The Kappa Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. hosted “Amendment 15,” a forum that focused on African American voting on Tuesday Oct. 2.
Joshua Allen, an Alpha Phi Alpha member, hosted the lecture. Allen discussed the history behind African American voting, talking mostly on the fight blacks encountered when trying to receive their right to vote in elections. He then followed it up with the importance for Southeastern students to vote today.
“Because it’s one thing that’s not talked about,” Allen said when asked why voting was paramount to college students. “We can sit around each other and talk about the latest gossip, the latest shoes, the latest TV shows that are going on, but we don’t focus on the things that are actually going to affect us in the future. I can sit down and watch “Jersey Shore,” but in four years that’s not going to affect my income.”
Students were given a copy of an old Louisiana voting literacy test, which was ultimately deemed impossible by most test-takers. The fraternity members described the test as a cunning artifice to prevent blacks from voting and urged students to take advantage of their right and register to vote in time for the upcoming Presidential Election.
As the lecture proceeded, Professor Rebecca Hensley spoke fervently on the topic. She began her talk with a quote from Gandhi and after stated a statistic which sites 24 percent of African Americans living below the poverty line.
“No one’s going to do anything about that unless there is massive political shift in this country.” said Hensley on the poverty statistic.  “Not just locally. Not just state, but across the country. White families have an average net worth eight times that of black families.”
Following Professor Hensley was Hammond City Councilman Lemar Marshall who talked with students about not just voting, but voting for a specific reason.
“We talk about voting and what’s the most important thing in our country, but the main issue is voting for a cause,” said Marshall.
After, the forum, Allen talked more about the work Alpha Phi Alpha has been doing to get more students to register.
“We do a few voter registration drives each semester,” said Allen. We partner up with different organizations like the NAACP on campus. It’s always strength in numbers, so with more than one organization having the same mindset as yours, you can get more people to register and get the word out to more people.”