Thank goodness I went to bed at 10 the night prior. I woke up at 4 am for what many call a long day but anyone part of the Wake the Vote cohort knows as the usual WTV day. Chizoba drove Hannah, Kelsi, and myself down the South Carolina Saturday morning for what would be a very powerful and emotional day for myself (and Chizoba as well from what I have read of her reflection which is a must read).
As usual we got our Wake the Vote shirts for the event which are not only good for publishing our adventures but perfect for the gym and then we were off! Hannah, Chizoba, Ryan, Katherine, and I were assigned to work for Jeb! (The reason for exclamation mark not for our excitement). As we arrived it felt similar to my time in New Hampshire with Cruz. We walked into an office type building yet this time filled to the brim with Jeb info and memorabilia. I could tell the drastic amount of money spent when I saw hundreds of papers of info and just so many signs that later that night were useless. While it saddens me how much money was wasted within the Jeb campaign at least I got a free shirt?
That was basically the end of the Jeb saga, after two or so hours we were out on our way to Charleston South Carolina. The good was the free shirt, the bad was that no one I called was voting for Jeb, and ugly was the amount of times people claimed to call police on me if I didn’t stop calling.
MHP was going down to Charleston to interview two very spectacular individuals, Elizabeth and Albert Alston. When announced we could go along, even though we loved Jeb, we were excited and unsure of what was going to happen. For myself I had no idea how influential the day was going to be for me. For me it’s very hard to keep hope in better times for a better world. This is one of the few days of my life where I felt so touched and strong that my belief and strength to fight for a better world was reinforced. This is because of both the Alstons but specifically Elizabeth and her words towards myself and peers.
The neighborhood was truly magnificent and so beautiful; it was identical of New Orlean’s construction. As we walked in I felt safe, I felt loved, and I felt the wisdom from the home and its peoples. The house was filled with history and as they set up the cameras for the interview were got to hear that history with who else but the historian for Mother Emmanuel Church. She has been a major figure in Charleston her whole life; in the church, school, and community in general.
It’s a very odd feeling being in the presence of someone so wise and just one of a kind. Someone who kept the news from every single day of the newspaper. Someone who fought for change her whole life. Someone who was a yellow dog democrat. Someone who loves Beyoncé, Solange, and Cam Newton. Someone who goes to sleep at 8 pm every night so no calling past then because she’s asleep.
It was truly refreshing to be in the Alston’s home listening and talking to them. Every so often they would mention us in the interview talking about it was up to us (specifically Hannah, Chizoba and myself but I assume the millennials and young peoples in general) to change our world. Their tone full of confidence that us millennials could do it. And when Elizabeth spoke to us I could feel the proudness in her tone of us and she seemed to know we were going to do great things for our world.
Elizabeth was also incredibly sweet and cute, called the iPhone 5, “I5.” However she was also straightforward and knew the world for how it was. As we were leaving I was giddy in the flourish of happiness I felt for my time there. And then she told us that she got the iphone to record to police. When she spoke I could feel the pain, and I could feel the strength of this woman who will stand up to anyone and achieve justice for others.
-David Ajamy
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