Do You Know: The Ocoee Massacre

I remember how I felt when I became old enough to vote. Nervous, Anxious, Energetic. Standing in line at the polls at my university, it was an exciting moment. I was finally able to fulfill my civic duty. But in America, to this day, we treat communities of color, especially Black citizens differently at the ballot box. What should be a constitutional right for all to express their voice in the running of our nation is instead hindered by the systematic voter suppression caused by both the legacy of disenfranchisement laws and new discriminatory policies by the GOP. But today’s episode of Do You Know discusses a moment of physical voter suppression involving the use of violent, physical force to stop Black people from voting. A moment where white terrorists like the KKK clashed against prominent Black community activists in a town called Ocoee. This is the Ocoee Massacre of 1920. A special thank you to Michael Ghelfi who’s ambience YouTube channel provided the numerous sound effects that made the story come to life. Please check him out on YouTube for your sound effects needs! In addition, thank you to my amazing editor, Alyssa Deocampo, and composer, Jaimie Pangan. And finally, thank you to the founders of Our Small Majority, Matthew Goriachkovsky and Christian Black. oursmallmajority.com