Sing Out NC!
We started as a singing circle last election, and are building concerts to get out the vote in NC!
THE ASK: VOTE IN NOVEMBER
Local and municipal elections are critical!
FIND OUT WHAT’S ON THE BALLOT WHERE YOU LIVE. Learn more about THE CANDIDATES running in your area from this non-partisan GUIDE from the League of Women Voters.
VOTING FAQ! Get the where, when and how. NEW VOTER ID LAWS HERE.
Are you registered where you live? CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION.
NEED TO REGISTER? FIND YOUR VOTING LOCATION HERE!
The deadline to register is OCTOBER 13th! MISSED THE DEADLINE? You can same day register and vote during early voting. October 19 - November 4. FIND AN EARLY VOTING SITE AND MAKE A PLAN!
JOIN SING OUT NC’S SUBSTACK HERE!
LOCAL VOICES: BELLE BOGGS
Last spring and summer, when I thought about raising my two young daughters in North Carolina, I felt close to despair. Our state was subjected to a vast, battlefield of terrible bills restricting and diminishing our futures. The brutal 12-week abortion ban, the dangerous repeal of handgun permits, the anti-LGBTQ “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” the voucher bill that will drain even more money and resources from our underfunded public schools. One by one these bills became law in our state, and sometimes it felt like my family was all alone.
But of course we weren’t, and we aren’t. One of the best bulwarks against despair, for me, has been finding community through a group called Public School Strong. A joint project of Down Home NC and HEAL Together NC, Public School Strong helps families work together to advocate for honest, equitable, safe, fully-funded public schools. I’m so proud of our group, which has shown up at school board meetings to represent what the majority of families in Chatham County want: inclusive, honest, well-funded public schools that value all teachers and kids. Joining Public School Strong is free and easy—you can sign up here for a Zoom training, and they’ll send you a free T-shirt to wear to your school board meetings. You’ll get connected with other people in your county who hold the same values, and with people in sixty-one other counties (and counting). If your county doesn’t have a PSS group, you can start one, and take comfort in the fact that you’re part of a statewide movement with more than three times as many chapters as the extremist antigovernment group Moms for Liberty!
Just this week I heard an interview on the radio with Jane Goodall, who said that what allows her to still have hope for our planet is working with others on incremental change. Goodall recommends that we each find our passion and work with others to make it a reality. “Whatever it is, go to your local community, get some people with you and take action,” she said. “And when you take action, you find you can make a difference.” There’s so much to be passionate—and frankly, furious—about in NC, that it can feel overwhelming. But if we each choose something and find our people, we’ll feel less alone, and reminded why we love this embattled state.
RESOURCES & INSPIRATION
YOU CAN VOTE, Educating, registering & empowering voters in NC. COMMON CAUSE NC, Building democracy for all in NC. DEMOCRACY NC, Government of, by & for the people. VOTE RIDERS, Voter ID support across the US. DISABILITY RIGHTS NC, Making voting accessible to all. WRITERS FOR DEMOCRATIC ACTION, Writers, readers & bookstore owners dedicated to the protection of democracy in the US & worldwide.