What I Learned From Organizing in South Carolina Last Year

I’m Kenya Cummings, a proud South Carolinian who’s excited to be co-leading SC United’s rapid response organizing team in 2024. I have spent so much of my past few years speaking to people like you about the horrific anti-LGBTQ+ bills our legislature tried to pass, and I’ve been incredibly honored to help keep SC safe for our community. But I’m crunching the numbers on our team’s capacity for next year, and we need a little help to reach every corner of our great state.

We’re trying to ensure our team is able to reach all across the state – from the Upstate to the Midlands, to the Low Country and Pee Dee, and everywhere in between. $200 covers an organizer’s daily pay and expenses – can you donate today to make sure we can reach every corner of SC when it matters most?

I’ve been a community organizer for years, and the best part of my job is getting to meet people in their own communities and hear about what’s important to them. I’m so excited to build out our team of organizers in 2024; we have a fantastic, diverse group spread across our state with a huge range of skills and experiences. I know first-hand how important it is to have people organize the communities they know: Change happens through conversations with neighbors, friends of friends, a cousin’s old coworker, and the like. I have the perfect example.

I met Lynette in Georgetown in the fall of last year, and I could tell from the start they were just trying to get on with their day. But then we discovered we had a friend in common! When I talked to them about what LGBTQ+ discrimination looked like in Georgetown, they agreed with almost everything I said and didn’t even know what bills were being considered in the legislature. Since then, they’ve made calls to elected officials and told me about conversations with their own neighbors about these harmful bills. Not every day looks like that, but to me, conversations like these blossoming into local activism are really what it’s all about.

If every person reading this email chips in $20, we can grow our team’s capacity and reach more people like Lynette through 2024. Can you make a donation today to help us keep South Carolina safe and equal for all of us? Donations up to $10K are matched through Dec. 31!

Thank you to every single person who made a call or sent a letter last year. YOU are why trans kids can still get medically necessary care in our state, why a bathroom ban isn’t dividing our public buildings, and so much more. We need more people like you on our team, and that’s exactly why paying organizers to reach our allies is so important.