On
Saturday, May 14, New Jersey students
between the ages of 16 and 21 are invited
to participate in the New Jersey “POWER
OF THE VOTE” Spoken Word Competition
at one of three
sites across the state. The competition
is part of the New Jersey “BE POWERFUL,
BE HEARD,” Voter Initiative.
Applications
must be submitted by 5:00 pm, May 13.
Auditions are being held beginning at
9 a.m., May 14, at Arts High School in
Newark, Trenton Central High School in
Trenton and Camden City High School in
Camden.
You do not have to be a student at a particular
school in order to participate. Participants
are encouraged to register in advance
by completing an application, available
on line at www.NJElections.org/contest.
Walk-in’s are welcome, but pre-registration
is encouraged.
Young
people can participate in the Spoken Word
Competition by creating and presenting
a three minute poem about the importance
of voting. Participants will be judged
at the competition on May 14. The five
winners from each site will compete at
New Jersey’s second HIP-HOP SUMMIT
with Russell Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit
Action Network (HSAN) on September 30
in Trenton. The overall winner on September
30 will appear on Black Entertainment
Television’s “Rap City,”
and will have the opportunity to audition
for Russell Simmons’ HBO series
“Def Poetry Jam.” In addition,
the winner will participate in a Public
Service Announcement about the importance
of voting, which will air across New Jersey
for the month of October preceding the
New Jersey gubernatorial elections.
The
Spoken Word Competition is a part of the
State’s efforts pursuant to the
Help
America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. HAVA
is a federal law providing resources to
assist states in upgrading voting equipment,
elections procedures and promoting voter
education and outreach. Last year, New
Jersey registered a record number of voters
resulting in more than five million voters
for the first time in the state’s
history. Youth voters accounted for some
of that increase as a result of the State’s
efforts designed to educate and encourage
young people to participate in the voting
process.
The
2005 Youth Vote Initiative began with
a student pep rally on April 5 at Perth
Amboy High School with New Jersey Attorney
General Peter C. Harvey; Commissioner
of Education Dr. William Librera; Perth
Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas; Russell Simmons,
Hot 97 Radio Personality Angie Martinez
and a host of hip hop artists and state
officials. (view
Kick-Off Event Archived Streaming Video)
New
Jersey has become the first state to utilize
the popularity of hip-hop to motivate,
encourage and educate young people about
the importance of voting. Perth Amboy
was chosen as the site for the kickoff
of the 2005 “Be Powerful, Be Heard”
youth voter initiative, in part, because
of its historical significance to voting.
The first African American to vote in
the United States, following passage of
the 15th Amendment in 1870, was Thomas
Mundy Peterson, who resided and cast that
first vote in Perth Amboy.
“In
2004, we took bold steps to incorporate
young people in the voting process,”
said Attorney General Peter C. Harvey.
“We raised the bar with a goal to
educate and register an unprecedented
number of voters. We surpassed our goal
and our collective efforts, in partnership
with HSAN, New Jersey colleges, universities
and civic organizations, resulted in a
record five million voters for the presidential
election. This year, by partnering with
our colleagues in the Department of Education,
we are expanding our outreach to provide
information and resources for high school
students, college students and others,
to become a part of the voting process.”
To
register for the competition or for more
information about the “Be Powerful,
Be Heard” initiative visit www.njelections.org.
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