The League of Women Voters of Boulder County is hoping to inject some enthusiasm and inspiration into the electorate this week.
The “She is Me” virtual happy hour and panel discussion on Wednesday will focus on stories of league members shared through a photojournalism project of the same name. It also will celebrate Women’s Equality Day, which marks the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.
League leaders will share their perspectives on the election process during the coronavirus pandemic and the impacts of the threats to voter disenfranchisement, said Elizabeth Crowe, LWVBC president.
She hopes the event will “inspire people who are on the fence, who are feeling disengaged from the process, who are really disenchanted by our political system.
“We understand that and that’s why we have to work even harder to make sure that everyone with the potential to do so gets and stays engaged in this process,” Crowe said.
League members who will participate in the panel discussion will include Shiquita Yarbrough, Molly Saunders, Rossana Longo Better and Jeanine Pow. The panel will be moderated by Hannah Rain Crowe, Elizabeth Crowe’s daughter and photographer for the She is Me project. The photo project was launched in February to celebrate the LWVBC’s 100th anniversary, which was Valentine’s Day.
“The project is really to highlight the range of different perspectives and experiences that our League of Women Voters members have from all over the country. The League of Women Voters of Boulder County and Colorado decided it would be great to do a local version of that project,” Elizabeth Crowe said.
Hannah Crowe visited eight women throughout the Front Range who are local LWV members. She interviewed each and took photos that captured their strengths.
“They were open with me in telling their personal stories not even with what made them join the League of Women Voters, but their stories along the way that made them a stronger person, to their own personal triumphs. It was really special to me,” Hannah Crowe said.
Every woman who has been a part of the She is Me project, both locally and nationally, has a unique story that drove them to participate in LWV mission to “envision a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge and the confidence to participate.”
Through the interviews, Hannah Crowe said she learned “the importance of storytelling to me, because it's not regurgitating facts that have happened, it's really connecting.”
The initial launch of the project happened in mid-February and was expected to be carried out through the year but came to halt when COVID-19 restrictions went into effect.
In hopes of renewing the project to some degree, LWVBC decided to take an approach all too familiar, and go online with the She is Me conversation from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The event is free, but registration is required.
