Florida’s Leading Voting Rights Activist Tackles Obstacles Beyond the Ballot Boxes –

Aside from the size of the gift, the grandeur of the event was a world away from its heyday in prison. At the time he was unemployed, in drug rehab, and he thought a lot about death, including himself.

“I didn’t want to be the deceased, and no one came to the funeral and didn’t even know he was dead,” she later wrote. moment.

There is no possibility of such anonymity now. Whether it’s in the main square of the Miami Dolphins, at a rally outside the Tallahassee Capitol or on college campuses across the country, the mighty 54-year-old midi is seen and known. More than anything else, the face of suffrage activism in Florida is the man who spearheaded a change of state to give people like him the right to vote, people convicted of crimes.

This work continues like never before, with transfers to Florida and other states limiting when and how people can vote, how they can register, and whether they can be given water as they prepare for elections.

But as his national profile grew, Mid took his message beyond sound to address the many obstacles he had previously faced in prison. Midi says the vote is the basis of their honesty. However, this is only the beginning.

“Our mission … goes way beyond,” he told an audience during a discussion at an SXSW conference in Austin this month about bringing that life back. “We believe that the chain is as strong as its weakest link, our society, our country, the systems of oppression and discrimination can be as great the more they are weakened.

Despite public opposition, he has carefully avoided party declarations for years. This may change soon. People constantly ask her if she will vote, and Midi laughs and nods, no longer shy away from the possibility.

“I’ll talk about it,” he said in a recent interview. “We need officials who care more about the needs of the people of Florida than the needs of their political parties.

Midi is inextricably linked to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which it has led for over a decade. The nonprofit’s biggest achievement was the Absolute Enactment of Amendment 4, an initiative that has become the largest extension of the nation’s suffrage since the civil rights era. More than 1.4 million Florida residents who took the time to regain the right to vote.

After the impact of the change waned, Governor Ron Desantis (right) and Republican lawmakers passed an “enforcement law” that required people to first pay all the fines and taxes associated with their convictions: Midd and the coalition were able to amass millions. Help 40,000 “returning citizens” pay off these debts. Donors include singer John Legend, basketball superstar LeBron James and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

The evaluations are not interrupted. In 2020, the Ford Foundation will make Midi the first Global Friends. In September, the MacArthur Foundation awarded him a $ 625,000 Genius Grant, saying, “His bold vision of empowering returning citizens through mobilization and education serves as a role model for other states to follow.”

Despite all his fame and fortune, Midi remains a man living on drugs and batteries, describing the troubled years after being shamelessly released from the army, but before being released from prison and changing his life in college and faculty. of law. A criminal record like this is often an obstacle that makes it difficult or even impossible to find a job, start a business, or get a loan approved. Mead, at first, still has trouble getting a mortgage.

“I can afford to buy a house,” he said, “but that’s not enough, you know?”

When he crosses state and nation to speak to panels, churches, inmates and corporate rooms, he maintains an often estranged schedule, away from his family in Orlando. He and his friend Neil Walsh, deputy director of the coalition, publish a podcast titled “Our Voice. Their fortnightly conversations often reflect guests who once had a kidnapped life in the criminal justice system.

Coalition action at legislative session of 2022 Hundreds of supporters invited to call for bills to reduce barriers to employment and housing for people with a criminal record. A measure called the Desmond Midi Billy prevents organizations that have a contract with the Prison Workers’ Penitentiary Department from refusing to hire people after they are released. he died on commission.

Midi was among the men and women who happily signed up to vote on January 8, 2019, when the constitutional amendment went into effect for previously incarcerated Florida residents. He paid fines and taxes and voted on November 3, 2020, for the first time since he left prison 15 years ago.

However, it was not until October 2021 that the Council of State Compassion restored all civil rights. (His first request a few months ago was denied, the landing crew questioned him harshly.) He Might finally be able to sit down in a Florida bar. And now he can apply for the office.

He still tries to neutralize his concerns, saying that this approach made the change campaign very effective: “Everyone knows someone who deserves a second chance.”

That equality is what former Republican lawmaker JW Grant talks about about his “great working relationship” with Mid, even as he applies the voter registration measure to cover sentences and prison terms. “He’s someone I respect a lot,” Grant said last month.

He also makes rare criticisms of Mead, mostly from those who are strongly in line with his creations.

Ronnie Bennett, co-founder and CEO of South Florida People of Color, says he understands why some people are mad at him, but believes it’s wise to stay focused on the guerilla warfare.

“This is how it can maintain its credibility,” Bennett said. “It’s about human rights, not Republicans or Democrats. “There are problems on both sides in this regard.”

Midi, who does not state his party membership on his electoral roll, is a little closer to crossing the line between activism and politics. Even though she has yet to name names, her language is more direct and referential.

“Democracy is on fire now. “The country is on fire,” she told Florida Memorial University students in December. He looked tired, but as he talked for the next hour, he got more and more energetic as he answered questions about how to adjust for some reason and what to do when powerful people stand in the way of change.

Eventually, Midi became a hope, just like the journey she once took. “I believe that as a society we will emerge from the ashes and create a kind of democracy, a world where we respect people, respect their humanity and are ready to treat everyone.” With dignity ».

Source: Washington Post

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