Dodie Smith-Simmons

On October 20, 2023, at age 80, Doratha “Dodie” Smith-Simmons spoke before an auditorium of young students about the importance of voting and her experiences in the Civil Rights Movement in the ’60s. A sought-after speaker, Ms. Dodie has been invited to—and spoken at—nearly 20 other events in the year since.

“It’s so important that young people know what people of my generation had to do to become registered voters and to vote,” Ms. Dodie says.

From her first-hand accounts of protests and arrests, of bus trips and angry mobs, of training people to passively protect themselves from the violence they could expect to face, Ms. Dodie tells of a history that seems far older than the last half of the 20th century. But she relays her history with a sense of hopefulness, a love for democracy and a belief that exercising your right to vote is one of the most important things you can do.

She’s not even concerned about whom or what you vote for. She just cares that you vote – that you take the right seriously.

Sometimes she wonders if, at her age, she should accept fewer public speaking offers. But the importance of voting drives her to continue. “If I don’t tell the story,” she says, “who’s going to tell the story?”

Giving light to history and hope for the future  – that’s what makes Doratha “Dodie” Smith-Simmons a Peoples Health Champion.