Restoring Voting Rights to Formerly Incarcerated Citizens: A Virtual Conversation Hosted By Nevada Humanities
A panel of community members and advocates will talk about the history of dis-enfranchisement policies throughout the United States, including current laws that strip formerly incarcerated citizens and other marginalized people from their right to vote.
Nevada Humanities will host a historian, a former Nevada state legislator, and people working to overturn these laws. Panelists include: Jagada Chambers, author and motivational speaker; Dr. Greta de Jong, author and Foundation Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Reno; Chris Giunchigliani, former Nevada Assemblyperson, former Clark County Commissioner, and former Nevada gubernatorial candidate; and Leslie Ann Turner, Justice Director of the Mass Liberation Project and the Vegas Freedom Fund with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. This event will be moderated by Dr. Todd Felts, Teaching Associate Professor of Public Relations and Advertising at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. Nevada Humanities will host Why It Matters: Restoring Voting Rights in Nevada on April 15, 2020, at 4 - 5 pm on Zoom.
Registration is required; register for this event at nevadahumanities.org. This event is part of a national initiative about civic and electoral engagement entitled, Why It Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation.
“Throughout 2021, Nevada Humanities has been hosting critical conversations about voting rights and the importance of civic participation in our state. We have seen that participation is only realized with access, and this Why It Matters event shines a light on the inequities in our system that prevent Nevadans from exercising their right to vote and reaching the ballot box,” said Christina Barr, Executive Director of Nevada Humanities. “A robust and healthy democracy is only possible if all citizens have fair access to participate in the election process, and hearing stories about the restoration of voting rights for formerly incarcerated citizens may remind us that there continues to be work to do in this regard.”
Why It Matters is a special series of online conversation programs through April 2021 around the topics of voting, electoral participation, and civic engagement, featuring academics, journalists, and community leaders working in the field. These events are meant to bring people together to talk, share, learn, and listen using the humanities to promote understanding through historical context and conversation.
This event is produced by Nevada Humanities and is funded by the “Why it Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation” initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
About Nevada Humanities: Nevada Humanities is one of 56 independent, nonprofit state and territorial humanities councils affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities. With offices in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada Humanities creates public programs and supports public projects statewide that define the Nevada experience and facilitate the exploration of issues that matter to the people of Nevada and their communities. For more information about Nevada Humanities visit nevadahumanities.org.