By Charissa Howard
Freedom Summer volunteers had an orientation; here’s yours.
The original Freedom Summer’s first two weeks were strictly about learning. Recall that many of the campaign’s volunteers were coming from outside of Mississippi, looking to continue the work that local Black activists had started. Not only that, but about 90% of the almost 1000 workers who went to Mississippi were white, many recruited from elite universities. The point was to get the government and media to pay attention to the injustices going on in Mississippi by putting white bodies at risk.
Before heading down to the South, though, volunteers had to make it through training sessions. Southern colleges (and their alumni) were very unenthusiastic about anything to do with Freedom Summer, so orientation was held up in Ohio instead, at the tiny Western College for Women.
On the very first day of training, members of the SNCC staff who were leading the training played CBS’s special Mississippi and the Fifteenth Amendment. The documentary focussed for a moment on Theron Lynd, a rotund racist voting registrar from a county in Mississippi. The audience tittered at the image of him that flashed on the screen until the SNCC staff stormed back out onto the stage. Many of these staff members knew Lynd, they told the crowd, and had dealt with him personally – he wasn’t a joke to them.
What sort of knowledge do you hold that is unique to your community? Think about how it would feel if people came to your area trying to help out, but didn’t know anything about the dynamics that shaped it. It’s important when doing voting work outside, or even within, your community to work with established members of the community instead of coming in immediately trying to help. Otherwise you will likely be doing more harm than good.
After that frustrating first day, there was much to do. Orientation covered a multitude of topics, from the history of US slavery to tips on how to travel through Mississippi safely at night. Volunteers were asked to read MLK’s Stride Toward Freedom, and Lillian Smith’s novel Killers of the Dream (both still great summer reads, by the way!).
An average day of orientation would consist of a mixture of large group assemblies (which often gave the feel of a church service, filled with spiritual singing, as well as a sermon-like speech by a leader) and small group classes.
One of the most important training workshops was a nonviolent self-defense class, led by SNCC mentor James Lawson. The workshop would begin with SNCC leaders sharing their own stories of violence experienced from beatings in jail or while protesting, sometimes even rolling up their sleeves to show scars and bullet wounds. Then volunteers would one-by-one roll into balls, as fake mobs knocked them down and taunted them, yelling slurs. “Your legs, your thighs, your buttocks, your kidneys, your back can take a kick or a billy club,” SNCC leaders recall telling volunteers. “Your head can’t. Your neck can’t.”
Here at VoteThatJawn, we honor this important anniversary of Freedom Summer and all of the important work that our voting registration predecessors took part in. But unfortunately voting disenfranchisement is still alive and well in 2024. Voter suppression today is not just the long lines in Georgia where no water is given out. Suppression is happening right here in Pennsylvania too.
That is why right now, in honor of the anniversary of Freedom Summer’s orientation, VoteThatJawn is conducting an orientation of our own for you all, the youth voters. For it is the youth vote, and especially the Black and Brown vote, that some members of the PA legislation most especially wish to limit.
Although it’s not a literacy test, it is much easier for those who are not literate in voting methods to be attacked by this legislation.
Have you heard of the Pennsylvania provisional ballot, otherwise known as the secrecy ballot? These are a type of mail-in ballot with multiple envelopes and strict rules surrounding signatures and dates. If you make just one mistake on the ballot, which is very easy to do, as the rules are not self-explanatory ones, officials are allowed to throw the ballot away, making it so that your vote doesn't count.
In 2022, around 16,000 ballots were thrown away in Pennsylvania, the majority of which came from the Democratic party. Many of these votes were discarded because the exterior envelope was simply dated improperly.
Even for those who may be very well-versed in voting methods, there are still often frustrating situations rife with voting suppression. A polling location in Northwest Philly, one of places in the city with the highest voter turnout, for example, was delivered the wrong voting machines, causing endless lines the entire day.
And when you look at a map of where mail-in ballot drop boxes are located, it’s clear to see that there are drop box desserts. For instance, there are no drop boxes between 18th and 41st Street. Those living in the middle have to travel dozens of blocks simply to cast their vote.
These are not simply coincidental mistakes or innocent pieces of legislation. These are deliberate efforts to suppress your vote. So what can we do to stop it?
First and foremost, make sure that you yourself are registered to vote! If not, what better way to usher in the anniversary of Freedom Summer, a summer devoted to voting registration. You can do that right here.
Next, be sure to learn about our rights right here in Pennsylvania. The Vote PA website gives important information about what is classified as voter intimidation and discriminatory conduct by polling places. If you or anyone you know experiences this, report it to the number provided that leads to the Department of State: 1-877-VOTESPA.
Word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to boost voter turnout and registration. Check in with your close friends and family members to ensure that they are registered to vote. If not, send them the link. You yourself can testify how it’s barely a 2 minute process to register, but something that has the potential to make a huge difference!
You can also help us out at VoteThatJawn. Follow, talk back, join us!
Back in the ‘60s, Freedom Summer volunteers, after being trained, hopped on a bus and made their way down to Mississippi. Stay tuned in a couple weeks to hear about how the first few weeks of OUR Freedom Summer went… and in the meantime, keep on with your own training.
Charissa Howard is a student at the University of Pennsylvania studying English and Political Science. She hails from the Philly suburbs and enjoys singing with The Inspiration, her Black a cappella group.
ABOUT Committee of SeventyThe Committee of Seventy is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has promoted, supported, and facilitated government ethics and election integrity for more than a century. We believe that elections should be more free, more fair, more safe and more secure. We want every eligible voter to vote, to be informed when they vote, and to vote with confidence.
For more information, visit www.seventy.org
ABOUT Vote That Jawn
Using the power of youth voice and connection, #VoteThatJawn aims to bring 18-year-olds and other first-time voters to the polls—beginning a process toward full civic engagement—not just for a charismatic candidate, but to advocate for youth safety, agency, and inclusion.
For more information, visit www.votethatjawn.com
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