Stacey Abrams and Voter Disenfranchisement
<Rant>
Brian Kemp will be the next governor of Georgia. I am not taking this well. I'm a sore loser I guess. But I truly believe that Kemp won because of systematic and extensive voter disenfranchisement in Georgia, and it is a spiritual blow. Over the years, I have spent every February researching our history and a few years ago, I focused on the Civil Rights movement. It was bloody. People died, were murdered, because they were registering others to vote. That's how hard white people fought to keep us from voting. Because our collective votes, our collective voices, can create change in a democratic society, and that's something that some people just don't like.
When did we fight this battle? 1963-1968. Exactly 50 years ago. About two generations ago. Too long ago. And there are too many of us today who don't know our history, and don't want to exercise their right to vote. As if it can't change anything. So wrong.
But those who dig in our history would find that we have been repeatedly disenfranchised. Because in the 1870's, we knew how powerful it was to vote. We voted in droves. And we put black men in Congress. How few of us know about the 1870's when we elected men to Congress. And its significance. We were electing black men to positions in city, county, state and federal government. We had real power. And long before separate-but-equal, white people took away our ability to vote. As fast as they could.
So, we voted in the 1870's, we voted in the 1970's. But here it is 2018, and the Supreme Court has struck down the rulings that would protect our right to vote, and whites in positions of power, not just in the South, but in Pennsylvania and North Dakota, are enacting laws to take the power to vote away from minorities. On the surface, these laws look "innocent". Who would argue that you have to have a street address to vote? But native Americans don't live on streets. Your name can't be misspelled. Those *unique* African-American names like D'Jaris and J'nae are going to get misspelled. Your signatures have to match. You have to have voted every two years.
When I got the e-mail that Stacey Abrams lost, it punched me in my gut. She is starting an organization called Fair Fight Georgia, and maybe, through massive litigation and support from the ACLU, she will create change in her state.
For the last 30 years, abortion has been my number one issue, and something changed inside of me today, as it became voting rights. Without voting rights, we won't save abortion, we won't protect social security and Medicare, we won't protect our environment. Abrams campaigned on Medicaid expansion, something Georgians truly needed, and now it won't happen.
I find myself feeling desperate for something to do, and all I can think of to do is send my pennies. To the ACLU, to the Southern Poverty Law Center, to the NAACP. So many people want my money! But I think this is where it's going to go.
And I'll keep an eye on this issue, and repost when we win cases that reverse this trend. It's going to be very uphill. We have people in power who don't want us to vote. But now that we see it, if we are vigilant, we can change it. And always, always, educate our people about voting, that it is important, that it is the vote and voice that enables us to fight against monied interests.
If you want to do something too, see if you know anyone who doesn't vote and hit them with some knowledge. See if you can convince them to vote. There is strength in numbers.
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