In the months preceding the 2024 election, I documented efforts by the Integration Working Group and Church World Service to engage new Americans with the voting process. Through these photos, I put a face to the numbers and statistics surrounding this community and the diverse histories it holds. Civic engagement is inextricably entwined in the immigrant and refugee story. The opportunity to make your voice heard through the democratic process is not something to be taken lightly. People have lost their lives over this. People have waited endlessly, sometimes years, paying taxes, sending their kids to school, building businesses, providing services all while unable to choose who represents them in office. When they finally get their citizenship, the act of casting a ballot is monumental to them. This is a fraction of that story. The story of making your voice heard.
These images are coverage of the Get Out the Vote Party. Strategically held on the last day of early voting and outside the Guilford County Board of Elections, this is the moment that many will make their voices heard. It is a collective show of the diversity of the democratic process.
Selected portraits and quotes from new American voters.
Fallou, " Because as immigrants here, I believe that getting together in where we are welcome and showing our interest in public work I think is the best thing an immigrant can have."
Rafael, "I cannot say this enough. I would encourage everybody to come out and vote. Some of us have been looking forward to this moment."
Doha, "As a new citizen, it's my right and also my responsibility to vote because my voice matters."
Raouf, "It is very important because this election…any election is very important because if you want someone in office to represent your values and represent the thing that you want to see changed in the country so you have to give your voice and vote."
