Emancipate NC Executive Director Presents 2024 Summer Reading Program Lecture

Dawn Blagrove, attorney and executive director of Emancipate NC, presented the 2024 Summer Reading Program Lecture on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. in Jones Auditorium.

The title of Blagrove’s presentation was “Flex our citizenship muscle: creating a physically fit democracy.” Her talk was part of Meredith’s 2024 summer reading theme, “Strong Voices: Empowering Student Citizenship.”

Blagrove carried the metaphor of a healthy democracy throughout her talk, positing that, at this moment, the U.S. democracy is on “life support.”

“A democracy is a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people,” she said. “You all have the power to exercise your citizenship muscles to ensure our democracy becomes as physically fit as it can be.”

She proposed five “exercises” to strengthen the students’ citizenship muscles and thereby strengthen American democracy:

1. Be informed
2. Get involved
3. Vote
4. Demand accountability
5. Reject individualism – instead, build community

Blagrove explored the five exercises, sharing why each is important and how the students can become more engaged, powerful citizens.

She emphasized the need to seek out trusted sources of information, encouraging the audience to do their research and resist substituting memes for critical thought.

“You need to make sure you know what you’re talking about and understand political issues,” she said. “Do not abdicate that power to someone else. Being a good citizen means you become a primary information source to your friends.”

She encouraged the students to get involved and reminded them of the importance of voting while stressing that citizenship does not stop there.

“Voting will not save us. But not voting will doom us,” she said, telling students to develop a voting plan so they are ready for any obstacles they may encounter.

Blagrove reminded students that the politics that affect them most are those closest to them, so it is particularly important to vote locally, including for the Student Government Association at Meredith.

Accountability and community were the final exercises she touched on.

“A strong democracy requires knowing who is in your community and making their needs a priority; by doing so, your needs will be met,” said Blagrove.

After her lecture, a panel of students and faculty asked Blagrove questions, as did members of the audience. Questions included how to view social media in politics, build community in a divided family or neighborhood, and bridge generational perspectives.

“Politics is about creating a better society,” she said. “When the people are a community that relies on one another, our power is amplified so that our democracy stays strong.”

About the Speaker

Blagrove has emerged as a leading voice in North Carolina, demanding an end to mass incarceration and the dismantling of systemic and institutional racism. A graduate of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) and North Carolina Central School of Law, Blagrove worked for eight years as a post-conviction staff attorney with North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services. This experience, combined with her undergraduate training in secondary education, fuels her passion for educating youth and the public about abolishing the carceral system as executive director of Emancipate NC.

About the Summer Reading Program

Through the summer reading theme, the College is promoting civic engagement throughout the fall semester with events and activities. Visit meredith.edu/srp-2024 for more information.

This event, which was free and open to the public, was co-sponsored by the Office of First Year Experience and the Department of History, International Studies, Political Science, and Religion. For Meredith students, the lecture qualifies as an academic/cultural event in General Education.