St. Cloud Times
July 4, 2001
By Andy Hamerlinck

Opposition is a sin in American politics. Never mind that most great change throughout our history has come from brave opposition to the political powers that be (one thinks of women's suffrage, one thinks of the civil rights movement). The moment someone appears to stand in opposition to precious "unity" or "bipartisanship" he's considered to be acting counterproductively, or worse, unpatriotically.

Case in point, the presidential election that nobody wants to discuss any longer. Shortly after George W. Bush (a self-proclaimed "uniter") was determined president, coverage of the improprieties in Florida virtually disappeared from the media.

It seemed there was a consensus that it was better for the country to move on and appear strong, rather than to address the very real problems with our democracy that were exposed by the election.

I recently spent eight days in Tallahassee, Fla., a city that hasn't forgotten about the election, with the purpose of standing in clear opposition to this kind of thinking.

What brought me there was the Democracy Summer Institute, a gathering of more than 120 young people from nearly 30 states, all there to "move from outrage to action" over America's many anti-democratic tendencies.

The institute was held at Florida A&M University, and was attended by a diverse mix of young people, including many participants of color, who traditionally have been the ones affected by things like phony felon lists and police intimidation at the polls.

There was further diversity in terms of class, gender, sexual orientation and political philosophy. Among our ranks were Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians and Independents, all sharing a common interest in electoral reform.

Together, we learned that there is much more than just punch cards and butterfly ballots standing in the way of true democracy in America.

Problems Revealed

Presenters from the more than 50 organizations co-sponsoring or endorsing the event revealed such democratic barriers as the Electoral College, ridiculously strict ballot access laws, party-controlled debate commissions, excessive money in politics, and even our voting systems themselves.

The more we listened, questioned and discussed, the more problems we saw.

Thankfully, we learned about solutions as well.

We attended workshops on redistricting, campaign finance reform, instant runoff voting, proportional representation and numerous other reforms.

In addition, we learned how to lobby, build coalitions of groups, facilitate meetings, and organize on our campuses and in our communities for change.

Inside and outside of these workshops -- at lunch, during the evening, and on our plane rides home -- we were talking electoral reform.

Ted Glick, one of the event's organizers said: "A year ago, the likelihood that a significant number of young people from around the country would travel to Florida for a weeklong institute on electoral reform was somewhere between zero and 'you've got to be kidding.' And yet, last week, this is exactly what happened."

It happened, and it was productive. We learned and collected a vast amount of information, built a network of committed activists, became inspired by each other's songs, stories and poetry, and most importantly, made friends with people fighting for the same things we were.

Thanks to the wisdom of former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee members Hollis Watkins, Matt Jones and Gwen Patton, we were made to understand some of the history behind social movements, and why our struggle is tied to theirs.

Doris "Granny D" Haddock, who at age 90 walked from California to Washington to call attention to campaign finance reform, reminded us of the importance of our struggle.

"To those who died for democracy, we owe a sacred trust," she told us on the opening night of the institute. "For those who died for lack of democracy, we owe our efforts to make a better world, worthy of their memory."

Combine the energy and genuine passion of the participants with the words imparted on us by Granny D, all the civil rights leaders, the Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, Ron Daniels, David Cobb, the Rev. Jim Wallis and countless others, and you've got the beginnings of a movement.

The pro-democracy movement, though you likely will not hear about it in the mainstream media, is burgeoning.

Across the country, people who dare to stand in opposition to a democracy that is unjust and unrepresentative of its people are starting to organize and take action.

Scoff at the notion of a movement if you will, but don't be surprised when a deluge of young reformers start to make some noise in a town near you.