‘You gotta do it scared:’ Meet the students learning to organize for Amendment 4

Florida A&M students gathered at the Florida People's Advocacy Center in Tallahassee on Sept. 14, 2024, to learn about organizing in support of Amendment 4. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix)Florida A&M University senior Lindsey LaRose gleefully greeted her peers as they trickled into the Florida People’s Advocacy Center in Tallahassee on Saturday morning, dancing and giving hugs to those she knew.

About half were there because LaRose had convinced them to devote four hours of their weekend to an organizing boot camp intended to mobilize their campus to help pass the abortion-rights amendment.

Campaigning in favor of the amendment that would protect access to abortion in the Florida Constitution is nerve-racking, LaRose said. The aspiring social worker is the student leading the Yes on 4 efforts at the historically Black university.

Lindsey LaRose is Yes on 4’s Florida A&M University fellow. (Photo courtesy of LaRose)

Her lesson for them: “You gotta do it scared.”

For a week before the Saturday training, LaRose said, she stood in a prominent area of the FAMU campus between classes to invite passersby to the event. She spoke about Amendment 4 in front of a packed room of Rattlers before the presidential debate last Tuesday. All the time, LaRose said, she was frightened of failure.

“I expected for me to fail at this event, and seeing all these Rattlers coming in and taking all of these insights and knowledge about this amendment has definitely lit another fire underneath me, saying that I am able to do this,” LaRose told Florida Phoenix.

“I wouldn’t say I’m alone but, especially during that whole week, just me being out there by myself definitely brought me down as a youth organizer, because I’m taking time to recruit volunteers for this, and just me being outside, you know, it’s a lot. That fearful thought of me failing definitely went out the window, especially today.”

But it was LaRose’s boots-on-the-ground approach that moved first-year Kyla Wood to come to the organizing session. Wood, who grew up in South Carolina, told the Phoenix that LaRose approached her and her friends while they chatted in a lounge. Even though Wood was interested, she told LaRose she couldn’t make it to the training because she didn’t have a car. LaRose offered her a ride.

Political fliers are one thing, “but the passion in her voice, that’s what attracted me,” Wood said.

The trainings connects with the students on their terms

The sponsor of Amendment 4, Floridians Protecting Freedom, and People Power for Florida, an organization that helps people register to vote and promotes civic engagement, hosted a series of boot camps across the state to teach college students the basics of organizing using pop culture references that resonate with Gen Z, such as the “Barbie” movie and “The Hunger Games.”

This group helped more than 700 college students register to vote ahead of fall semester start

The training centered around Amendment 4 and stressed the need for the students to maintain nonpartisan messaging and frame the issue stopping government interference rather than protecting the right to abortion.

That messaging is key to making sure the amendment draws enough support from Republicans and independents to win the more than 60% voter approval threshold, which no other states where abortion has been on the ballot have had to face, said Gabriel Gomez during the trainings at FAMU and Florida State University on Sunday. He is the Yes on 4 youth organizing manager.

Since the beginning of the school year, Floridians Protecting Freedom’s youth organizing branch and People Power for Florida have been engaging students outside their dorms during move-in and events introducing students to organizations on campus.

September was the right time to train FAMU, University of South Florida, FSU, University of Central Florida, and Florida Internation University students, so they’re prepped to marshal the vote in October, Gomez told the Phoenix.

“Without young people turning out to vote this November, Amendment 4 does not have a shot of passing. This is the last chance to secure the right to abortion for decades to come,” said the 25-year-old, who got his start in politics helping people register to vote.

Students opposing abortion are also collaborating

On the flip side, Nicole Kelly, an FSU junior who helps lead the conservative group Turning Point USA on campus, said her group has been collaborating with others opposing Amendment 4, including Students for Life and the No on 4 campaign.

Leading up to the election, Turning Point USA plans to bring to FSU Maison Des Champs, the self-proclaimed Pro-Life Spider-Man. Des Champs free-climbs buildings to raise money for pregnant women to cancel their abortion appointments and go through with births.

“There is certainly a lot more energy, a lot more anticipation of the election,” Kelly said, citing conversations she’s had with students while tabling for Turning Point USA.

“There’s also a lot more anxiety surrounding the different issues that are going to be pertinent to the election. As opposed to last year, you do see a lot more interest in holding these discussions but, at the same time, there’s also a lot more fear. There are also students who are kind of afraid to discuss or confront these issues just because of how much controversy there is surrounding them,” she said.

Organizing beyond Amendment 4

Students attending the Yes on 4 boot camps got campaign swag such as tote bags and stickers. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix)

Although there are two more Yes on 4 boot camps scheduled at UCF and FIU, Gomez said the FAMU session has been the most successful. By the time the afternoon training concluded, the 35 students in attendance had vowed to stay engaged not only to volunteer for Yes on 4 but to also make their voices heard as universities in the state restrict campus protests.

Gomez credits LaRose for the success with FAMU students.

“I love the energy that Lindsey brings, and she’s obviously a super-effective communicator and organizer, right? So, it’s just great to be able to train and work with students like that who obviously have a lot of potential,” he said.

Gomez recognizes that not all of the trainings are going to have the same outcome as FAMU’s, he said, noting that only 15 people attended the FSU training on Sunday.

“Today, we had a lot of freshmen in the room, so that was the difference is we had to kind of coax more engagement out of them. We had to start with the basics and just make sure that everyone is retaining the information being presented,” he said.

With 47 days until the election, Gomez said he’s proud of the students at the front lines of Yes on 4.

“I’m consistently learning and impressed by the knowledge that students are bringing,” he said. “And also, you know, learning how this new era of legislation that’s trying to roll back our rights, how it’s actually shaping the next generation of leaders.”