If you drove past the Dollar General on Wilcox Boulevard in Chattanooga on Saturday, you probably saw friendly faces sharing comfort food in the parking lot. But the event was about more than fried fish – it was an attempt to give a disenfranchised population a second chance at freedom.
Chattanooga Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod, a convicted felon with a history of fighting for her rights and to have her voice heard, says nothing can give someone coming out of prison a better sense of freedom and normalcy than the restoration of voting rights.
“I didn’t feel complete or like a whole human who could contribute my everything to society, because I had felt like I was stripped of every given thing that I had the right to do,” Coonrod recalls. “I wanted to get it back. And so, I was real aggressive about doing it.
“You know, I decided I was going to use that opportunity and everything that I had lost to gain it back and make sure that I was empowering other people to do the same thing.”
Now, whether speaking from the dais as a councilwoman or helping people over lunch on a Saturday afternoon, Coonrod says it’s important to walk others through the process.