakers.
“The most important part of being here today is that it’s important for us to get out to vote, and I want everybody to walk away and understand that the local legislators have a greater impact on what we do and how we operate as citizens and it’s important for us to educate each other and to exercise our vote, and most importantly our voice. So, get out and vote.” Felicia Alexander said.
Step-Up to the Polls was the brainchild of Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, publisher of Black Voice News, and Otis Greer, chair of the Voteless People is a Hopeless People Committee for the Mu Xi Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Last year, the two held a panel conversation event where they realized it wasn’t catering to audiences’ needs and decided to create an event that was informative but also fun and inspiring.
“There’s this legacy of civic engagement, social action, and social justice that’s just in our DNA. So, we want people to remember that we want people to see that. We’re excited that we have scholars from local universities that are participating and that we have a range of people who signed up to attend, from seniors to young folks,” said Dr. Brown-Hinds.
The event focused on informing voters about candidates beyond race and ethnicity; by encouraging them to learn about which candidates include Black voters’ interests in their plans.
“In the end of President Obama’s tenure, we started to see poll numbers for him among African Americans go down, and some of that were folks in the Black community who had a sense that ‘circumstances haven’t really changed in my world. So, what did he do for me?’ not recognizing that it wasn’t his responsibility to fix,” Greer said.
“If you don’t have enough grocery stores in your community, that’s not a presidential thing. That’s a city planning thing. If you don’t like the fact that your school grounds aren’t well taken care of, your kids don’t have the right books or things of that sort. That’s a board of education — that’s a local school issue. That’s not a presidential issue.”
Another member of the planning committee included Dr. Jamal J. Myrick, director of African Student Programs at the University of California, Riverside and previous president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated Mu Xi Lambda Chapter.
“My particular role was galvanizing our Black scholars, our National Pan Hellenic Council scholars to actually participate and step in the event and make sure that UCR’s Black scholars have the opportunity to showcase their skill sets and also promote the Divine 9 or Black Greek letter organization unity,” Myrick said.
From left: San Bernardino City Unified School District Board Member Felicia Alexander with fellow Deltas, IVAC Parliamentarian Roslyn Bailey and IVAC Social Action Chair Tracy Richard at the Step-Up to the Polls event on Saturday, Oct. 19. Right: Assemblymember Corey Jackson, publisher of Black Voice News Dr. Paulette Brown Hinds, and BLU Educational Foundation’s President and CEO Dina Walker at the Step-Up to the Polls event on Saturday, Oct. 19.
“The second piece is making sure that our young scholars have the opportunity to be exposed to Black Greek letter organizations. It’s one thing to see stuff on social media, TikTok and everything. It’s another to see, feel and hear the good work that our Black scholars do, [and] the representatives do within our respective organizations.”
Numerous D9 alumni and current members proudly dawned their Black Greek letter organization colors in bold and stylish ways. Some current members included Fazein Kennon, representative of the Sigma Eta Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc, and Vice President of the Xi Rho Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., G’Neva Winston.
“The importance of us voting is that, once upon a time, voting was stripped away from colored people. So, it is important that now that we do have the right to vote, that we act upon it and make sure that we’re making our ancestors proud,” Kennon said.
“Our demographic, which is the younger adults, we need to have our voices heard. I think that over the past few years, we’ve seen a lot of advocacy happening and a lot of changes have been implemented, and it’s because the younger generation uses their voices to be able to make these changes happen,” Winston said.
From left: The Sigma Rho Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., placed first in their step performance in the sorority category. AKA members from left to right: Thatiana Gibbs, Grace Dower, Rebekah Parker, and Julianna Hooks on the staircase of the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts in Riverside on Saturday, Oct.19. Right: The Gamma Rho Nu Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. placed first in their step performance in the fraternity category. Sigma members from left to right: Aaron Afful, Jair Miles, and George Duru Jr. on the staircase of the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts in Riverside on Saturday, Oct.19.
Many people gathered to celebrate the importance of voting with refreshments and engaging with community leaders and reuniting with fellow D9 members and colleagues.
Upon entering the event, attendees were welcomed by music and greeted at a table with free canvas bags and stickers that said, “Voting is my Black Job,” “A Voteless People Is A Hopeless People,” and “Vote Like Your Ancestors Are Watching.”
Step-Up to the Polls was supported by county representatives like Joani Finwall from the Registrar of Voters Office for San Bernardino County who shared voter registration materials. According to Finwall, the last day to register to vote was midnight on Monday, Oct. 21, just two days after the event.
Those who forgot to register are still able to vote at the polls on Election Day by participating in Same Day Voter Registration, also known as Conditional Voter Registration. Under state law, eligible citizens who need to register or re-register to vote within 14 days of an election can complete this process to register and vote at their county elections office, polling place, or vote center, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Their ballots will be processed and counted once the county elections office has completed the voter registration verification process.
From left to right: Ipyani Lockhart, Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds and Riverside Supervisor Chuck Washington
“Everything that is important to you in your community are decisions that are made on your behalf by elected officials. So, it’s very important that you get out to vote, and especially the Black vote. Sometimes we’ve sat on the sidelines, but I see that if we engage, historic things can happen,” Washington said.
“I’m a part of that history. First Black mayor in Murrieta, first Black mayor in Temecula, first Black County Supervisor in Riverside. I’ve been participating for 25 years, and I want to encourage others to do the same. Get engaged. Vote. Everything starts with the vote.”
After many dynamic performances and speeches throughout the afternoon, the event concluded by naming the winning sorority: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Sigma Rho Chapter) and the winning fraternity, the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc, (Gamma Rho Nu Chapter).
The lineup of D9 fraternities and sororities competing included Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Sigma Rho Chapter), Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. (Eta Zeta Chapter), Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. (Sigma Eta Chapter), Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (Mu Chi Chapter), Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. (Gamma Rho Nu Chapter), Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (Epsilon Sigma Chapter) and the Sigma Gamma Rho (Xi Rho Chapter).
This event was organized by the Black Voice News, Mu Xi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Eta Nu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
The planning committee included Julie Wilson, Dr. Kelly Erving, William Jernigan, Dr. Jamal Myrick, Joseph Williams, Otis Greer, Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, Christen Irving and Prof. Rickerby Hinds.
SOURCE: blackvoicenews.com