Page 16 • October 8 - October 14, 2012 • Insight News
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Statewide Impact of Voter ID Laws
Estimate # of Registered Voters Who Lack Current, Valid Photo ID
>2000 1500 - 2000 1000 - 1500
01A
700 - 1000 03A 01B 02B
06A 05A
04A
02A
05B
09A Moorhead
Duluth07A 06B07B
03B
04B 10B 10A
09B
08A
12A
47B
51B
32B 46A 46B
12B
11B
50A
08B
16A
45A
45B
11A 14A 13A
18B
18A
20B
21A
23A
48A 48B49A 52A 32A 51A53A 52B 47B 53B 19B 43A 56A 33A 33B 39A39B 34A 34B42B 57A57B 35A 37B 35B 36A 36B 25A
41A 42A
22B 27A
60B
66B
67A
65A
61A 61B 62A 62B
55A 66A
64A
65B
67B
64B
63A
39A
57A
63B 42B
39B
41B 40B
40A
38A
38B
28B
26B
24B 24A
44A
60A
59B
54A
28A
25B
26A 22A
43B
19A
Mankato 23B
21B
44B
17B
54B
59A 58B
17A
53B
58A
43A
St. Cloud 15B 14B 15A 16B
13B
20A
53A 50B
29A
29B 30A 30B Rochester
27B
31A
31B
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Date: February, 2012 Prepared by: Jeff Narabrook, 651-757-3062 Sources: OSS Estimates of Registered Voters Lacking Valid or Current ID
Voter ID From 10 criminal prosecution. That law was struck down, but many say the damage was done with new voter registration falling from nearly 300,000 new voters in 2008 to about 18,000 to date this
year. “In Ohio they purged onepoint-three-million registered voters from the voting rolls,” said Arnwine, whose group is fighting voter suppression in several states including Florida, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and others. Arnwine said in addition to fighting voter suppression, the group is monitoring voter
intimidation in several states. She said a Tea Party back group, True the Vote, is involved in a campaign to intimidate voters of color. True the Vote is recruiting one million “poll watchers” nationwide to police against possible voter fraud in the upcoming election. Arnwine said during the 2008 general election her group had to get a court injunction against True the Vote to stop its watchers from
harassing voters. Arnwine is encouraging voters to vote early where early voting is permitted. “That way if there is any question to your eligibility to vote you can find out before it’s too late and your right to vote can still be preserved,” said Arnwine. “Even someone like me, ‘Ms. Vote’ can have problems so it can happen to anybody.”
DIVA From 15 overnight. There was no other company I could go to, to get help,” she said. Williams had to negotiate with suppliers which proved difficult because she didn’t have a reputation or any years in the business. She also learned that Walmart doesn’t do business with every supplier, so qualifying a supplier also proved arduous. While maintaining her residency in San Diego, Williams set out to develop a relationship with manufacturers in China. “I don’t speak the language, and I got no support from banks,” she said, even though she could prove she had Walmart’s support. “I had to use all of my personal resources,” but finance are not her driving force. Through it all, Williams said it was a labor of love. While birthing this product, Williams shared that the biggest change she has encountered was having to grow more spiritually. “I have all these degrees and education, and for along time I leaned on that. When God brought this to me, it required education, but it also required other traits that I had to develop. It required me to have a meditation and prayer life.” Williams said that she had to tap into God’s infinite knowledge and well of wisdom to see what He’d have her to do. She said she’s also learned to walk by faith and not by sight. “When I started we weren’t making any money. I was doing the books because I believed in literacy in our community. When I did this people thought I was crazy saying ‘you have a doctorate, why are you doing this?’,” she said. “But I viewed it as a higher calling, in which I could do more and give more.” In a time when many are looking to change careers, start businesses and do what they love best, Williams understands that you have to do what God is telling you. “You don’t always do what makes sense, but what’s in your heart,” she said. “When I would take a step, things and information would appear.. info I needed would appear.” Williams shared that as a youth, there weren’t any African American dolls. All you saw were Barbies. “You go through life thinking that Caucasian girls were the model of beauty,” she said, “and that [African Americans] were somewhere down at the
bottom of the totem pole. Our skin is gorgeous, coming in so many deep hues.” Williams believes if she would’ve had a doll like this as a child, it would have taught her greater confidence. At many points on this journey, Williams said she wanted to give up, at times thinking it all was too hard, or that she didn’t have enough help. But at every point when she wanted to call it quits, she was reminded of why she needed to press on. “I saw that Anderson Cooper special, and cried,” she said, referring to “Black and White: Kids on Race.” Reflecting on the one particular episode, Williams recalled seeing a little girl who thought her skin was ugly and ashy. “She pointed to the white doll and said ‘she’s pretty,’ that was a sign to me.” Since hitting the shelves, Positively Perfect Dolls have sold out. Consumers thought the dolls were very positive, cute and fun, and enjoyed their joyful expressions. Positive affirmations were printed on the dolls’ clothing, and people loved that. Williams’ next line of dolls are scheduled to release in August. The line has expanded from infant dolls, to include a few more, totaling 9 dolls. New to the family are Angela and her sister Brianna. “I wanted to have older girls and preteen dolls, which is the DIVA Collection.” DIVA stands for Dignified, Intelligent, Vivacious and Attractive. “That’s how I see these girls. These dolls aren’t sexy. You’ll never see them in a sexy outfit,” asserted Williams. “Our little girls are growing up too.” Williams hopes that when she leaves this earth, she’s left something positive, and left a child feeling beautiful. This thought is what drives her to get up every morning, and hope that if one little girl looks in the mirror happy at who she is, because she played with a Positively Perfect Doll, she’s done her work. Williams is a strong believer that “play” helps to strengthen little girls in regards to dealing with life’s issues. If they can find positive reinforcement in a toy, then hopefully those good thoughts will segway into their day to day thinking when it comes to their self-esteems, thoughts toward themselves, and even others. For more information on the Positively Perfect Doll Collection visit www. positivelyperfectdolls.com and or visit your local Walmart store.