Youth Voter Education Project

State-sanctioned violence against the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other non-violent civil rights demonstrators through 1964, led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1964. That law opened the ballot box to people of color by outlawing such practices as the poll tax and bogus “literacy” tests which effectively disenfranchised people of color throughout the U.S.

It was against this backdrop – 44 years later on January 12, 2008 at St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital’s Data Center – that Savannah’s Youth Leadership Academy, under the sponsorship of the 100 Black Men of Savannah and the leadership of Bro. Harold Oglesby, conducted a computer-generated voter education project.

Following a video presentation of the various presidential candidates, the 43 leaders of tomorrow heard a presentations by Rasheem Wallace, a 2004 graduate of Savannah State University who heads Chatham County Young Democrats. Brother Lloyd Johnson, stressing that “all politics is local”, gave a personalized description of the challenges involved in his successful election campaign for the City Council of Takoma Park, MD. The group then broke into teams and, utilizing computers, evaluated and compared candidates respective positions.

While the result of the youths' poll was not publicly disclosed, Savannah 100 President, Henry Lee Perry, II, said “In order for freedom in a democracy to survive and thrive, it needs all Americans – young and old, Black, White and Brown to participate in the political process. I’m pleased that we were able to help make a start in that process.”