Born in the Violence of Selma, Alabama

[McCamy Taylor]

President Lyndon Johnson's high spirits were marked as he circulated among the many guests whom he had invited to witness an event he confidently felt to be historic, the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.... The bill that lay on the polished mahogany desk was born in violence in Selma, Alabama, where a stubborn sheriff... had stumbled against the future. ~Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967

A century ago, men recognized the value of the vote when they tried their hardest to keep women from getting it. Fifty years ago, whites understood the importance of voting when they resorted to violence to keep Blacks from doing it. Now that suffrage for adult U.S. citizens is the rule, the corporate media tells us that our votes do not count. Elections are rigged. Foreign money speaks louder than we ever can. Why bother? Nothing will change. Stay home and watch sports on ESPN.

And yet, if our votes do not count, why does the GOP try so hard to keep them from being cast---and counted? Why are minorities illegally purged from voting rolls? Why is secret software inserted in our electronic voting machines? Why are Latinos told to stay home on November 2? Why was ACORN smeared with lies, so that it could not register voters this year? Why did the warehouse with all of Harris County, Texas’s voting machines burn down and why has the GOP sent teams of “poll watchers” to disrupt the voting in one of the most heavily Democratic regions of the state?

Your vote counts. It counts more than you will ever know. You are not voting just for yourself and your family. You are voting for your community. For…

Pearl, age 80. Legally blind, she does not have a driver’s license. She has voted in every election for the past 40 years, always in the same precinct. However, her state just passed a photo ID law. Pearl can not get a copy of her birth certificate---the courthouse where it was stored burned down long ago---so she can not get a state authorized ID. When she shows up at the polls on election day to vote for the party most likely to protect her Social Security and lower her Medicare Part D “donut hole”, she will be turned away.

When you vote this year, you are voting for Pearl, too.

Tanya 16, is too young to vote. She ran away from home, because her father beat her. When she discovers that she is pregnant, she will try to get an abortion, but she will be told that her father must consent. She can not ask him. He might kill her. The local judge is unsympathetic. He tells her that abortion is a sin. Her aunt is willing to drive her across state lines, to a place where minors can legally get abortions. However, one of the new GOP Congress’s first acts will be a law making it a crime to transport a minor across state lines in order to avoid a state’s parental consent law. The Republican Party has been talking about doing this for a long time, and they figure it is an easy way to toss the religious right a bone. Tanya will resort to a “do it yourself” abortion in her own bathroom and will be rushed to the local emergency room bleeding and in shock.

When you vote this year, you are voting for abortion rights for Tanya, too.

SaraBeth 29 has asthma. Bad asthma. The air pollution from the local coal burning power plant and the car exhaust from the freeways make it difficult for her to go outside. Her husband owns his own business, so they can not afford to move. During the Bush administration, her city kept getting extensions on their deadline to comply with the Clean Air Act. Now that Obama is in the White House, her city has finally started to talk about cleaning up the air. She is hoping that the Democrats will pass laws to encourage clean energy and public transportation. However, the week before election day, a cloud of smog will cover her city, and she will end up in the hospital with a severe asthma attack. On November 2, she will be in the ICU, with a tube down her throat helping her breathe.

When you vote, this year, you are voting for clean air for SaraBeth.

Tyrone, 40, was arrested for possession of just a little bit too much marijuana when he was 19. A convicted felon, his state will not allow him to vote. He desperately wants Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, so that he and his coworkers can finally get a union. However, he has to hope that someone else will cast the vote that he (and the millions of other Americans---mostly Americans of color---who are in his situation) can not cast.

When you vote this year, you are also voting for Tyrone.

Raquel , 28, registered to vote in the 2008 election. When she shows up on November, 2, she will discover that someone has (illegally) stripped her name from the voting rolls. She will be offered a provisional ballot, but her employer will not let her off another day, and so that ballot will be discarded. Raquel has been hoping that she would get a chance to marry her long term (female) companion.

If Raquel is ever to get a chance to marry as she wishes, someone else will need to vote for her. That someone could be you.

Juan 34, was given a flyer written in Spanish which said that Latinos would vote on Wednesday. So, he will miss an election which is very important to him. His three children were born in the U.S. and are enrolled in High School. He knows that the GOP has been talking about stripping them of their citizenship and sending them “back” to Mexico.

Can you vote for Juan, too?

Simon 45 and white, does not expect his vote to be stolen. He votes for the candidate who promises to bring the off shored jobs home. However, his electronic vote will be lost, along with a 1000 other votes in his predominantly Democratic district.

Simon really needs you to vote for him.

Paul 38, wants to vote, because he is worried that his kids will not be able to get a grant for college. However, on his way into the polls, a GOPer will inform him that he will be arrested if he has any outstanding parking tickets. Paul can not afford to get arrested. He might lose his job. So, reluctantly, he turns away without voting.

Can you spare a vote for Paul?

Brittany 8, is too young to think about voting. She lives in a car with her mom, who is out of work. Her school breakfast and lunch are her only nutritious meals of the day. If Brittany could vote, she would choose the candidate whpo does not believe in cutting school lunches in order to cut taxes for the wealthy. Her mom can not vote---she has no fixed address, and they took her off the rolls in her old precinct when her home was foreclosed.

Do you think Brittany deserves to eat? If you do not care enough to vote for yourself, will you cast a vote for Brittany?

You neighbor no longer bothers to vote. Why should he? Nothing ever changes.

In 2006, only 37% of eligible voters went to the polls. In 2008, 57% showed up. Since this is another midterm election, two apathetic neighbors will decide to stay home for every one concerned citizen who decides to vote. That means your vote will count twice as much as usual. The Tea Baggers know this. They are hoping that their small minority of ugly, biggoted U.S. citizens will become a roar that drowns out the majority voice in this country. It will not take very many votes to completely neutralize their power this election...but only if we decide to take advantage of the rights our ancestors fought so hard for.

[madmax]

1. K&R wish I could rec this 100 times eom

[pnorman]

2. Here's one more vote!

if anyone here hasn't read Freedom Summer yet, please do so at your earliest convenience! It's also available from Audible.com as well as for Kindle.

[political_Dem]

3. K and R. A very important thread that everyone should read.

Great job. :thumbsup:

[Demeter]

4. They can't steal if there's a landslide--so reducing the turnout is the key