With Friends & Family: Luke Michener
By Luke Michener
Senior Education Specialist, The Institute for CP
My kids have this book we read together called “Vote For Our Future.” It’s this cute story about an elementary school in Anytown, USA that closes down on election day so that it can become a polling place. My young sons and I have read that book together a number of times.
In the book the elementary students learn about what elections are and they talk to their friends and loved ones about the importance of voting. They share lessons they have learned about the history of voting, and about how some people used to not be allowed to vote. The students learn that some people today vote in every election, and to their bewilderment they learn that some people chose not to vote.
The students also learn that they can take action. They help organize to get out the vote and they help unregistered voters to sign up.
It’s a beautifully illustrated story about what America should be; a diverse and inclusive democracy that hears and respects the will of the people - all people. The children learn that the winners in these elections get to make the rules, and the candidates that lose accept the outcome.
It’s in the spirit of this story and of this vision for our country that my six-year-old son joined me and Common Power Team Wisconsin on a field work trip to Milwaukee.
Our local partners in Milwaukee were the Wis-Dems and a Milwaukee based org called Power to the Polls. The Wis-Dems were canvassing in Milwaukee to increase voter turn-out in an upcoming primary and Power to the Polls was trying to engage more Black folks in the city in the democratic process.
My son and I were on a small canvassing team which included Jordan, an educator from Chicago and dear friend of mine, along with Lilly and Davis, two incredible gen-z organizers. Together we knocked on hundreds of doors over four days. Team Wisconsin that weekend knocked on approximately 3,400 doors.
My son became quite the expert at finding the doorbell or figuring out just the right force to knock with, and the best place to drop the literature if nobody answered. He also met a few new buddies, including a sweet little girl in North Milwaukee who offered him a pack of her fruit snacks. We also took some breaks at playgrounds in the neighborhoods, stopped for a rootbeer (and an IPA for dad) at a local brewery. The Green Bay Packers are now his second favorite NFL team. Go Seahawks!
We knocked on doors and talked to voters in the same way that children did in “Vote For Our Future.” We asked people what mattered most to them, if they knew who they were voting for in the upcoming election, and if they needed any help finding their polling place. We connected with people, together.
It’s an experience that my son still talks about. It wasn’t all easy; travel with a young one presents challenges, canvassing is tiring, and there was the occasional grump at the door, but the experience made a big impression on both of us, and we made a difference.
