Written by Eve Katz, Graphics courtesy of Postcards To GA, Featured image by Evan Steinberg
All eyes are on Georgia yet again. The peach state drew the attention of the entire country as votes for the presidential election were counted, and although the state turned blue for Biden, no winner was determined for either Senate race. Runoff elections for the Senate are being held, pushing the state into the electoral limelight once again.
This has kicked off a string of initiatives surrounding Georgia voters to pop up, but one that stands out is the grassroots campaign Postcards for Georgia headed by Gaby Tama and Ryan Shivers.
“Ryan and I are both part of a group called The 99 Problems, it’s a grassroots partisan group of creative folks that came together in July, the whole idea was to mobilize young voters around voting in the general election on November 3rd,” said Tama.
With the general election over and no winners declared for Georgia’s Senate positions, Senate runoff elections must be held to determine which party will control the Senate for the first two years of Biden’s presidency. Tama and Shivers thus shifted their attention to energizing young voters to participate in the runoff elections on January 5. That is when the Postcards to Georgia website was conceived. “The site we built was developed by myself, Ryan, and three other incredible designers and developers,” said Tama.
The initiative is seeking individuals who can amplify the cause and possibly even create their own postcards to be featured on the website, which can be submitted directly to the site. “If you’re a creative yourself [you can submit a postcard design], and not only are you connecting with and learning about the cause, presumably if you’re sharing your design with your network, you’re also getting people in your immediate community to be aware of the cause,” said Tama.
Traditional election-related materials like email campaigns and flyers utilize designs that Tama observed to be outdated and hard for younger voters to connect with. Postcard designs featured on her site provide an opportunity for artists to show off their work and for young voters to get inspired by designs that they can relate to.
Tama and Shivers are looking to creatives, like those at SCAD, to help support their cause. They want to create an opportunity for individuals to share their unique perspective, as many artists and young people alike may not realize the significance of having their voice heard. “Artists have the opportunity to use their creative power to speak, and a lot of times they don’t realize how much that can actually impact,” said Shivers, “For me and what we’re doing, it’s about building that platform to allow the creatives in the world to express what they care about and get it out to people. For those of you in SCAD, you’re all artists in your own way, you all have a very strong power, especially for a grassroots campaign.”
Both founders of Postcards to Georgia spoke highly of the effectiveness of grassroots campaigns like their own. While they miss out on the higher budgets that bigger organizations can secure, they have the unique ability to connect to people on an individual basis instead of producing advertisements aimed at the masses. “Grassroots campaigns are more powerful in giving the individual a voice,” said Shivers.
Democracy, as complicated as it may seem, only functions when all of the individual voices come together, and it is that coming together that Tama and Shivers hope to achieve with Postcards to Georgia.
