UAO Summit Roundup: Why YOU should run for office!

Bryan Echols from MAGIC spoke about the value of mobilizing youth for community engagement.

This weekend's summit was a fun and inspiring event.  I had the opportunity to socialize with so many friendly, interesting African migrants between sessions and over Ghanaian food (waakye rice and shito hot sauce).   At the panel on democracy, peace, and development in Africa, I was given the honor of moderating a highly educated and engaged group of speakers, each of whom brought a unique angle, highlighting the role of women leaders on the continent, on-going misrepresentations of Africa in the US media, and calls for practical collaboration between Africans on the continent and in the US.  The audience responded with questions many of which concerned how to improve elections and other democratic processes on the continent.  It was actually very hard for me to to cut-off the session for the sake of time even though the audience had so many important ideas and questions that showed their engagement and desire for solutions.

In the second panel, Steven Smith from ICIRR, sought to harness African migrants' enthusiasm for democracy for the improvement of local politics.  He asked audience members to discuss amongst their neighbors and then call out characteristics that they identified for ideal political candidates: "Honesty!" "Knowledge of our problems!" "Courage!" to which Mr. Smith responded, "Now who do you know that has those characteristics? .... You do!"  I then watched as many people started taking down information about the new candidate school just for migrants.  He continued on with other suggestions for what migrants can do even if they do not run for office: identify other potential candidates, help them run, and know which offices are open.  The panel ended with a question about challenges to community organizing, and Theresah Mah and Ahlam Jbara both recognized the determination of their volunteers willing to go out in the cold winter months to knock on doors and get out the vote.  Overall, it was an energizing moment, and I look forward to seeing how the audience members translate that energy into action!