Local dignitaries Justine Durant, Spring ISD board trustee and Alpha Kappa Alpha representative, from left, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Houston chapter executive committee member and education committee chair; Johnny Mata, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) former state director; Rhonda Newhouse, Spring ISD Board of Trustees secretary; Carmen Watkins, NAACP western division national field director and southwest regional director; and Ann Westbrooks, Spring ISD chief financial officer meet at Westfield High School to help raise voter registration awareness for senior students.
Yoshida Kirkwood, Alpha Kappa Alpha member, from left, explains a voter registration form to Erykah Smith, Westfield student.
HOUSTON – Sept. 29, 2016 – Westfield High School seniors learned the importance of voting and had the opportunity to register for the upcoming election during a National Voter Registration Day event hosted at the school on Sept. 27 by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Omicron Tau Omega Chapter.
About 570 students attended the event, which began with an hour-long screening of the award-winning movie “Get in the Way.” Documenting the life of John Lewis, a revered U.S. Congressman who played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement, the movie emphasizes the value of exercising the right to vote.
A panel discussion following the movie talked about the issues – local, state and national – that are included on election ballots along with the importance of getting involved in the democratic process. The panel included Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Houston chapter executive committee member and education committee chair; Johnny Mata, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) former state director; Rhonda Newhouse, Spring ISD Board of Trustees secretary; and Ann Westbrooks, Spring ISD chief financial officer. The discussion, which offered opportunities for students to ask questions, was facilitated by Carmen Watkins, NAACP western division national field director and southwest regional director.
The event closed with sorority members assisting students who would be 18 in time to vote in the upcoming election and who chose to register.
About Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Omicron Tau Omega Chapter: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated is an international service organization that was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1908. It is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African-American college-educated women. Alpha Kappa Alpha membership includes more than 283,000 women in 993 graduate and undergraduate chapters in the United States, Liberia, the Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Germany, South Korea, Bermuda, Japan, Canada, South Africa and the Middle East. Under the leadership of International President Dorothy Buckhanan Wilson, Alpha Kappa Alpha is often hailed as “America’s premier Greek-letter organization for African-American women.” For more information on Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and its programs, visit www.aka1908.com.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Omicron Tau Omega Chapter was founded in Spring, Texas on March 31, 1985 to serve the north Houston community through the implementation of the regional and international programs. The membership of the Omicron Tau Omega chapter has grown to over 120 women in the Spring/North Houston Area to serve the mission of providing service to all mankind through service to the community. For more information on our chapter, visit www.omicrontauomega.com.