Elijah E. Cummings Democracy and Freedom Festival 2023

Festival Program 

 1:30–2  pm:  Welcome and Introductions  

• Terri Lee Freeman, Executive Director, Reginald F. Lewis Museum
• Hahrie Han, Director, SNF Agora Institute 
• Barbara Mikulski, Senator (retired)
• Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, Founder/President/CEO, Global Policy Solutions LLC 
• Brandon Scott, Mayor of Baltimore  

2–3 pm:  Panel Discussion: Activating Local Democracy  

Decisions made at the local level often affect the daily lives of citizens far more than national policies and politics. However, in cities across the nation, civic engagement is woefully low, especially in local elections, where turnout hovers around 30 percent or lower. Laura Wood, who served as New York City’s first chief democracy officer, leads this discussion about the innovative ways cities big and small are bringing more people into the democratic process, and ensuring that local elected leaders are responding to citizens’ needs. Wood is joined by Danene Sorace, Mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Terrance Smith, Public Innovation Fellow at the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation, Johns Hopkins University. 

3–3:30 pm:  Break 

3:30–4:15 pm:  Breakout Session #1  

• GOTV: Creating a Culture of Voting  – Generation Citizen CEO Elizabeth Clay Roy and civic entrepreneur Sam Novey talk about how we can build momentum for increased voter turnout in 2024—and 2034.  
• Measuring the Civic Effects of Higher Education – Sociologist Andrew Perrin and Jennifer Larson, director of credit programs and Summer School at UNC Chapel Hill, lead a data-driven discussion about how colleges and universities are—or aren’t—having an impact on civic life.  
• Activists and Peacebuilders – Political scientist Consuelo Amat offers a hands-on training on using nonviolent action to mobilize your community, address power imbalances, and advance a just peace.  

4:15–4:30 pm:  Break  

4:30–5:15 pm:  Breakout Session #2  

• GOTV: Building a Movement – Ashley Daniels, project director of Black Girls Vote Research Network, and Quill Robinson, formerly of the American Conservation Coalition, share strategies for creating targeted voting coalitions. Historian Leah Wright Rigueur, an expert in 20th-century United States political and social history, moderates.
• Hard Histories – Historian Martha Jones shares her research into the legacy of slavery and discrimination at Johns Hopkins and in Baltimore, and its relation to Baltimore’s body politic.   
• Questions to Open Up – Thread, a leading mentoring nonprofit that supports city teens in overcoming adversity, hosts a hands-on workshop about harnessing relationships and using conversation to make change. 

5:15–5:30 pm:  Break  

5:30–7 pm:  People’s Supper   

A shared meal with conversation, guided by The People’s Supper, meant to build trust and connection among people of different identities and perspectives. (Paid ticket) 

Those who choose not to participate in the People’s Supper can have dinner on their own nearby or enjoy music and art in the museum’s lounge.  

7:30–8:45 pm:  Debate (Doors open at 7 pm)  

Symone Sanders and Karl Rove debate whether or not Congress should act to secure voting rights in the face of increased state legislation around voting. Hallie Jackson of NBC News moderates.