LWV Charleston Area Newsletter | March 2025

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

LWVUS Federal Judicial Study Meeting: League of Women Voters US is launching a year-long study of the Federal Judiciary, prior to developing a national position. A Study Committee has prepared briefs for review. Local League members are invited to review these topical materials and participate in a Zoom meeting to offer input. It will be held on April 2 at 6pm, led by LWVSC's Lawson Wetli. Sign up here.

LWV Advocacy & Messaging

There is a lot coming at us now. Together and individually we're trying to prioritize how to respond to the assault on democratic freedoms and institutions represented by the many executive orders and defunding decisions that have been put in place over the last 60 days.

The League of Women Voters is a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to empowering everyone to participate in our democracy. We are nonpartisan but hold firmly to the positions we adopt.

Charleston Area League members are also members of LWV South Carolina and LWVUS. As a result, members receive coordinated communications from all levels.

Please watch for LWVSC 'Take Action' emails on Mondays that outline state and national priorities on which individual voices need to be heard. Currently these include defeating the SAVE Act (national), calling on Senators and Representatives to hold Town Halls (local), and contacting SC Senators about House bill H.3309 on energy regulation (state). We will add state and national action alert links from the front page of our website, LWVCharleston.org, and will sometimes reach our directly about specific local actions.

Note: A National Day of Action has been called for Sat., April 5. 'Hands Off!' Democracy protests are being organized by groups around the state. LWVUS suggests that individuals visit HandsOff2025.com for information or to participate.

We urge residents to contact your representatives, mayors, and council members if federal funding cuts or policies are having a specific impact on your family or workplace.

March 29: A public Town Hall Meeting on Education in Berkeley County will be held on Sat., March 29 from 10am - 1pm at Goose Creek Recreation Center, 519a N. Goose Creek Blvd. Topics include misinformation, parents' rights, advocacy, and SPED. Hear from Sharina Haynes, NAACP Goose Creek; Josh Malkin, ACLU SC; and Kat Low, BECA. Contact LWVCA Education Director Sydney Van Bulck for details.

May 16-17: LWV South Carolina Biennial Convention, Greenville, Forging the Future. League members convene for speakers on topics including women's political activism and the decline of local news, along with workshops, business, and awards. LWV Charleston has a budget to cover registration costs. See details and sign up on LWVSC website by April 16. Contact Paula Egelson for information.

May 29, 6 pm: Our 'must-attend' Members' May Annual Meeting and Dinner is at the Park Circle Community Center, N. Charleston, with business agenda and guest speakers. Details below!

May Members' Annual Meeting!

Save this date! The Annual Meeting for the entire LWVCA membership will feature a dinner and speakers this year and it's worth putting on your calendar now! It's on Thursday, May 29 from 6pm-8pm at the new Park Circle Community Center in North Charleston. We'll approve our 2025-2026 Local Program Priorities and budget, and present the slate of 2025-27 leadership positions for a vote.

We will welcome special guests: former SC Senator Katrina Shealy, one of the nationally-renowned 'sister senators' who came together to block our state's most extreme abortion law; and local activist Michelle Brandt. Both care deeply about women's issues and have shown the commitment to run for public office.

We will also celebrate League of Women Voters Legacy Members. Was your mother or grandmother a League member? We welcome their stories and your recollections! If you'd like to participate, contact Paula Egelson.

Finally, we'll enjoy a catered dinner! Members are asked to contribute $15 per person to defray costs.

RSVP now, by clicking here!

First-Person Feature:

International Women's March

-- Heather MacQueen Jones, LWVCA member

I'd never organized a march. 

When my friend Gina told me that International Women’s Day (March 8) had been removed from Apple and Google calendars, she was furious and I was shocked and confounded. Why? On the heels of hearing that Ashley Hall School had to cancel its annual 'Introduce a Girl to Engineering' event because of a new federal DEI order, I was fired up. I reluctantly agreed to help organize a local march, despite juggling work and getting ready to put our house on the market. Things like this are important. Gina did most of the legwork: registering us on the National Women’s March site, contacting police and city departments, inquiring about permitting, mapping a route in North Charleston, printing “how to be an activist" flyers. 

I was worried that people wouldn’t show up. But that Saturday, the park started to fill. Hundreds of friends, strangers, moms, dads came together carrying handmade signs in support, in celebration, of women. We began in Quarterman's Park and marched towards and around Park Circle. Gina was in front with her wagon and music, my husband in the middle of the crowd, an English teacher who is upset about the banning of books. Chants of “Women’s rights are human rights” and “We’re not going back”. People -- women, LGBTQ+, immigrants and people of color -- are feeling not just marginalized but in danger, and this was a beautiful, peaceful protest supported by the community. 

