Published: 7/16/2020 8:33:57 AM
Change comes when we come together. On Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Change For Concord will be hosting “Soccer and Change,” a multifaceted event emphasizing voter registration, elected official accountability, and unity in “The World’s game” – soccer – as a way of dismantling systemic racism. Our hope in putting together this event is to help our local community see the importance of civic duty and local recreation. Oftentimes, we don’t value the strength of diversity in our community and therefore it is minimized. Subsequently, people are taught that their voices don’t matter. We want to address this by taking action to show marginalized groups that their voices matter. There is a lot of misinformation spreading about absentee ballots, which is inducing fear when we should be encouraging people to vote. Many people throughout the local areas are not familiar with absentee ballots – specifically that New Hampshire is allowing people to vote by absentee for this election – which is such an important thing for people who might be putting themselves in harm’s way by showing up at the polls. While COVID-19 levels have steadily decreased in New Hampshire, we cannot allow complacency to put lives in jeopardy, especially as we have seen the virus’s resurgence across the country. Furthermore, we do not need additional obstacles to hinder people from voting.
COVID-19 is not the only pandemic, however, as too many lives have been stolen from police brutality and systemic racism. Currently, we are witnessing the exacerbation of inherently discriminatory structures, as families are in danger of losing their homes due to late mortgage payments and late rent, in which Black families are disproportionately affected. We are here because families should not be evicted during this time of adversity. We are here because we say no to voter suppression. We are here because the constituents of the Concord area deserve for their voices to be heard, as a bare minimum.
As a result, we are providing a tabled area to call local elected officials (city councilors), state senators, state representatives, executive councilors, the governor, and the federal delegation. Whether this is an individual’s first time, the second time, or they’re a maestro at calling, we hope this opportunity demonstrates the ease in which elected officials can be contacted, and the importance of hearing constituent voices. We must rewrite the code of unheard grievances, and instead, show those in office that we will not remain silent as injustice and iniquity traverse our communities.
Before ending, there is intentionality in event organizing. It is important to be cognizant of this as many white people may not typically visit Keach Park. Yet, on any given day, the mobilization of youth coming to this park to play a game of soccer, or basketball, or hang out with friends shows how ignoring this park, ignoring marginalized communities, is doing a grave disservice to creating the collective community of Concord.
The New Americans in Concord contribute immensely to our city. We encourage white people, who may not normally come to the Keach Park area, to attend on Thursday, July 16, because we cannot overlook how structural racism continues to impact our community. Moreover, engagement is not a one and done action, so as a way to engage beforehand, and for those who cannot attend, please consider this: Many people contribute to our community who are not yet citizens and therefore cannot vote. How can we ensure that their voices are still heard and valued?
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