KFTC at the Roots and Heritage Festival

Posted by: Dave Newton on September 12, 2010 at 08:00pm

Over twenty KFTC members and staff worked the crowds at this year's Roots and Heritage Festival in Lexington on Saturday, registering voters and talking to people about important issues like restoration of voting rights for former felons who have served their debt to society.

The focus of the day was on our campaign to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society. Over 500 people signed our postcard to Senator Damon Thayer calling on him to allow a Voting Rights bill to be heard in his committee.

That morning, Tayna Fogle lead a group of members who took part in the parade, holding banners and signs. Many former felons and kids of former felons were amongst our group, who were very well-received with applause and shouts of agreement from the crowd.

With so many people to cover ground at the festival, some of our people went to a local grocery store and the Lexington Transit Center to talk to people there instead.

There were several periods of heavy rain during the ten hours we worked the festival. Undaunted, our people donned ponchos and continued to have valuable conversations with people.

We talked to over a dozen elected officials and candidates at the event, plus allies like the Central KY Council for Peace and Justice, the ACLU, and the NAACP.

The day was a great training for our new Electoral Organizers, but new and old Central KY Chapter members also pitched in to make the day a success.