Soca D’Vote - It’s not an organization . . . it’s a MOVEMENT!

By Lareena Phillips, Esq.

I recently had an opportunity to speak with Asa Sealy, the president of Caribbean American Heritage of Florida, Inc. (CAHFI) and promoter, organizer, and avid supporter of Soca D’Vote. Soca D’Vote is a grassroots movement designed to educate Caribbean Nationals abroad about the importance of voting and the voting process. I didn’t have to speak to Mr. Sealy long before I learned how passionate he, and the volunteers with Soca D’Vote, is about the movement.

Soca D’Vote came together earlier this year as the brainchild of individuals including Mr. Marlon Hill (attorney and social activist in Miami, Florida), Brad Hemmings (vice president of CAHFI), and Mr. Sealy. They had meetings with Dr. Claire Nelson, founder of the Institute of Caribbean Studies in Washington DC. The organizers initiated the movement throughout South Florida within the platform of CAHFI with the intent of educating the community about Caribbean American Nationals and their contribution to the United States.

Driven by the fact that there was no platform such as Soca D’Vote that dealt with the importance of the upcoming election and the Caribbean community’s role in that process, Soca D’Vote volunteers reached out to the Caribbean community to educate them on the different factors they needed to consider before voting. Soca D’Vote recognizes that a majority of the younger generation was not actively participating in the political process and was not thinking or feeling like they had a voice.

Soca D’Vote remains neutral in their efforts to educate the community and does not support any particular candidates. Its goal is to teach the Caribbean community about the power of constituency and how to educate and activate their voices. In this past election, Soca D’Vote posted information on their website including voter registration forms for different states. Though based in Florida, Soca D’Vote has a national reach. The website is a community forum which maintains an open door policy and posts information from other states whose members seek to educate the masses.

Mr. Sealy is quick to point out that Soca D’Vote is a movement . . . not an organization. There is no president, vice president, or secretary and is driven by a group of motivated individuals coming together grassroots style.

While it is difficult to quantify, Mr. Sealy believes Soca D’Vote played a significant role in the past election. It is hard, since Caribbean Nationals do not have a technical classification, to know exactly how many Caribbean Nationals participated in this election as opposed to elections of the past. Soca D’Vote plans on turning to counties where there is a significant number of Caribbean American Nationals to get information on voter turnout. Having information on the past election will allow Soca D’Vote to put that information in front of the community as proof that they had a voice.

The election season gave Soca D’Vote an opportunity to extend its reach and educate its people, and post election, the movement will go on. According to Mr. Sealy, as in the past, CAHFI will continue to have presentations educating high school students on the Caribbean. They will focus part of their programming on the voting process and the Soca D’Vote movement.

To Mr. Sealy, Soca D’Vote is like a baby he has watched grow and impact the community. In a matter of months he saw musicians come out, sing songs, and inspire the community. He saw the Caribbean National community motivated and educated on the political process. Sealy saw his people move collectively as one, which is something he noted that does not happen often within the Caribbean Diaspora. He believes Soca D’Vote played an integral role in making that happen.

Currently Soca D’Vote is working on a big party to celebrate the success of the movement within the Caribbean community in the past election. Though Mr. Sealy wouldn’t tell me the top secret details just yet, it sounds like a celebration you don’t want to miss!

For more information on Soca D’Vote, please visit their website at www.socadvote.com.

(Lareena Phillips, Esq. is a contributor to Island Vibes Magazine and writes about politics. For comments, please feel free to contact her at lareena@islandvibesmag.com.)