Raleigh, NC (October 14, 2014) – On Friday, October 17, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. Shaw University, in partnership with the Tavis Smiley Foundation, will present “Ending Poverty: America’s Silent Spaces” a frank town hall discussion on poverty and how voter participation in free and fair elections is a path out of poverty. Media coverage is invited. Moderated by Mr. Smiley, the discussion will feature a panel of poverty and voting experts, including Larry D. Hall, North Carolina House of Representatives; Gene Nichol, Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina.; Irving Joyner, North Carolina Central University; Bob Hall, Democracy North Carolina and Jane Pinsky, North Carolina Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform.
A special press event will be held prior to the start of the town hall at 6:00 p.m. Media interested in interviewing Mr. Smiley during the press event should RSVP to Kimberly McFarland at kmcfarland@tavistalks.com.
What: The Tavis Smiley Foundation, in conversation with a multidisciplinary panel of experts on poverty, discuss how voter participation in free and fair elections is a significant community-based solution toward a meaningful path out of poverty.
Who: Tavis Smiley Foundation and Shaw University
When: October 17, 2014 – 7:00 p.m. | Media event begins at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Shaw University| Estey Hall | 118 E. South St. Raleigh, NC 27601
Why: Make North Carolina the leading example for expanding economic opportunity and prosperity to its communities through civic engagement. The path to social change is rooted in our democratic process. To many, North Carolina is considered the epicenter of the fight for voting rights, and against voter suppression. We need for all social justice champions—those advocates of human, civil and political rights—to protect the right to vote.
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ENDING POVERTY: America’s Silent Spaces seeks to humanize and demystify polarizing issues in the media; move people to action; and introduce innovative ways to utilize journalism, media, social media and technology in engaging audiences in a public dialogue about our country’s economic insecurity and the real faces of poverty. Our mission is to create the public and political will to end poverty by empowering individuals to exercise their personal and political power for change. We plan to engage the media and one million people to become a part of the solution through donations, volunteering, job creation, improved health conditions and academic achievement. With everyone’s help, we believe that poverty in America can be reduced by 2018. www.endingpoverty.net
Shaw University was founded in 1865 and is the first historically black university in the South. Shaw is a private, co-educational liberal arts university that awards degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The primary mission of the University is to advance knowledge, facilitate student learning and achievement, to enhance the spiritual and ethical values of its students, and to transform a diverse community of learners into future global leaders. Learn more at www.shawu.edu.
