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NEW STORY ALERT FROM ME: In 1919, a group of Black Floridians in Jacksonville held these secret educational meetings, teaching local Black residents how to register to vote and pay their poll taxes. This signaled a statewide massive voter registration movement designed by
Black Floridians for Black Floridians. Black Women played an enormous role in this movement, like Mary McLeoc Bethune. She would teach these civic classes teaching her students how to register to vote and pay their poll taxes. Through her efforts 100s were registered to vote.
Across the state you also had Church groups raising money to pay poll taxes for poor Black Floridians, there were classes teaching elections laws. Black newspapers like The Colored Citizens, urged Black Floridians to register to vote. They wrote,
And this all led to the November 2nd 1920, Election Day.
This is the voter registration booklet for the 1920 election in Orange County.
I also blend this story with the present day and look at today’s voter registration movement in a state that’s gaining a lot of attention, Georgia. I spoke to @nseufot of @NewGAProject, she tells the story the time when her team found out that there were
1 million Georgians who were unregistered to vote they got to work and registered 500,000 voters. We also talk about the voter suppression laws that are being introduced in many states as we speak.
You can read the transcript for this story: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13zAzfo2EJ9wgeUq-9k93sB3tLVnC264piDjfKLCE9vM/edit?usp=sharing
You can read the transcript for this story: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13zAzfo2EJ9wgeUq-9k93sB3tLVnC264piDjfKLCE9vM/edit?usp=sharing
This piece was edited by the amazing @IlanaLevinson. Who without her editing, this story would have gone nowhere. 60% of what makes this story good is because of her edits.
Anyways this thread wasn’t intended to be this long. But here’s the story. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-history-of/id1460321400
