Regional "Train-the-Trainer" Conferences Commemorate Voting Rights Act
Feature Story by Tyler Lewis - 3/20/2006
With the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) under consideration by Congress this year, public education efforts are being undertaken in the states to commemorate and increase awareness about what has been called the most effective civil rights law ever enacted.Around the country, "train-the-trainer" conferences conducted with the assistance of a national collaborative, RenewtheVRA.org, are giving community leaders opportunities to gain media training, hear status reports on congressional activity, and to develop local public education campaigns around the reauthorization of the expiring provisions of the VRA.
RenewtheVRA.org includes national civil rights groups such as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF), League of Women Voters, the NAACP Legal and Educational Defense Fund, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Members of the collaborative provide technical assistance, sample educational and press materials, examples of public education best practices, and speakers. LCCREF also provides financial assistance by way of seed money.
"The Voting Rights Act remains essential to protect minority voting rights," said Ed Yohnka, director of communications for the ACLU of Illinois. "While progress has been made, barriers to voting still exist, particularly in states covered by provisions of the Act."
Five conferences have been held since November 2005. They include a conference in San Antonio, Texas on November 19; a Midwest conference in Chicago, Illinois on January 20; a California conference in Los Angeles, California on February 4; and Southeast conferences in Atlanta, Georgia on February 3-4 and February 9-11.
Each event successfully identified, recruited, and trained volunteers who are now positioned to engage in a range of public education activities for their regions.
The California conference, convened by state civil rights and civic engagement organizations including the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, California Common Cause, and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, trained volunteers on media communications and organizing community forums and shared stories about how the VRA has helped voters surmount barriers to participation in California's elections.
"The Voting Rights Act has played a critical role for California minority voters in their fight to gain equal and fair access to the electoral process," said Rosalind Gold, senior director of policy, research and advocacy at the NALEO Educational Fund. "California is one of the most diverse states in the nation, and renewal of the Act will help ensure that all Californians can achieve full representation in the state's democracy."
A conference held at Clark Atlanta University brought together student leaders from around the nation to discuss the importance of reauthorizing the VRA. Speakers included civil rights pioneer Rep. John Lewis, D. Ga., Public Enemy frontman Chuck D; and various student speakers, who gave different generational perspectives on voting rights and political engagement.
Upcoming conferences include a Northeast Regional conference to be held in New York City on March 22 that will focus in part on the importance of Section 203 to New York's language minorities. A forum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on March 24-25 will focus on key voting rights issues pertaining to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