Cars honked and drivers waved and clapped and gave thumbs up. I could see us wrap almost the entire length of the Circle. The march had been two hours. We feasted on energy as we took pictures of the last bit of the crowd and felt proud to be a part of doing something good. We were interviewed and featured on WCSCTV5 and got a whole lot of love on social media. We are most certainly not ' left wing extremists' or ' paid agitators' as one local Congresswoman has characterized us to the press while avoiding Town Hall meetings with constituents. We are moms, dads, members of the League of Women Voters, women workers, business owners, artists. 

We have freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. And we will continue to exercise our rights.

On March 2, we hosted a documentary screening and talkback at the Terrace Theater about Ranked Choice Voting. The audience was both entertained and informed by Majority Rules. Educating the public about this topic is timely: SC will take up a bill this year that would allow municipalities to adopt RCV.

We heard from Nicole Sanchez, president of Better Ballot SC, and LWVCA's Jeri Cabot with a political science perspective on how ranked choice voting could lead to more representative outcomes.

Several guests said they would get friends to watch the film, and a candidate for local office changed his opinion as a result of this experience! The film can now be streamed on AppleTV+, Prime Video, and Google Play.

On March 18, we traveled north to Summerville in Dorchester County with The Post and Courier's journalists to reprise a program on fact-checking and truth, similar in focus (but also different) from the discussion we co-hosted in Charleston last fall. Our 90 attendees filled two adjoining conference rooms! This event was timed for Sunshine Week, when journalists celebrate open records laws that help to facilitate reporting in the public interest. The audience was engaged, opinionated, and asked good questions. Afterwards, several people asked Paula and Cara about LWVCA membership.

Thanks to The Post and Courier marketing and newsroom teams for the ongoing collaboration, and to Unite America for funding the film event. 👏 👏

Environmental Study Group: This group, led by Judith Kramer, is revisiting its study of Carbon: where it comes from, its benefits, and how its overabundance has led to many of our current ecological issues. Two members have committed to helping us find simple ways to reduce our contributions. They advise that the #1 most impactful action to take is to keep food scraps out of garbage. There is a simple system already in operation for residents of Berkeley and Charleston Counties: click to sign up for the Charleston Area Food Scrap Collection Program. This system collects materials for compost that is then marketed to local nurseries and landscapers. LWV Study Group members Linda Ashley and Mikki Blackman are working to get a similar program started in the Dorchester County/Summerville area.

Archive in the works: We are currently collecting LWVCA materials for an archive to be assembled in a coordinated effort with College of Charleston. If you have any printed flyers, postcards, photos, activism papers, newsletters, or other materials to contribute, please bring to the Annual Meeting on May 29. If you'd prefer to mail or have them picked up, contact Judy Peper.

LWVCA Healthcare Committee Update: This newly re-formed committee consists of Kelssy Ambrosio, Paula Egelson, Lynne Eickholt, Beth Gross, and Ren Manning, and meets monthly. The initial topic of discussion was Medicaid expansion in SC. The issue of low measles vaccination rates statewide has been added to the discussion. The group is now developing advocacy strategies to support higher vaccination rates. For more information, contact Paula Egelson.

Education Committee Seeks Members: Our new Education Director, Sydney Van Bulck, is seeking members interested in forming a committee to focus on researching, following, and reporting on education legislation at the state level. If interested, email her here.

Did You Know:

The Black Food Truck Festival featuring food and music will return to Charleston from April 25-27, kicking off at the International African American Museum. See blackfoodtruckfestival.com for details, tickets, and venues.

One of SC's state-recognized Native American Tribes, the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe, will hold its annual Pow-Wow open to the public on April 25 and 26th in Ridgeville, SC. This is a family event. For details, click here.

The SC 'Sister Senators' will be the focus of an ambitious documentary being produced through the Southern Documentary Fund for release in 2026. A fundraiser was held at the Gaillard this week. Keep watch on this project!

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here to subscribe.

The monthly newsletter is now linked from the front page of LWVCharleston.org. We're keeping the website current with events and announcements. Please visit!

The next virtual Board Meeting of LWVCA will be held on Tuesday, April 1 at 6pm.

Members: email Paula Egelson for the Zoom link if you'd like to observe!

Nikki Claibourn, Paula Egelson, Cara Erickson, Shayna Howell,

Heather MacQueen Jones, Judith Kramer, Judy Peper



Newsletter Editor: Cara Erickson