Voting lessons at Michael Eric Dyson’s book launch

A sure sign of a Philadelphia Citizen event: a large number of intelligent, civically engaged guests. A sure sign that you’re at a Philly event: a guy selling T-shirts outside the venue. So Tuesday night’s civic fair and book launch at the Fitler Club were both classic Philadelphia Citizen events. And classic Philly.

The event featured:

Local election campaigns and citizens’ initiatives at a citizen participation fair
Representatives of the Political Empathy Lab at Pennsylvania University
Authors Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau in a live on-air conversation with James Peterson of WURD about their new book, Represent: The unfinished battle for the right to vote
A large audience full of enthusiastic and committed spectators
A dedicated entrepreneur sells T-shirts outside with a black and white photo of women demonstrating for the right to vote (ca. 1956).

These voter initiatives included PA Youth Vote, a group founded in Philadelphia that encourages young voters to register and vote; Changing the Conversation Together, an organization that works extensively on voter campaigns; and Committee of 70, a good government advocacy group that encourages and trains poll watchers. The Citizen also offered guests the opportunity to write postcards to Mayor Parker, post well-wishes for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, and get information on how to talk to their friends about voting.

“The greatest trick of white supremacy is to make you believe there is nothing to vote for.” – Michael Eric Dyson

Evening WURD host James Peterson interviewed Dyson and Favreau live on the radio about their new book. Represent: The unfinished battle for the right to votewhich Dyson described as “a historical genealogy of the evolution and development of the struggle for the right to vote… As the book says, it is an ongoing struggle.”

Represent: The unfinished battle for the right to vote

They looked in depth at political disinformation (including on the topic of voter fraud), the possibility of disenfranchisement (Robert Purvis of Philadelphia provides a cautionary tale), voter intimidation (including the terror of the 1876 election), the importance of teaching youth the brutal truth about Americans who died for the right to vote, the need to abolish the Electoral College, the dangerous history behind voter disenchantment, and… Taylor Swift.

“The biggest trick of white supremacy is to make you feel like there is nothing for you to vote for,” Dyson said. “Voting is like an on/off switch: If you don’t vote, other people’s votes will be amplified… One way or another, you will be counted.”

Before the authors took the stage, Peterson interviewed Penn professor Lia Howard and three of her students at the Political Empathy Lab about their summer trips around Pennsylvania, where they sought to “strengthen their empathy muscles” by, Howard said, “listening and connecting with people – listening carefully to those we disagreed with.”

Below, learn more about the book, the Political Empathy Lab, and Dyson and Favreau’s prescriptions for getting more Americans to vote.

Penn researcher Lynn Larabi (left) explains the Political Empathy Lab project to Princeton students.