Desmond Meade gets a day in his honor
Voting rights activist Desmond Meade, executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, gets a hug from his sister, Jeanne Meade, after a news conference announcing an annual ‘Desmond Meade Day’ in Orlando on Thursday. Meade’s day is dedicated to serving the community through education, voting rights and homeless support.
The Orlando Magic have been working alongside Florida Rights Restoration Coalition executive director Desmond Meade for months as they push to increase voter awareness and participation.
The relationship took another step Thursday as Magic coach Steve Clifford joined FRRC staff members and volunteers celebrating the inaugural “Desmond Meade Day.”
Meade led the effort in 2018 to pass Amendment 4 — a grassroots initiative that restored the voting rights to more than 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions.
“Desmond Meade Day” also was dedicated to serving the community through education, voting rights and homeless support — areas that represent important parts of Meade’s life.
Meade overcame a drug addiction and homelessness to earn a law degree from Florida International University College of Law in 2014.
“I think what this day represents, more than anything, is really a call to action for people, not only in Orange County but throughout the state of Florida, that the least among us can be
great,” the 53-year-old Meade said. “The least among us can do amazing things.
“This day means a great deal to me, mainly because my story
shows that a person who was homeless and was addicted to drugs can actually influence the
world. It shows that anybody can be great. Anybody can be influential if they commit to giving back to their community and leading with love.”
In the spirit of the day, Meade and Clifford were part of stops Thursday at the New Image Youth Center and the Salvation Army of Orlando. Clifford made a financial donation to the youth center.
Meade, who voted for the first time in 30 years when he cast his ballot last month in Florida’s primary election, said his group is excited to have the support of the Magic. Meade said he’s encouraged by the team’s commitment to getting “some real work done.”
“We are very impressed by the commitment of the Orlando Magic to substantially and authentically care about what’s going on in their community,” Meade said. “They ’ve rolled up their sleeves and they have shown a willingness to get their hands dirty and to dig deep into it and connect, not with the bright lights, but connect with the hardcore grassroots organization that’s on the ground doing the real work and you’re getting as close to the pain as they can possibly get.”
The Magic sought out Meade to help with the organization’s voting awareness campaign. The team had its slogan — “Get off the bench. Get into the game. Vote.” — printed on T-shirts that players wore when they entered the NBA bubble in July. The T-shirts are now being sold to the public, with proceeds benefiting FRRC.
Last week, the Magic and the city of Orlando announced that Amway Center will be open to Orange County residents for early voting in the upcoming general election. The arena will be one of 20 early-voting sites in the county for the 2020 general election.
The relationship with Meade quickly grew as Clifford said Magic players soon developed a deep respect for Meade, who was named to Time Magazine’s annual list of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2019.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have a partnership that we’re working with FRRC and I think it will grow stronger and stronge r,” Clifford said. “Desmond has already been, with our team, educational in talking with our group and our players.”
Meade delivered the pregame speech before the Magic’s opener of their recent first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Orlando won that game, as Meade, holding up a Magic jersey with his name on the back of it, proudly pointed out during his news conference Thursday.
Clifford suggested that perhaps some in the Magic organization might want
Meade to take on a bigger role with the team next season.
“There’s some rumblings now, because I spoke before Game 2, 3, 4 and 5, which we lost, and not only is he going to be in charge of, next year, motivation [but] some people think he should be in charge of the offense, too,” Clifford said jokingly.
Even though Amendment 4’s approval restored the voting rights of 1.4 million people in Florida with past felony convictions, the voting eligibility issue is far from resolved. Florida requires the payment of all fines, fees and restitution related to prior convictions before voting rights are restored.
Meade said FRRC — through its Fines and Fees Fund — has paid the legal financial obligations of more than 3,000 returning citizens in Florida and said the organization could help up to 10 times that many people in the Parramore community.
Meade said $500,000 will be used to help Parramore residents satisfy those financial obligations so they will be able to participate in elections.
“If we raise enough money, I’m thinking at least 25,000 to 30,000 people,” he said.
Meade said from the minute a returning citizen is identified, it takes a day or two to figure out how much that person owes.
“Once their fine is paid, they can register to vote,” he said.
Clifford calls Meade an inspiration. While Meade’s life story is uplifting enough, Clifford said Meade’s altruistic attitude toward others is more impressive.
“The bigger thing when I think of him is‚ and it’s amazing to me as we’ve gone through this time where we’re trying to get to know people from grassroots organizations and there’s so many people like this in the Orlando area, he dedicates his life to helping other people. That’s it. That’s what he’s all about,” Clifford said.
The Magic coach said he’s been just as impressed with the FRRC.
“They never take a day off, and everything that they do is dedicated, basically in a nutshell, towards helping others,” he said. “It’s inspiring to see their dedication to making the world a better place for other people.”
Meade shared similar sentiments about Clifford. He said the coach’s genuine concern for others is easy to see and shows what’s possible when people choose to help others.
“Steve Clifford is, in my book, an MVP. Period. The level of commitment that he has in this community just speaks volumes,” Meade said.