Irving Allen is the 29-year old son of a civil rights lawyer who started his political career working for the Obama campaign in 2008.
Now, as Field Director for IgniteNC in Greensboro, Allen is encouraging youth and people of color to vote, and is organizing them to resist North Carolina’s conservative laws, including HB-2, the so-called ‘bathroom bill’. While Irving does voter education and registration as part of his community organizing, he says he and many of his peers have ambiguous feelings about voting and elections. “A lot of millennials get a bad rap for not being engaged and involved. They’re engaged and involved, but just not in the same ways that people want them to be.”
America By The Numbers with Maria Hinojosa (ABTN) will examine engaged voters like Irving whose power and influence are growing in a 2016 election special titled “The New Deciders.” The one-hour program will air on Tuesday, September 6, 2016 on PBS and local public TV stations (check local listings). For more information, click here.
Image: Portrait of Irving Allen. Credit: Paul de Lumen.
