Art by Derek Heard (Image Description: Canvas image where hands are reaching upwards! There is one hand that is in a fist and on fire! The background is black and the hands are white in color) The image reads "Do you think Democracy is in trouble?")

...but don't know what you can do about it?

We have an idea -

Invest in one of the biggest voting blocs in the US - The disability community and our allies

Did you know...

...that disabled households make up over 24% of US voters?

...the disability vote in Georgia increased by over 5% - larger than the winning margin of victory in the 2020 Presidential race?

Art by Derek Heard (Image description: Canvas Image; There are people marching with hands raised! They are a variety of races and genders. There is a man with a megaphone with his hand raised. There is a woman in a wheelchair with her arms raised. There is a young man with glasses with a service dog marching! There is a young man with autism wearing headphones walking. They are all wearing colorful clothing! There 15 people marching!)

(Image Description: Derek is a black man wearing a orange and white checkered shirt. He is a black man with black short curly hair. He is standing with his hands over themselves. He is looking out into the distance.)

Doodling for Democracy is the story of a young Georgian with autism who is using his art to reach new voters and the disability community that lifts him up.

CALL TO ACTION

Help us tell Derek's story, Doodling for Democracy.

Derek's story is a roadmap for how to grow voting champions from people who have felt left out of the democratic process.

With your support, Doodling for Democracy will add an emotional, human element to voter education campaigns in the 2026 midterm elections in Georgia and beyond.

How? With your tax deductible financial contributions.

Here's our story:

Doodling for Democracy

(Art by Derek Heard)

Derek Heard, a young Georgian with autism, wants what we all want-to belong-to find purpose

(Image Description: Derek, a black man, is sitting on a brown bench. His image is transparent like people can't see him. He has a blanket next to him. The background is white and gray with dark clouds around him. His heard is facing downward and he is looking sad. He is wearing a blue shirt, with a yellow shirt under it, and blue jeans.)

But for Derek, often bullied as a child, it's a steep hill to climb.

(Image description: There are people outlined in black silhouette. They are climbing a brown rocky mountain! This represents the struggle that people with disabilities have had to make things change for them. But they are climbing steadfast and helping each other in the image. The sky is blue in color.)

Most people don't see the artist inside. (Image Description: Derek is a black man, with a mustache, and dark curly hair. He is crying in the image. He is shirtless and is grimacing! His face is turned to the side and downward.)

Derek's journey begins when he rebels against adults' low expectations...

...and starts using his art to advocate for voting.

(Image Description: This is a painting done by Derek that has a gold background and hands raised up in various colors! They look like they are reaching up. There is a large red hand in the center with the words "SAVE MY VOTE" on it.)

The 2020 Presidential Election in Georgia

REVUP Georgia is a non-partisan voter advocacy coalition made up of people with disabilities and their allies throughout Georgia.

Gaylon Tootle, a blind man from Georgia, Derek's mentor and co-leader of REVUP Georgia, names Derek our "Artist in Residence".

And, Derek, a man of few words, who thinks in images, begins to find his voice.

Derek starts his own graphics art company and is a frequent guest speaker all around the state. 

He receives several accolades, including Fannie Lou Hammer and Harvard Fellowships.  

Derek's graphics are featured in publications and canvases across the country. (Image Description: Derek, a young black man, is shown in a orange checkered shirt with his IPAD. On his IPAD as an image he has drawn of Stacey Abrams. Stacey Abrams, an African American woman, is standing next to him with a blue jacket and white shirt.)

Gaylon Tootle

Derek and all of us in Georgia's disability voting advocacy coalition, are feeling strong and ready to meet the challenges of the 2022 midterm election season.

We have little choice but to help each other work around new, more restrictive voting laws.

We rally around Gaylon Tootle, one of Georgia's leading disability rights and civil rights leaders.

(Image Description: Drawn picture of Gaylon Tootles. Gaylon is a black man wearing glasses with a mustache. He has short hair and is wearing a red and pink buttoned shirt. Behind his head is a yellow sun. The background is in blue)

Gaylon inspires Derek and all of us to find our talents for a grassroots voter education campaign designed by and for people with disabilities.

(Image Description: Various images created by Derek during his voting campaigns.)

Derek's fanciful graphic art is at the center of it all.

He has found his beloved community and his purpose.

In October, 2022, Gaylon dies, unexpectedly, only weeks after his invited presentation at the Vice President's residence in Washington, DC, celebrating the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

(Image Description: Gaylon Tootle is in the image wearing a black jacket, blue shirt, and beige hat. He is an black man, wearing glasses, and has a mustache. The writing on image says "Forever in Our Hears! Gaylon Tootle! 1959 to 2022. The background is a blue-black color)

Derek is devastated. We all are.

But soon we discover that Gaylon has left us a promise and a charge that keeps us going to this day.

