KFTC Blog

Madison County members had a full agenda for their March chapter meeting. They started it off, as always, with a fun, engaging icebreaker. This month, people were asked to share what is their favorite dinosaur, which led to moments of learning and laughter.

After reviewing the agenda, members dove into an exercise led by Betty Hibler and Meta Mendel-Reyes where people were asked to think about the first time they were aware of their whiteness or an instance where they were made aware of your race. People in the room broke into small groups for these discussions and came back together to share their experiences. Dorie Hubbard shared a story about being a student in the 1950s in an integrated school. During a program at this integrated school, when a white student and black student started to dance the jitterbug together on stage, the curtains were quickly closed on them. Other members shared instances of where they had to grabble with what it felt like to be a minority, while others talked about how they didn’t become aware of issues surrounding race until they were young adults. Members have used space in chapter meetings since January to have mini-workshops and conversations, so that they are continually thinking about racial justice and diversity.

The U.S. House is expected to vote on Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal today. Here are some resources for understanding the impact of Ryan's budget, along with numbers you can use to call in while there's still time!

On March 6th we had a powerful lobby day and rally about Voting Rights in Frankfort.  Here are some videos from the speakers, most of which are former felons themselves.

Interviewing former felons and communicating out their stories is critical to the strategy of our campaign to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.

It’s a way of  challenging what people think they know about who former felons are and showing them a range of people at least some of whom they feel like they can relate to - different ages, races, backgrounds, and hometowns. 

If someone can see a piece of themselves or their family and neighbors in a former felon’s story, or respect or look up to their accomplishments, that connection can make it easier to understand the issue and support restoration of voting rights. 

Here are some examples of interviews we've conducted in the past.

We use these stories in a lot of different ways - stories on our blog, shared through Facebook, in our newsletter balancing the scales, in large signs and on factsheets, or full stories sent to the media or to legislators. 

If you're a former felon interested in being interviewed about the right to vote, or if you know someone who might be, please contact your local KFTC organizer or Dave Newton Dave@kftc.org 859-420-8919.