Students urged to research candidates

Panelists (from left) are Breeze Smith, Kaliyah Hall, Anthony Hallmon, Genesis Morris and moderator Promise Joseph. (Panther photo by Maricellyn McDonald)

Vote HBCU held a voter registration event Aug. 27 for Claflin University students with a focus on building community, educating young voters and approaching voter awareness from a non-partisan lens.

The panel discussion was held in the Claflin University theater and featured Genesis Morris, Miss Claflin University; Breeze Smith, a Claflin student and HBCU White House Scholar; Anthony Hallmon, a lawyer and Claflin alumnus; and Kaliyah Hall, a Claflin student and former intern for Georgia’s 2^nd Congressional District. The panel was moderated by Promise Joseph, a Claflin student and Vote HBCU fellow.

“It’s simple, a lot of the time when people are not educated on what’s happening, they don’t vote … so I think there’s a lot of educating, making sure HBCU students know what’s going on in elections,” Hallmon said.

The panelists urged voters to research the candidates and policies that are affecting them. With many young voters getting their news from social media, the panelists encouraged students to treat social media as only a starting point.

“Some people don’t enjoy watching the news for an hour, some people want to listen to a 2 or 3-minute video, so that’s a pro [of using social media],” Hallmon said. “But the con is that we’re in a world where people benefit from disinformation, so if you are ignorant to the topic, you’re not able to discern what's true or not.”

In reflecting on her first time voting, Smith shared that she listened to the guidance of family members to stick to the voting guide and just “vote blue.” Since then, she has realized the importance of knowing about candidates on both sides of the aisle.

“After the fact, I felt kind of bad because that was kinda ignorant of me to do. Just because someone identifies with a party doesn’t necessarily mean that their policies necessarily reflect those beliefs,” Smith said. “One thing I’m definitely learning as I’m becoming an adult is that there’s a gray area. So we do have to make sure, as Black people, the people we put in these positions are actually aligning with the policies we want to see.”

Other panelists also urged students to take the time and research neutral opinions on all candidates on the ballot -- not just the ones aligned with the same political party. 

Panelists urged students to take inspiration from past political movements.

“One thing we can take from past social justice movements is consistency and unity,” Morris said. “We know that change doesn’t happen overnight, but I believe that there is power in numbers if we show up with a collective effort.” 

Claflin University was the sixth stop of Vote HBCU’s Say It Louder Tour. Aside from the panel, the organization also hosted Panther Voter Activation. The event included a voter registration station, giveaways, and free activities for registered voters.