The sound of raised voices echoed through the lecture hall as a battle ensued on the stage. Opponents threw barbs and jabs, desperate to steal their rivals’ earnings in a winner-take-all game of wits.
The subject? Government.
“Explain the role of a sheriff and the level of government to which the sheriff belongs,” said Shonna Tillman, Ph.D., a community organizer and project manager for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Mississippi state office, as she stood center stage.
Around her, a group of about 20 students, divided into five teams, huddled together at the Bennie G. Thompson Academic & Civil Rights Research Center at Tougaloo College in Jackson, one of seven historically Black colleges and universities in Mississippi.
Her question was a wild card. That meant each of the five teams would need to choose a representative to describe the elected official’s role, in this case the sheriff’s, and responsibilities within 30 seconds.
If a player answered correctly, they could steal another team’s winnings — a prized multicolored tower of blocks, each color representing a team. But answer incorrectly and they could find themselves the victims of a “stick-up,” forced to hand over their own cache of tokens.
The game, Levels to This, is the brainchild of the SPLC’s Mississippi state office. It is an interactive, multiplayer game designed with the notion that an informed electorate votes in its own best interests. The game is a fun way to educate everyone from middle-schoolers to adults on how the levers of government should work, the powers held at each level and the duties they execute that may have an effect on everyday people’s lives.
“It was a fun game,” said 19-year-old Dylann Smith, a sophomore biology major at Tougaloo. “It made me feel like I should know more. You only think about the bigger positions like mayor, or city council, but there are a lot of smaller roles that oversee a lot of big things that help make the government work on the local level.”
In addition to the SPLC-provided boxes of pizza and goody bags on game night at Tougaloo there were also voter registration forms. On June 3, Mississippi voters will head to the polls in the state’s general election, ahead of a special election in November. Historically, voter turnout in the state has been low. Last year’s presidential election saw the lowest in 20 years, with only 62% of Mississippians casting a ballot, according to the secretary of state’s office.
This has motivated the SPLC Mississippi state office staff to employ increasingly creative ways to educate and engage people, particularly young voters. In 2023, the office launched a comic book called Defenders of Democracy.
“Activate Mississippi, that’s where we really do the work of marrying arts, advocacy and civic engagement,” said Waikinya Clanton, director of the SPLC’s Mississippi state office. “All of these tools are created to help us reach the community in a culturally relevant and competent way.”
Competing and learning
During the game, the students on the red team tried to claim the wild card, but didn’t quite get it right. Then the blue team executed a steal.
Their win came down to defining the sheriff’s administrative responsibilities. While the red team had been correct that a sheriff oversees the county’s police force, they had missed a crucial duty that the blue team hadn’t: The sheriff, through their office, also serves legal documents.
Before the game kicked off, the organizers and project managers who created it asked some questions of the students. At Jackson State University, a historically Black college not far from the Tougaloo campus, Mississippi organizer Kimar Cain reported that only 27 students, 1% of those registered, had voted in the city’s primary mayoral election just days before, on April 1.
He asked the students why they felt turnout was low. Among their answers were that young people seem to vote in bigger elections because they think that’s all that matters or there may not have been candidates that appealed to them. Some said watching the election coverage of the candidates (there were 12 Democrats and three Republicans) felt like a joke.
Apathy and a lack of information are just two problems the SPLC is attempting to combat with initiatives like Levels to This. The game is part of a broader SPLC campaign called The South’s Got Now | Decidimos, which seeks to mobilize young people and voters of color to turn out for local, state and federal elections.
“Your local election is what directly impacts you,” said 20-year-old junior Morgan Stanley, a member of the evening’s winning team who said he planned to vote in the coming elections. Stanley serves as student government association president for Tougaloo and is studying biology with a major in public policy administration. “Those things that have an immediate effect on your day-to-day are decided by your local elections.”
Making knowledge fun
As the game progressed, the students’ energy grew.
Some questions had them stumped, like a card that read: “This person plays a crucial role in voter registration and managing election logistics. They oversee voter registration records and absentee ballots and ensure compliance with election laws. Who are they?”
The answer: circuit clerk.
Another asked: “Who handles cases involving minor civil disputes or misdemeanor offenses in your community?” That would be a justice court judge.
What about if a close relative dies but leaves two wills in the safe? Who would decide which will be enforced? That would be a job for a chancery court judge.
In the last question of the game, Tillman, the Mississippi organizer and project manager, called a wild card. She asked the game’s final two teams to send representatives to the stage to explain the role of a state’s governor and the level of government they occupy.
A student player from the blue team’s hand shot up.
“The governor oversees the executive branch of government,” he said. “They’re responsible for implementing the state’s laws, policies and programs.”
Tillman signaled that he was correct. The hall burst into clamoring yelps and applause from the winning team.
They had won, but all of the players had leveled up.
Sample the game
Here are two example questions from the game. To play: Click on the cards to reveal the answers.
Image at top: At the Golden Triangle Boys & Girls Club in Starkville, Mississippi, students from Mississippi State University play Levels to This, a game that tests players’ knowledge of governmental agencies and their responsibilities.