Yes I Did!

...VOTE, that is...

I got to the polling location at 6:09am and there was already a line, fortunately it was only a 30 minute wait. The black woman ahead of me on line had brought numerous forms of identification, as had I. The white female pole attendant joked, 'didn't want to be challenged, hunh?' In triumph, the black woman raised her fist a little when the other white female poll attendant found her on the roll. I was similarly thrilled when I was on the roll and didn't have to file a voter complaint.

I took my time voting, though there were only two referendums on the ballot and I already knew all the candidates who were getting my vote. Really it was a moment to savor. But I kept my cool until I got back home, when did a little happy, hopping dance with gleeful giggles.

Lines may be long, but don't let complacency and poll-based assumptions set in. I overheard a woman who used to work as a pollster indicating how misleading they can be--as far as getting people's confidence up so they take victory for granted. Bad idea.

Very, very, bad idea.

I'll let Ill Doctrine break it down...



Vote, Baby, Vote...!

J's Theater: VOTE for CHANGE

J's Theater saying it better than I can with Flash slide show that I wish I could post here, but it's just a click away...

The same could be said about the future of the United States: It's just a click, or a punch(card), or a check mark, away depending on your county or state's voting technology.

It's your VOTE, USE IT, DON'T ABUSE IT.



Pictured left Christia Adair, Texas, 1920. Adair was "approached by suffragists to enlist the support of black women for the vote. Adair states: Back in 1918 Negroes could not vote and women could not vote either. The white women were trying to help get a bill passed in the legislature where women could vote. I said to the Negro women, 'I don't know if we can use it now or not, but if there's a chance, I want to say we helped make it.'"

Despite the success of the suffragist efforts Black women in Texas were still refused the right to vote based on race. During her work with the NAACP Adair continued to pursue this struggle and became "one of the first black women to vote in the Texas Democratic primary in 1944."

Below images from Freedom Summer 1964 Voting Rights activism, right McCabe County, Mississippi activists































Below, Lowndes County, Alabama Voting Activism, 1960s:













Today...

Endnote:
• Selma to Montgomery National Voting Rights Trail, established by Congress in 1996.
• January 2008, NPR StoryCorps Facilitator weblog on traveling "Highway 80 through 'Bloody Lowndes'" Lowndes County, Alabama, one of the sites on the National Voting Rights Trail.
• NPR's StoryCorps where you can hear the podcasts of the interviews with some of the "everyday" Lowndes, Alabama voting rights activists who made possible the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and for African Americans to vote for the first time in that county in 1966.
• From Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, a website focused on documenting the ordinary people who made up the majority of Civil Rights Movement activists, an informative historical timeline: "Voting Rights History: Two Centuries of Struggle"

It's All About the VOTE, Baby!

Just two days to change the part of the world we live in--at least if you're a U.S. citizen--otherwise you're biting your nails like my neighborhood librarian who is hoping for change.

Need to know where your voting location is? Go to Vote411.org's Polling Place Finder.

What is Vote411.org?

"Launched by the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) in October of 2006, VOTE411.org is a "one-stop-shop" for election related information. It provides nonpartisan information to the public with both general and state-specific information on the following aspects of the election process:

• Absentee ballot information
• Ballot measure information (where applicable)
• Early voting options (where applicable)
• Election dates
• Factual data on candidates in various federal, state and local races
• General information on such topics as how to watch debates with a critical eye
• ID requirements
• Polling place locations
• Registration deadlines
• Voter qualifications
• Voter registration forms
• Voting machines

"An important component of VOTE411.org is the polling place locator, which enables users to type in their address and retrieve the poll location for the voting precinct in which that address is located. The League has found that this is among the most sought after information in the immediate days leading up to, and on, Election Day."

If you're nervous, you can double-check at Google's polling place locator: http://maps.google.com/vote

Talk about making it easy! And remember, do not, do not, DO NOT, wear any hats, buttons, shirts promoting your candidate, or any other election paraphernalia to the polling place or you could be turned away and legally refused the right to vote (as opposed to the illegal forms of voter refusal that are occurring throughout the nation).

Also, if for any reason you cannot vote on Tuesday, November 4th, in some states you can still vote the day before the election via absentee ballot. Check to see what your options are; in some states you must vote IN PERSON at the Office of your COUNTY CLERK.

A little motivation from Lady Kier of Dee-Lite...circa 1991...voting is always relevant, baby!

February 5th - Super Tuesday: •Vote•

One word: Vote.

Whomever you vote for, Democrat, Republican, Independent, etc., go to the polls and make your voice heard and make that voice count.


Pictured right Super Tuesday Map, courtesy Wikipedia: "Twenty-four states are holding caucuses or primary elections on Super Tuesday, 2008. Blue denotes Democratic-only caucuses (3), Red illustrates Republican-only contests (2), and Purple represents states holding elections for both parties (19)."

To quote from MuthaWit's recent blog entry, "Bullocks or the Ballot?":

"If you don't have health insurance. Vote. If you work your butt off but still find it difficult to make the rent or mortgage each month. Vote. If you want to insure that your children have a quality education no matter your economic status. Vote. If you don't think anyone should be able to tell a woman how to manage her body but a woman. Vote. If you want to know that your parents are going to have a check to live off in their later years...not a gimmie...but a check based upon money that they put into the social security system. Vote. If you think teachers, fire fighters and police should be rewarded WELL based upon the quality of their service. Vote. If you want to be able to breathe clean air(relative in NYC I know LOL) and drink fresh water. Vote. If you feel like you are spinning with no direction in life. Vote.

"Don't give up or give your choice away.

"Let the figureheads of this country know that we are watching, writing and wrestling them out of office if need be. We are the people...the government... and those figureheads are granted the privilege to represent our varied voices. If we don't tell them what we NEED they will give us what they want. This is not the time to be simple or silent."

AMEN!

And to keep the funky citizenship vibe going...

From Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings (with a bit o' help from Freedom Fries Productions): A lecture for George W., tips on active citizenry, and a call to vote via the funky throw-down, "What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes"(2004, but still completely relevant) :

Elizabeth Hines on Black Women's Votes & Visibility

I haven't commented on the presidential race because there are a number of people who are writing/blogging on it in a capable and incisive fashion and I'd rather direct attention to their work. Speaking of which I just read Elizabeth G. Hines' take on the role of black women voters in this race, and their particular impact in South Carolina. I didn't want to forget her perspective, or where I found it, so I'm providing a short excerpt and a link to the full article below:


What Black Women's Votes Mean for the Presidential Race
By Elizabeth G. Hines, Women's Media Center

I've been giving thanks quite a lot this election season: thanks that the field of candidates looks different from ever before; that we who are not white men can believe that our nation has a place for us in its leadership, too. And I've been giving thanks that the advent of this diverse slate of candidates has created just a little space in which we Americans can begin to address, on a national level, the issues of race and gender that have plagued us since our very beginnings as a country. We may not yet be good at talking about those issues, but at least now we're trying.

Today, however, I am here to admit that my greatest measure of thankfulness has recently settled on nothing so predictable, for a black woman, as seeing Clinton and Obama's faces plastered across every newspaper and television screen from here to Tallahassee. No, today I want to give thanks for the state of South Carolina.

Read the full article at Alternet.org


By the way the photo at right isn't an endorsement, but one of the results of a keyword search using the terms "black" "women" "vote." Including it here seemed appropriate given the results of the South Carolina Democratic Primary.