(Clickable image above)

Derek Lights the Torches of Other Young People

In 2024 and 2025 Derek mentors dozens of students in "Art for Advocacy" at the John Lewis High School's Leadership Program in Springfield, Virginia.

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John Lewis' fellow civil rights activists, several from Georgia, who marched with him for voting rights in the 1960's, share their riveting stories with the students to inspire their artwork. 

They were teens themselves. John Lewis was 24, the same age Derek is today.

Making History in Selma - the first Pettus Bridge crossing commemorating those who fought for the right to vote and those who made voting more accessible.

On July 26, 2025, Derek, like the Freedom Fighters before him, will ride to Selma, Alabama on the 60th anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights March and the 35th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

(Art by Derek; Image Description: In front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Selma March is John Lewis, Coretta King, Martin Luther King Jr and Jim Letherer. They are marching beside each other in the front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The bridge is gray in color and wording is outlined in black. There are Selma March foot soliders marching behind the four of them. )

Derek will share his students' art with local Selma High School students, disability leaders and some of the original civil rights foot soldiers at  Foot Soldiers Park.

(Image Description: There are people marching close together. They are all in black silhouettes. A small child is marching in the front. One image is carrying a flag. Above them is an orange and yellow arch. Below the image says "Foot Solider Park, Selma Alabama)

Then, they will walk arm in arm across the Pettus Bridge with John Lewis' brother and the niece of Jim Letherer, who walked on crutches with Lewis the 50 miles from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

Afterward, they'll reflect on the historical significance of this moment in words, images and videos - all part of our documentary.

After this campaign

This Fall, in preparation for the 2026 midterm elections, Derek and Lewis students, plan to create a universal design voter education campaign, filled with art and steeped in a sense of urgency and history. We and students will have our cameras there.

We hope you'll support us then too!

(Image description: A blue background; Several dancers with disabilities posing and dancing together)

Who we are and why we want to tell this story

Doodling for Democracy comes out of the lived experiences of rural Georgians -- Derek Heard, his mom, Teresa Heard -- and their allies,

(Image Description: Background is white blinds. Teresa Heard, biracial woman, and Derek Heard, a black man, are sitting next to each other and smiling. Teresa has long black hair with glasses on. She is wearing a floral top of blue, pink, and purple. Derek has short hair and wearing a blue checkered shirt.)

including Linda Harris, who has been a volunteer with REVUP Georgia since the 2020 Presidential election.

(Image Description: Linda Harris, a white woman with gray hair, is standing with arm raised out to her sides. She is smiling and wearing glasses. On her black shirt is the words "Save my Vote".)

We've seen the disability vote increase every election this decade.

Georgia's disability coalition is getting out the vote by transforming disengaged and dispirited young people like Derek into deeply informed voting advocates.

(Image Description: Background is a neighborhood. Derek Heard, Teresa Heard, and Linda Harris are standing together. They are all smiling. Derek is a black man with brown hair wearing a blue shirt that talks about Disability Rights. Teresa is a biracial woman with her black hair in a pony tail. She is wearing a blue shirt that says "Vote! Use Your Power". Linda is a white woman with gray hair. She is wear a dark hat and a green shirt that says "Vote.).

Our mission is to offer Derek's story as a roadmap for one way to make democracy stronger--create communities that give our most undervalued young people leadership roles in the democratic process.

(Image Description: A van with the American Flag on it is in the background. It has written on it "Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice". There is a group of people standing in front of the van wearing shirts in various colors of blue, green, and black. They are smiling and some are wearing hats as well.)

We are so passionate about this mission we’ve created a production company, Must Be Heard Productions, LLC, to produce this documentary, in partnership with Touch the Future..

(Image Description: Background is white. The image is a canvas. There are splashes of color across the image like paint. There are two pain brushes at the top of the image. The corners at the top has a green half circle. The words on the image says "How will this campaign move this project forward?").

Derek is not taking his journey alone. It started and continues in Georgia's disability community whose members' strengths, including Derek's, are embraced and lifted up.

We need your funding to bring Georgia's powerful disability advocacy community to life through Derek.

Your financial support will make it possible to chronicle the voices of some of Derek's Georgia mentors who have sparked Derek's sense of belonging and purpose.

Our plan is to gather 6 of Derek's Georgia mentors in Atlanta with our production crew who will film them individually and in conversation with Derek.

Their accounts of Georgia's disability community empowerment and grassroots voter education campaigns help complete Derek's tale.

(Image Description: Background is white. The image is a canvas. There are splashes of color across the image like paint. There are two pain brushes at the top of the image. The corners at the top has a green half circle. The words on the image says "What's next after the campaign is over on August 28th?") .

Stay tuned for our next Seed&Spark fundraiser for support of the rest of our production and post production costs, festivals, and a premier in Georgia.

If you're a follower of Doodling for Democracy, we'll invite you to contribute your own accessible images, short videos, poems, music, to make this the most accessible grassroots voter education campaign in the U.S.!