Over 60 students sat throughout the fifth floor event space of the Student Center on Wednesday, Oct. 9 for a celebration that included student performances, dinner and a conversation about the upcoming presidential election.
Precious Brady-Davis, the first Black openly trans woman to hold public office in Cook County engaged a captivated audience by discussing her role as a commissioner with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, emphasizing the vital need for youth voices in the upcoming election.
The event was hosted as a collaboration between Student Diversity and Inclusion, Student Engagement and Leadership, and Columbia Votes.
Brady-Davis, a Columbia alum, was interviewed by “voter registration geniuses” Eryn Young, a sophomore marketing major, and Jaylen Barlow, a junior journalism major.
“There are actual needs of the American people, where people need resources,” Brady-Davis said.
In her answers, Brady-Davis expressed the importance of the knowledge of healthcare access, violence against the trans community and gun violence in the presidential election.
“We have a public health crisis in this country. And so, I think that Vice President Kamala Harris is solution oriented, and that’s why I believe she should be the next President of the United States,” Brady-Davis said.
Brady-Davis is on the ballot in the special general election as a candidate for commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board.
“Folks are putting their faith in me, so I’m going to show up. I’m going to be the advocate. I’m going to govern, because that is what I am going to be elected to do,” Brady-Davis said.
Brady-Davis said that when Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 she wanted to “be recorded as pushing back against that moment.”
“I believe in the power of chosen family, and I also believe that, in particular, as a black trans woman, that me stepping out my front door and the authenticity of my truth, that that is an active revolution,” Brady-Davis later said.
Young said that the interview left her feeling “encouraged in general about people knowing more about voting.”
“I’m just excited for people to know how important their civic privileges [are], and all the things they can do with just their vote, their vote matters, no matter what,” Young said.
Barlow said that he was happy with how “chill” the event was and how “ramped up” people were to ask their questions.
First-year creative writing major Alex King said that Brady Davis’s examples about engaging debates with people was something that stuck with them after the interview.
“It can be irritating when the other person doesn’t appear to be as receptive as you might be. So trying to find people who will interact and have dialogue, and are open minded is really important,” King said. “And it’s also important to do that in regards to the voting so that you can try and be like hey, these issues are really big, please reconsider.”
Following the interview with Brady-Davis, Cheree Mosby-Holloway, Student Diversity and Inclusion director, and Anakaren Pinto, coordinator of events and education for SDI, opened up the stage for student performances.
“When I think about voting and I think about the world that I want to see, it’s really important that we leave room to dream. We leave room to imagine the kind of world that we want to see,” Mosby-Holloway said.
The musical performances included a cover of “Girl on Fire” By Brianna Johnson, senior Musical Theatre BFA major, an original piece by junior film major Zaria Quick and an acapella performance from sophomore music business major Michael Hightower.
“It’s an honor to be here, to talk about something bigger than myself, to be able to put on for where I come from and what I represent,” Hightower said before his performance. “That’s all that vote really is about, you’re not just voting for the cause or the name on the ballot, you’re voting for yourself and where you come from.”
Junior radio major Sean Whitney said that he left the event feeling “motivated and encouraged.”
“The people who spoke today, they have a lot of poise, just from the way that they talk. Honestly, I just feel really inspired,” Whitney said.
Columbia will not hold classes on Election Day on Nov. 5, as the Chronicle previously reported.
Copy edited by Trinity Balboa
Resumen en Español:
Más de 60 estudiantes asistieron al evento Rev Up the Vote organizado por la oficina de Diversidad e Inclusión Estudiantil, Participación y Liderazgo Estudiantil y Votos de Columbia en el espacio para eventos del quinto piso del Centro de Estudiantes el miércoles 9 de octubre de 2024. Precious Brady-Davis, la primera mujer trans abiertamente afro americana en ocupar un cargo público en el condado de Cook, Illinois, habló sobre su papel como comisionada del Distrito Metropolitano de Recuperación de Agua y alentó a los estudiantes a usar sus voces para votar en las próximas elecciones.
“Necesitamos sus voces”, dijo Brady-Davis. “Necesitamos que todas sus voces intervengan en esta democracia, porque si no están en la mesa, su voz no será escuchada. Y creo que es necesario escucharlo”
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Este evento brindó a los estudiantes un almuerzo gratuito preparado por Zesty Catering, tiempo para socializar y presentaciones musicales de la estudiante de último año de teatro musical Brianna Johnson, quien cantó una versión de “Girl on Fire”, una pieza original de la estudiante de cine Zaria Quick, también conocida. como Z. Honey, y una actuación a capella del estudiante de segundo año en negocios musicales, Michael Hightower.
Resumen en Español por Lizeth Medina
