从早上7:30开始.m. 至下午5时.m., Monday through Friday, the 科罗拉多州 State Capitol building is open to the public. It wasn’t until I got involved with the ACLU of 科罗拉多州’s 峰 (公共教育, Activism and Know your rights) Week earlier this year that I came to understand what that could mean for my ability to advocate for comprehensive change.
Over the course of the 峰 Lobby Day at the State Capitol, 我与社区成员建立了联系, lobbied against a punitive drug-induced homicide bill, and witnessed my peers passionately testify for or against proposed bills that could impact their communities during legislative committee hearings.
Seeing fellow students testify at these hearings was especially impactful. Young people are consistently made to believe that their voices are less valuable than those of older folks, 尤其是在政治领域. I’ve experienced this sort of belittling from administrators as part of a student organization I’m involved in.
Every chance that we have to demand a presence in these conversations is a chance to restructure this power dynamic and underline the fact that young people have well-informed, 宝贵的观点. 国会大厦的学生就是这么做的.
尽管账单上充斥着行话, my peers developed an understanding and spoke persuasively of their convictions, 就像任何立法者一样雄辩.
When I started as the ACLU of 科罗拉多州’s newest Communications Intern in September, I knew that I wanted to channel my focus into a project grounded in a sense of community that echoed the energy of my 峰 experience. My goal was to create a space for folks to come together and talk, 面对面的, sbobet篮球他们在社会正义方面的经历.
从这个基本目的出发, 考虑到即将到来的2023年大选, I decided that I would organize a nonpartisan ballot party and community conversation. 在这次活动中, participants would have the opportunity to bring their ballots and fill them out alongside their peers, 与此同时，我们还在进行一场sbobet篮球投票的随意对话. This seemed especially relevant considering the presence of myriad state and county ballot measures that voters would decide on.
Oftentimes, these ballot questions seem to be formulated with the most confusing language possible. This deliberate obfuscation can exacerbate systemic inequities that may block some folks from voting, or from understanding essential information needed to form an opinion on a particular issue.
This obstacle resembles the one that kept the thought of making my voice heard in the Capitol unfeasible prior to 峰. There are many structures in place — from the grandiosity of the marble-and-gold 科罗拉多州 Capitol filled with men in suits to the mystifying jargon of ballot issues and bills — that, 在我看来, 存在是为了维护压迫性的等级制度, designed to make political power seem out of reach for many.
Working to counter this narrative in my work at the ACLU of 科罗拉多州, I reached out to young people and student organizations across 科罗拉多州 Springs. I spread the word about the ballot party and community conversation event and prepared a presentation and subsequent list of voting-centered questions for folks to discuss. 有了这些资源, I hoped to foster an environment capable of breaking down some of the obstacles that people are up against when trying to vote.
Following this planning phase, the day of the event arrived. A colleague and I drove to the Springs and organized the venue space, preparing a table of snacks and stickers for people to take home, 等待参与者.
总共只有一个人来了. 不多也不少.
We forwent the presentation and shifted gears to dig into person-to-person dialogue with the woman who attended. We exchanged stories and experiences, engaging in meaningful conversations about social justice.
Admittedly, there wasn’t the level of turnout that I was anticipating for the ballot party. But the opportunity that arose for one-on-one conversation added an unparalleled depth to my experience. The profundity of sharing that came out of the highly personalized environment allowed a sense of solidarity and connection to emerge, recentering lived experiences in political spaces historically dominated by a powerful, 经常不连贯的少数.
我在科罗拉多州的sbobet篮球工作期间, I’ve experienced the possibility that can surface out of the unexpected. I’ve centered foundational skills necessary in encouraging interpersonal dialogues. I’ve engaged in conversations aimed at making political spaces more accessible.
My intention looking forward is to continue the conversation, to call out guised barriers to accessing political power, 建立有意义的联系, recognizing that we are all inimitable in the fight to disrupt oppressive power structures.
