Say Hello to the new Alabama State Conference NAACP Youth & College Division Political Action Committee Co-Chair!!!

      I know the title is long but hey! I'm excited about this endeavor. I never served in a leadership postion at the state level, until now.
I was appointed this position about 2 weeks ago. I also serve as the President of the NAACP at UAB. I am definitely up for the challenge.
          I hope to leave the legacy of establishing connections and mentorships in the community for members of the Youth and College Division of the Alabama State Conference NAACP, so the elders can feel confident in "passing the torch" to the next generation that they have trained and equipped  for tomorrow.

According to the Washington, DC Branch here are my duties in a nutshell....

Political Action Committee

The Political Action Committee works to ensure voter empowerment through providing awareness, training, and programmatic support to ensure registration, education, administration, and election protection.  The NAACP has developed a nonpartisan voter empowerment program  designed to empower African American and people of color by increasing awareness and participation in the electoral process.  The Political Action Committee will support the NAACP’s mission to ensure political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination, through implementing the following initiatives:

• A series of voter education forums addressing DC Vote and ward specific issues
• Issue focused political action notifications through social media usage
• Local DC and Federal advocacy days and facilitating meetings with elected officials
• Get Out The Vote (GOTV), voter registration and poll transportation
• Partnering with local and national civic organizations to address pertinent issues
• Informing the electorate of candidate views, to hold elected officials accountable.

I look forward to doing great things and serving my fellow youth and college division colleagues!

Entitlement and the Millennials

     Recently, I was able to sit in on a "teaching moment" and I would have to admit that I somewhat disagree with the facilitator as far his/her views on millennials aka Generation Y.

      He/She mentioned that Gen Y-ers are so stuck on "Entitlements" just because they feel entitled or that they should have something because they should (I hope that makes sense).
I feel that anyone who has worked their ass off, should be granted success (I don't agree with Romney's view...another blog post). There's a difference between going through the motions and doing work versus working your ass off everyday, so that you can go to the next step or have better life.
       Anyway, he/she used the example of college students--now a days college students feel that they should make $60k right out of school. I think that's steep but if the college student have the credentials, why not expect the most, when you know your worth and you've completed a number of hours for an internship or two?
        Me, on the other hand, growing up in South, I've been reminded repeatedly, (1)graduate from high school, (2) don't get pregnant, (3) get a college education (aka Bachelors degree), and (4) THEN, get married and have children. So now that I am 25 years old (closer to 26), I feel a little entitled because I've done all of those things and I'm close to completing my Masters degree. Sooooo...where's my husband and children? I know they will eventually come but I say all of this because when you are taught something, accustomed to hearing something over and over, and you comply with the rules. You expect certain things and you feel entitled to certain things...ijs.
       Back to the college students example...we are taught that if you invest in your education, you will be better off than the person who didn't attend college, or the statistics about how much more money you will make than the person who didn't attend college, and etc. So are we trying to hold ourselves accountable or the people who convinced us that we will be better off if we attend college? Or Based on our understanding of attending college we have high expectations?

OFA trip to Florida

I took a trip with my fellow College Democrats to Tallahassee this past October. The trip was a collaboration between the College Dems and Obama for America (OFA). Let's just say that the intended purpose was worth wild but the work was a different story. It was what I expected but not what I expected. But overall I had a great time and our hosting family/couple was awesome. Her name is Laura Bush (Go Figure). I'm glad I was able to participate in the campaign and ensure that President Obama get re-elected.

Alabama State Conference NAACP State Convention

I was able to attend the Alabama State Conference Convention of the NAACP in Huntsville, AL. I was very excited about the event because I never attended a state conference for the NAACP. I have to say that I was a little disappointed. The conference was 2 hours behind schedule. (WTC!< Another thing, we(youth and college attendees) were mandated to attend this workshop called "Bridging the Gap". We did some interactive things but we also had to be candid about the problems we were facing between the generations. Which I felt was needed but will anything get resolved? Probably not.
On a good note I was able to meet other students who served in their local chapters. I also was able to spend time with my best childhood friend and about out to my high school buddy for putting me up for the weekend!!

First Week on the JOB--Complete!

Today marked the completion of my first week as a Congressional Intern! This week has been pretty good, no complaints. First assignments included data entry and phone calls but I got my FIRST real assignment to help put together/research a career development training. I'm excited and I can't wait to get feedback! Stay tuned for the ups and downs of my internship experience.