Grand story--and like for her--
PS--I had no problems with the link.
https://www.al.com/news/2023/06/archibald-the-remarkable-life-of-shalela-dowdy-west-pointer-beauty-queen-supreme-court-plaintiff.html
........She’s been a coach and an advocate for justice, working for voter rights in Mobile. She received a fellowship to educate Alabamians about redistricting, and to encourage people to get involved in voting issues.
It was that work that led her to become a plaintiff in the case known as Milligan vs. Merrill, in which the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued a 5-4 ruling that shocked many observers, that stymies, for now anyway, a conservative effort to water down the Voting Rights Act. It will affect the way congressional districts are drawn, and perhaps the content of Congress itself.
“We were simply fighting for fair maps and fair representation,” Dowdy said Friday. To me it was a form of protecting democracy … and making sure that when it came to black voters in Alabama, that equality was present.”
Did I mention Dowdy is just 33?
“She’s amazing,” fellow plaintiff Letetia Jackson said. “I’m on the wind down of life, and she’s just getting started.”
What’s Dowdy’s secret? It’s not so secret. She figures she was born into the expectation of leadership, what with herding all those siblings. She had more responsibilities than most people her age could handle. But she had drive, and people to lean on, and certain gifts.
Dowdy says she was blessed by mentors, such as Lt. Col. (Ret) Steven E. Garner, who helped her understand leadership, and an aunt who inspired her and cared for her, such as friends she visited at West Point when she needed support.
As Garner put it in a video about the JROTC program, Dowdy “evolved from just being a basic cadet to being a battalion commander, which is the top of a 160-person program. This took a lot and she learned those things from other people as well as developing within herself.”...........................
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