
Faleshuh Walker Odyssey ‘21
Odyssey Project student Faleshuh Walker's answer to the question, "Why vote?"
René Robinson voted at 22 for the first time and for a very particular reason: Harold Washington was on the ballot for Chicago mayor.
“I remember walking to the school and I remember it was a proud walk because I was voting for a Black man,” Robinson, now 61, recalls in a Zoom interview. “We had never had that before.”
That experience was a pivotal moment in her political journey. Once Washington became mayor in 1983, Robinson began following city government. “What got me involved in liking politics was the fact that they would have these council meetings,” she says. “I fell in love with politics, watching, listening and paying attention.”

Rene Robinson - participant in Odyssey voter event
René Robinson: "Change comes through voting."
Robinson’s appreciation for politics expanded during her time in UW-Madison’s Odyssey Project, where she learned more about U.S. history and the way the government works. And she remains a fervent advocate of voting. She, along with many other former and current students of Odyssey, will share why they think going to the polls is important as part of Odyssey’s “A Celebration of Voting” event Oct. 3, 2-3 p.m. (register here). The biennial event is virtual this year, and will also include presentations from such officials as state Rep. Shelia Stubbs, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell.
The Odyssey program is a six-credit humanities course that covers literature, American history, philosophy and more. It aims to open up the doors to higher education to adult students facing economic barriers. Since its founding in 2003, the program has helped students overcome obstacles of single parenthood, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, incarceration, depression, and domestic abuse and to feel more confident in their professional and personal endeavors.
Emily Auerbach, founder and co-director of Odyssey, says a focus on voting has been part of the program from the beginning.
“One of the key parts of the mission of the Odyssey Project is to encourage civic engagement and finding a voice,” she says. “We have done a voting event every other year for the past 18 years.”
This year’s event was originally scheduled for late October at the downtown Madison Public Library. Refreshments, an opportunity to vote early and speakers were on the agenda to draw people to the event. But, says Auerbach, “We are embracing the online format. I think we have a dynamic program lined up for Saturday.”
The goal, she adds, “is not only to encourage voting, but to showcase the gifts of our Odyssey Project’s students.”
Auerbach recalls how one student expressed the impact Odyssey had on his life. “‘The Odyssey Project helped me unwrap my gifts and rewrite the story of my life,’ he said. I think you will see those unwrapped gifts on Saturday,” says Auerbach.
Students will offer songs, poems and essays. Some of that work is in a video the program prepared.
Much of the work, minus the songs, is also included in the program’s special voting edition of the Oracle, the Odyssey student newsletter.
In her essay Robinson references the racism that courses through U.S. history, but refuses to cede her connection to the country and her right to participate in its governance.
“This is ‘OUR’ country,” she writes. “The ‘United States of America’ belongs to everyone; not just certain individuals. Because of our ancestors, who contributed to ‘OUR’ country’s establishment and growth, it is our right to vote. When we don’t vote, it continues to give the ‘some’ permission to control and run ‘OUR’ country in an exclusive rather than inclusive manner. Change comes through voting, and voting exudes power. We must embrace each other and our differences, eliminate factions and stand as one party fighting for justice and equality for all.”
Robinson moved to Madison from Chicago more than 20 years ago after separating from her husband. A teenage mom, she has two sons and is now the grandmother to nine. Since arriving in Madison she has worked in property management but never got the chance to go to college. That is, until someone at her church mentioned the Odyssey program. Robinson started there more than a decade ago.
Since graduating in 2008, Robinson says she has found community through the program’s networks.
“You find out people are in the same position as you and you don't feel alone anymore and if they can thrive forward then you can too,” says Robinson, who is now on the Friends of Odyssey board.
And there is much value, she adds, in the program’s students and graduates being ambassadors for voting.
“I think a lot of times, people with low-income and people with low self-esteem feel like they don't fit into society. So when people can see us — everyday working people saying voting is important — I think it's huge. That's the benefit of doing this. To reach out to people just like me! Seeing me say ‘vote,’ I think matters.”