Tuesday, November 7th was election day in Mississippi. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Delta Kappa Chapter at Alcorn State University (ASU) held different events throughout the day to get people involved in the election day process. Reverand Austin Warren, Assistant Director of Religious and Spiritual Life at Alcorn and member of Alpha Phi Alpha, was in charge of the events that took place on campus.
The first event was a march from the Oakland Memorial Chapel steps to the Davey L. Whitney Complex (New Gym). This march signified how previous ancestors marched and fought so that upcoming generations would be allowed to vote. Later that evening the Alpha’s, along with Reverand Warren, hosted a live election watch party.
At the watch party individuals were allowed to come out, eat, and socialize amongst one another while watching the election results come in. Brooklyn Keys, a Pre-Nursing major from Gulfport, Mississippi who attended the event, stated, “I believe that as a young black woman voting is extremely important. I strongly believe that African American women have a complex mindset and that if they use their knowledge for good they can help bring about great changes within the world. I think that it is important that women as a whole exercise their right to vote because we were not looked at as worthy enough to vote for a very long time.”
De’Marcus Jackson, an Engineering major from Natchez, Mississippi and member of Alpha Phi Alpha stated, “My organization wanted to host this event because one of the things that the older generations of Alphas stood for is Civil Rights and the betterment of the African American people. I also believe that a person who refuses to exercise their right to vote is a hopeless person because voting is the only way to properly acquire change within a democracy.”
The members of Delta Kappa are hopeful that their events impacted the mindsets of different individuals on campus and are looking forward to hosting similar events such as this in the near future.
You can view the election results at Mississippi 2023 general election results (wapt.com).