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By Emily McMackin Current Page Editor emcmackin@decaturdaily.com · 340-2436 October 31, 2002 CULLMAN — Kevin Garrison maneuvers a rickety yellow school bus tinted in red, white and blue and covered in signatures through morning traffic on Alabama 157. Swinging wide to the left, he guides the vehicle down sharp curves, seemingly oblivious to bemused looks from motorists passing by. Even if he did notice, the gazes wouldn't bother him. The bus' signs, streamers, balloons and signatures are intended to catch the eye. Garrison, 23, and his passenger, David Perry, 24, hope the curious-looking vehicle will stir Alabamians' interest in constitutional reform. This is Garrison's seventh day to steer the 1988 Blue Bird across the state. His efforts are part of a four-week bus tour sponsored by Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform. The tour is designed to promote constitutional reform and garner support for Amendment One, a measure on the November ballot that guarantees citizens the right to vote on a new constitution. Bouncing high in the driver's seat, Garrison, a recent University of Alabama civil engineering graduate, could be out looking for jobs and pulling in a big paycheck like most of his friends. Instead, the Decatur native rises before dawn each morning to pick up speakers and make an itinerary full of appearances at schools and rallies. "It's a great feeling, doing something you care about ... not working for money or to advance your career, but to make the place where you live better," Garrison says as he navigates down a two-lane road. "It makes you sleep easier at night." The first stop is Cullman High School. Garrison pulls the bus, "Reform One," into a parking space, and he, Perry and University of Alabama political science professor William Stewart take their case to a crowd of sleepy teenagers. Garrison, who founded Alabama Students for Constitutional Reform at The University of Alabama, tells students how they can get involved. He urges them sign the bus and add their names to a roving petition the group will drive through Montgomery on Election Day. Some students are more interested in covering it with graffiti. Garrison understands their apathy. In high school, he cared little about politics. Back then, he was a shy teen who enjoyed being involved, but felt uncomfortable taking the initiative. "He carried out his responsibilities, but he wasn't outspoken," former youth director Margaret Morris recalls. The only time Garrison bucked authority was at Austin High School when he forgot a name tag students were required to wear. In protest, he taped a detention slip from the principal's office to his shirt. Despite his shyness, Garrison always had a "kind, concerned spirit that reached out to others," Mrs. Morris recalls. In college, he branched out, curing his public speaking fear by joining "Gentleman's Agreement," a co-ed group who spoke to fraternities about violence against women. "It was something that was needed," Garrison said. He found another reason to take leadership after doing some reading on the 1901 Alabama Constitution, a document many consider racist and outdated. When he learned that ratification of the 100-year-old document was achieved through fraudulent black votes, he was disgusted. "It turned him on to the cause," his mother Janet said. "He thought it was so inequitable and unfair." He disagreed with measures in the constitution that centered legislative power in Montgomery and stripped officials of local control. He took issue with a financial system that offered big corporations advantages and shifted the tax burden to the poor. Garrison couldn't understand why other students weren't getting involved. At a constitutional reform rally, he approached University of Alabama journalism professor and ACCR board member Bailey Thomson about starting a student group. "Kevin is very low key and modest about his abilities," Thomson recalls. "I didn't think too much about it, until I saw his organizational skills in action. I realized then that this young man had remarkable energy and commitment." Garrison formed Alabama Students for Constitutional Reform his senior year. The first meeting attracted only three people. By the end of the year, the group grew to 15 regular members. An advisory council made up of presidents and campus leaders who couldn't attend regular meetings gave Garrison an outlet to the rest of the student body. He rallied support in the engineering department, where Professor Pauline Johnson remembers him selling T-shirts and explaining the issue to students and faculty. "Kevin is a good leader, but he does it in a quiet way," Ms. Johnson said. "He works in the background and makes the connections. His leadership style is admirable because it is not domineering or self-centered." Johnson admired Garrison's decision to put his career and graduate school on hold while working with ACCR on a contract basis. Garrison doesn't see himself as a young leader, just someone who loves his state. While driving the bus through North Alabama, he often stops in mid-sentence to gaze at the hills, trees and lakes out the window. He never wants to move away. "There's nowhere else that feels like home to me," Garrison said. When talking with friends who've moved out of state, he "lobbies" for Alabama. He starts with the food, and then moves to the state's untapped potential. "I think Alabama is great, and I want others to think it's great too," Garrison said. "But before any other kind of progress can be made in our state, the constitution has to be fixed. You can't build a skyscraper on a bad foundation." Does he really expect young voters, who make up the lowest turnout in elections, to take the first step? His answer is partly idealistic, partly autobiographical. "They could if they wanted to," Garrison said. "It's a matter of realizing your own power." Return to: Constitutional Reform ~ In the News Return to: Editorial Index |
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Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 34 Montgomery, Alabama 36101-0034 E-mail: accr@constitutionalreform.org |
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