Hi John,

My name is Christina Williams, I am an alumna of the Common Cause HBCU Democracy Fellowship Program in Georgia and a recent graduate of Clark Atlanta University (CAU).

As I prepare to start my first semester at Harvard Law School, I wanted to reflect on and share some of my highlights as a Democracy Fellow during my senior year.

I was drawn to apply to be a Common Cause fellow because I wanted to gain on the ground organizing experience and building relationships. As soon as I was selected, I immediately got to work. Over the fall and spring semesters I organized voter registration drives where we were able to register over 100 students to vote. I also partnered with Miss CAU for a tabling event to boost voter turnout and celebrate my peers’ participation in our democracy

One of my favorite parts of the fellowship were the training and networking opportunities. Each month we attended an All Fellows Call where I was able to network with Common Cause Democracy fellows in other states. We shared our campus updates and explored opportunities for collaboration. We also heard from local and national advocates about specific democracy issues of interest and were able to connect with Common Cause staff to learn more about digital and social media campaigns, mis- and disinformation, and election protection.

The Common Cause program staff were very helpful and made sure that I had everything I needed to make my campus organizing efforts successful. They provided materials like posters, stickers, snacks and swag for tabling events and also assisted me with social media outreach and campaign planning. The program staff also made themselves available for guidance and assistance outside of our scheduled bi-weekly check-ins.

Overall, civic engagement is a combination of education and advocacy efforts executed through every avenue in our political system. I intend to continue my organizing efforts and empowering my community by attending law school and utilizing the law as a tool to defend the civil rights and civil liberties of marginalized communities.

The work and support of the Common Cause HBCU Program staff was a great factor to my success and I hope that they can continue to serve more HBCU students for years to come. Through this fellowship, I was able to further develop my skills in organizing, peer to peer contact, voter registration, graphic design, and social media.

With hope,

Christina Williams, Common Cause Georgia HBCU Fellow
and the team at Common Cause

P.S. If you'd like to make a contribution towards this work to support the emerging democracy leaders of tomorrow, you can donate to the Alliance for Emerging Power here >>

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