吃瓜大本营

Leading up to November 7, my fiance and I have been busy. I鈥檝e been organizing events and roundtables, speaking to groups, canvassing, and doing outreach to help fellow Virginians understand just how important this election is. My fiance, Quadaire, has been and speaking to the people around him, encouraging them to ask their loved ones to vote. He does this challenging work even though he can鈥檛 vote, because he鈥檚 currently serving his 15th year in a Virginia prison, where he has been since he was 20 years old.

We are both fighting an uphill battle: Many people have lost faith in the system, don鈥檛 believe their voice matters, and don鈥檛 understand how our state government works. We know that in Black communities in particular, voter suppression has led to a distrust in the system. But as I鈥檝e been telling anyone who will listen, voting is how your voice gets heard in a world where people are only listening to what they want to hear.

This distrust of the system was amplified when Gov. Glenn Youngkin鈥檚 administration wrongly purged 3,400 eligible voters from the state鈥檚 rolls 鈥� just weeks before this high stakes Virginia General Assembly election. These were people with felony convictions whose voting rights were restored, only to have them abruptly taken away because of an error on the part of the state鈥檚 Department of Elections. Though some voters鈥� rights are now being , the mess hasn鈥檛 exactly strengthened confidence in the system. In fact, there are still people who haven鈥檛 been notified, or have gone to the polls early, only to be denied their votes.

But we keep fighting. Much of this work is simply about voter education. If you don鈥檛 already actively participate in our government, the system can be intimidating. So I鈥檝e been talking to people, explaining the legislative process, explaining how the state House of Delegates and Senate works, and trying to make it simple. I want people to understand that when the issues they care about come up for a vote, if the right people aren鈥檛 in the room representing you, things can go south. And in an election like this one, where nearly every seat in the assembly is up for grabs, we need everyone who鈥檚 eligible to cast their ballot.

Voter education work is an extension of the advocacy I鈥檝e been doing for years. Having a loved one in prison led me to co-found , and the ACLU of Virginia has been an integral partner in this work the whole time. While some people are concerned about what鈥檚 happening to young people and the elderly in prison, there are a lot of people who fall somewhere in the middle 鈥� like Quadaire, who is 35 鈥� who also need our attention. People are serving sentences that are far too long, and though they have gotten degrees and certifications, created programs, and grown well beyond the young people they once were, they are largely forgotten.

Our organization has worked the last two years to pass legislation that would allow people to petition the courts for reconsideration after 10-plus years of incarceration. Earlier this year, the ACLU of Virginia helped us organize a lobby day, and it was beautiful. We had a great turnout, and even managed to change the minds of a couple legislators to vote yes on our bill. Though we haven鈥檛 passed the bill yet, we鈥檝e gotten some movement, and we鈥檙e going to keep pushing until it鈥檚 passed. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 focused on getting people who believe in second chances into those General Assembly seats.

Even beyond prison reform, there鈥檚 so much at stake in this election that I care about. Cost of living is one thing that keeps coming up in community conversations. Rents keep increasing, and people have been feeling the pressure. Another frequent topic is . We鈥檙e the last southern state without an abortion ban and the folks I talk with would like to keep it that way. This is where volunteering with the ACLU has been key, as people don鈥檛 always know where to start and how to figure out where candidates stand on those issues. When voters have the information they need, they have the power to truly make a positive difference in many ways.

This government represents us, and while we may need to learn how the legislature works, they need to listen to us 鈥� the people who elect them. And sometimes, they do: The senator in my district may not agree with me on everything, but they鈥檒l always take a meeting and listen. That鈥檚 why putting the right people in the right seats in your district matters.

I will never hesitate to tell my story as someone with a loved one in prison, across all the communities I鈥檓 a part of, especially since he cannot. And that鈥檚 something I鈥檓 passionate about helping other people do; I want people to understand that they can become advocates, they can testify before lawmakers, and they can , too. Voting is an essential part of that.