Albany County
The Albany County League recently visited Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York. Members toured the site and listened to a presentation by Supervisory Park Ranger Franceska Macsali Urbinon on Eleanor Roosevelt’s development as a crusader for social reform through her friendships with women activists of the 1920s and ’30s, including her association with the League of Women Voters.
Syracuse Metro
The Syracuse Metro League’s most recent 1st Wednesday Lunch was on the topic of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Attendees heard from guest speaker Kristi Andersen, a Professor Emeritus at SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, who discussed the long history of the fight for the ERA, and the likely outcome of the amendment’s future.
NYC
The New York City League recently celebrated the return of their “Lunch with the League” event! League members enjoyed a conversation with District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who discussed his vision for safety and justice in Manhattan, and shared steps that his office has taken to fulfill that vision.
The Buffalo/Niagara League
The Buffalo/Niagara, Buffalo NAACP, and Voice Buffalo hosted a Luncheon program titled “The Harder We Run: The State of Black Buffalo in 1990 and the Present.” The guest speaker Henry Louis Taylor Jr., a Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Director of University at Buffalo Center for Urban Studies. Using the report of a study done in 1990, Dr. Taylor told attendees what happened to Black Buffalo over the past 32 years, why it happened, and what members of the public can do about it.
St. Lawrence MAL Unit
Volunteers from the St. Lawrence County League registered new voters for National Voter Registration Day! Tabling events were held at SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Canton and St. Lawrence University as well as the Watertown Community Health Center where League members handed out voter registration forms and absentee ballot applications. In addition, the League volunteers answered questions about early voting, absentee voting and what officers are up for election in 2022, including state-wide officers, the entire NYS Assembly and NY Senate, as well as local county and town races.
Utica-Rome
On National Voter Registration Day, the Utica-Rome Metro Area League worked with teachers and 40 students in the New Visions Program of the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES to present on the history and importance of voting. The League was aided by a PowerPoint presentation, constructed by First Vice President Dianne DiMeo and adapted from the LWVNY “Youth Toolkit.” The presentation outlined also included instructions on how to fill out the voter registration form and what to expect when casting one’s ballot at the polls.
Chautauqua County
Over the course of the previous semester and into the current semester, the Chautauqua County League has collaborated with SUNY Fredonia’s American Democracy Project (ADP) Committee. The ADP Committee was formed with the goal of educating students to become engaged in civic issues through participatory democracy, as well as to encourage students to become well-informed voters and to appreciate the impact that voter participation can have. The League, ADP, and ADP’s student representative to create a series of weekly blog posts that are geared to the student audience. Topics
have included: Reliable Media Sources and Media Bias; Polarization; Redistricting; Gerrymandering; Political Gatekeeping and Gaslighting, Primary Elections; and the Importance of Voting to Students.
Nassau County
The Nassau County League member Michele Lamberti advertised the County’s redistricting hearings through an Letter to the Editor in Newsday (see letter here). The Letter advertised when the proposed mapping plan will be released, how to send statements to the redistricting commission, and the dates of the in-person hearings. The Letter also emphasized the importance of submitting statements, and encouraged the public to attend the in-person hearings.
