Youngs Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church will host Community Conversation: Power Belongs to the People September 3, at 7 pm at the church, located at 7336 Carlisle Street, Irmo.
The free community event will bring residents together for a conversation about the history, power, necessity and importance of voting, while addressing misinformation, encouraging informed civic participation, and creating space for community members to discuss their concerns, experiences and needs ahead of the November elections.
Dr. Robert Greene II, Associate Professor of History at Claflin University, will serve as guest facilitator and lecturer. Greene will guide participants through the history of voting rights in South Carolina, including the biracial government of the Reconstruction era, the voter suppression that followed Reconstruction, the 1944 Progressive Democratic Party, and the struggle for Black voting and political power during and immediately following the Civil Rights Movement.
“This gathering is about education, empowerment and community,” said the Rev. Fedrick A. Wilson, pastor of Youngs Chapel AME Church. “We want people to understand the history behind the right to vote, recognize the power of their participation, ask questions, address misinformation and hear from one another about the issues affecting our community. Power belongs to the people, and an informed and engaged community is a powerful community.”
The program is designed to be more than a lecture. Organizers envision an open community conversation where neighbors can learn together, share concerns, ask questions and discuss the importance of civic participation.
The event will also emphasize the significance of participation in local, state and federal elections and encourage eligible voters to become informed and prepared to exercise their right to vote in November.
Greene is an Associate Professor of History at Claflin University and co-editor of Invisible No More: The African American Experience at the University of South Carolina. He serves as Events Coordinator for the African American Intellectual History Society, Managing Editor of Global Black Thought, and Lead Instructor for the Modjeska Simkins School of Human Rights. He is also working on The Newest South: African Americans and the Democratic Party, 1964–1994, a book examining Black voting and political power in the post-Civil Rights era.
Youngs Chapel AME Church welcomes residents throughout Irmo, Columbia, Lexington County, Richland County and the surrounding Midlands to attend. The program is intended as a community-centered civic education event and is open to the public. Admission is free and open to the community.
