{"632706":{"#nid":"632706","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Andrew Gillum Champions Voting Rights at 2020 Black History Month Lecture","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFormer Tallahassee mayor and 2018 Democratic Florida gubernatorial nominee\u0026nbsp;Andrew Gillum\u0026nbsp;told an enthusiastic Georgia Tech audience that the strongest tribute to black American history may be the ballot itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I always get a little bit drawn up with speeches about black history, in that oftentimes we reflect on names and personalities over the arc of history but fail to bring their experiences forward to what our lived experiences are today,\u0026rdquo; Gillum said. He was the featured speaker at Tech\u0026rsquo;s 2020 Black History Month Lecture, sponsored by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/diversity.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and the African American Student Union.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Coming here to Georgia Tech during Black History Month is already a very rich burden and privilege, because we are standing in the city that is often credited as the home, if you will, of activism and the civil rights movement,\u0026rdquo; he continued. \u0026ldquo;This is the capital of modern black history here in the United States.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGillum invoked the names of\u0026nbsp;Ford Greene,\u0026nbsp;Ralph Long Jr., and\u0026nbsp;Lawrence Williams\u0026nbsp;\u0026ndash; who broke the Georgia Tech color barrier in 1961, becoming the Institute\u0026rsquo;s first African American students \u0026ndash; and\u0026nbsp;Ronald Yancey, Tech\u0026rsquo;s first black graduate. The four were \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/trailblazers-struggle-and-promise\u0022\u003Ehonored at the Institute\u0026rsquo;s annual Diversity Symposium in September and with permanent bronze sculpture installations\u003C\/a\u003E recognizing their historical significance to the campus, the city, and the region.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGillum, also previously a Tallahassee city commissioner first elected at the age of 23, became the first African American nominee for governor in Florida\u0026rsquo;s history in 2018.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nHe lost the race to Ron\u0026nbsp;DeSantis\u0026nbsp;by less than half a point.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I often reflect on\u0026nbsp;Martin Luther King Jr.\u0026rsquo;s memorial statue in Washington, D.C., which is not far from where he delivered the speech \u0026lsquo;Give Us the Ballot\u0026rsquo; in 1957. Dr. King thought that in the years past Reconstruction, we would finally reach the pinnacle, \u0026lsquo;one citizen, one vote.\u0026rsquo; Dr. King called that a great beacon of hope to millions of disenfranchised Americans who\u0026rsquo;d dared to only dream of freedom, of having the vote.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENoting research that finds the best predictor of voting is encouragement from family and friends, Gillum called on the audience of 500 to dedicate themselves to registering more voters ahead of the upcoming presidential election.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGillum also provided a road map for political change and for expanding voting rights, including for ex-felons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the same 2018 election in which he narrowly lost to DeSantis \u0026ndash; one in which a record-shattering two million new midterm voters turned out \u0026ndash; Florida voters also decided to re-enfranchise 1.3 million former felons whose voices, Gillum said, \u0026ldquo;will be heard in November of this year.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn March 2019, Gillum launched the voter outreach organization\u0026nbsp;Bring It Home Florida\u0026nbsp;and has vowed to register one million new voters in Florida before November.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe also shared stories of growing up as the fifth of seven children. His mother, Frances Jackson Gillum, was a school bus driver and his father, Charles,\u0026nbsp;worked in construction. He said his grandmother, who often helped him get ready for school, would tell him \u0026ldquo;to bring the education home\u0026rdquo; for the benefit of his parents, his siblings, and his community.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;I think of men like my father who built doorways that they themselves could not enter,\u0026rdquo; Gillum said. \u0026ldquo;I was told that I would need to open doors, not only for myself, but for others after me.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe would go on to be the first in his family to graduate from high school and college.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;The only way we can commemorate this month of reflection is to take action.\u0026nbsp;There\u0026rsquo;s no more room for those of us who choose not to engage our relatives, our dinner tables, our conversations around voter registration, to make sure that everyone around us gets out to vote. The time is too urgent.\u0026rdquo;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nTo view the 2020 Black History Month Lecture in its entirety, visit:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=P_RX4h0cCbo\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=P_RX4h0cCbo\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"\u2018The Time Is Too Urgent,\u2019 Former Tallahassee Mayor Declares"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFormer Tallahassee mayor and 2018 Democratic Florida gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum said\u0026nbsp;that the strongest tribute to black American history may be the ballot itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Former Tallahassee mayor and 2018 Democratic Florida gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum said\u00a0that the strongest tribute to black American history may be the ballot itself."}],"uid":"34932","created_gmt":"2020-02-20 13:59:45","changed_gmt":"2020-02-26 21:01:49","author":"Courtney Hill","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-02-17T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-02-17T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"632708":{"id":"632708","type":"image","title":"Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum","body":null,"created":"1582208055","gmt_created":"2020-02-20 14:14:15","changed":"1582208055","gmt_changed":"2020-02-20 14:14:15","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240736","name":"20C10302_P54_060_50.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/20C10302_P54_060_50.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/20C10302_P54_060_50.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":307415,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/20C10302_P54_060_50.jpg?itok=HqZ-z5ru"}},"632720":{"id":"632720","type":"image","title":"Audience members asked questions after Gillum\u0027s lecture on voting and voting rights","body":null,"created":"1582215059","gmt_created":"2020-02-20 16:10:59","changed":"1582215059","gmt_changed":"2020-02-20 16:10:59","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240743","name":"audience.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/audience_2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/audience_2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":338932,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/audience_2.jpg?itok=f_gIcXmz"}},"632718":{"id":"632718","type":"image","title":"2020 Black History Month Lecture program","body":null,"created":"1582214959","gmt_created":"2020-02-20 16:09:19","changed":"1582214959","gmt_changed":"2020-02-20 16:09:19","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240741","name":"program.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/program.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/program.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":332714,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/program.jpg?itok=2eoXrETa"}},"632709":{"id":"632709","type":"image","title":"Andrew Gillum posses with attendee at reception following his keynote address","body":null,"created":"1582208119","gmt_created":"2020-02-20 14:15:19","changed":"1582215155","gmt_changed":"2020-02-20 16:12:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240737","name":"20C10302_P54_122_50.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/20C10302_P54_122_50.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/20C10302_P54_122_50.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":499102,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/20C10302_P54_122_50.jpg?itok=qqJu661T"}}},"media_ids":["632708","632720","632718","632709"],"groups":[{"id":"1313","name":"Institute Diversity"},{"id":"1307","name":"Office of Minority Education and Development (OMED)"},{"id":"535141","name":"Staff Diversity"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"180250","name":"Andrew Gillum"},{"id":"1452","name":"Black History Month"},{"id":"2437","name":"lecture"},{"id":"736","name":"diversity"},{"id":"3717","name":"voting"},{"id":"184011","name":"voting rights"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECourtney Hill\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nInstitute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\ncourtney.hill@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["courtney.hill@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}