Yo Vote´

As I have gotten older, I have gained a growing fascination with the Black History made in the time periods of post-Civil War through the Civil Rights Movement (roughly 1863 - 1970). There is something about the emotions that get stirred up within me when reading and learning about the social and political challenges that “free” Blacks faced in this time period. Trying to understand the psyche of ex-slaves transitioning into the freedom that they’ve always coveted. Trying to understand the mentality of the “superiority complex” of the ex-slave owners in dealing with their new reality. This is a topic that I could go on and on about. However, there is one important issue that was critical in this time that I think my generation tends to take for granted...and that is the right to vote.

I believe that part of the reason why it is taken for granted is that a lot of us don’t know our full history. We don’t know the lengths that people took to DENY us that right. Not only did opposition come from local government and local organizations, but it also came from US Congressmen. Can you imagine someone threatening you with financial ramifications and/or physical harm (to the point of death) for you or your family if you even attempted to go vote? We shouldn't forget that people were KILLED for trying to exercise their constitutional right.

The year 2008 was such an exciting time for black people. It was truly a phenomenon to see the excitement that black people had for exercising their right to vote. Because of Barack Obama’s candidacy, we like never before (in my time at least) were really pushing to register new voters. We were stuck on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. We were so captivated by that election season that is dominated most of our social conversations. When election day came around, we put together vans and buses to make sure that we got people out to the polls to vote. The lines were longer than those seen at Best Buy on the early morning of Black Friday...or those seen outside of Footlocker the day some new Jordans are set to come out. We were in line for hours, but we didn’t seem to mind. People stood in line with their kids because they wanted their kids to witness this moment. And after casting that vote, we wore our “I voted” or “Yo Vote´” stickers with pride. What a exciting time it was vote for our presidential candidate.

Fast forward two years to 2010, and it’s time to vote for our County officials, our state senators and delegates, and for some, our US congressmen. I drive up to my voting place. Expecting to have a wait, I text my wife to tell her I’ll be home a little later than usual. I go inside and see that there are more open voting machines than there are voters. There are more voting officials than there are voters. I walk right in, vote, and leave in less than 3 mins. Where did all the excitement go?

I watched the BET awards last week. There’s a commercial promo that TJ Holmes does where he says “Can you name 3 Real Housewives of Atlanta? Ok, now can you name 3 United States Congressman?” I think outside of the office of President, black people in my generation become apathetic about local politics. I had conversation with my siblings and my parents not too long ago where I said, “I bet you that the majority of black people between the ages of 18 - 35, cannot tell you who represents them in the US Congress, in their State Congress, on their local School Board, as their States Attorney, or many of the local government offices.” Despite the fact that our local officials impact our communities much more than those on the national level, we don’t seem to follow it as closely as we do the president. I think that is a mistake that we must fix.

One of my favorite Civil Rights moments is the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The bravery that those young students showed inspires me to this day. Can you imagine enduring all the spitting, all the insults, all of the mobs of people opposing your rights, and all of the threats that those black students and their families had to endure to integrated Central High School?...Now imagine...what if after successfully overcoming all of that, they decided to dropped out of school. Is that any different than us not exercising our right to vote every chance we get?