A Radical's Views on Voting

I have a fairly radical view when it comes to voting. I feel that it is not only my right, but my duty to vote. As an African American, I know that people have died so that I may have this right. How dare I not honor their memory by doing so at every opportunity! As a person with a disability, I feel the same way - disability activists have put themselves out there, endured humiliation and ridicule, and in some cases, have gone to jail so that we can enjoy and benefit from the rights that we now have.

However, the fight is not over. There is much more work to be done, and the voting rights issue is a prime example. I therefore say to the folks everywhere: Get up and fight! Don't take the outrageous deal that's been handed to you sitting down. Don't just roll over and accept absentee ballots just because they're there. Remember that in most cases, they are a ploy to keep you unseen, and to keep you from full access to the political process. Don't just sit around moping, mourning, and complaining. Organize! The time for complacency is over. Employ every legal, peaceful, and non-violent means to get yourself heard, and to bring about change.

Don't know how to do this? Go sit at the feet of those activists whom you've heard about, and learn from them. Believe me they'll be glad to teach you! Scared? Don't want to make waves? Tough! Grow yourself some courage! Stop ridiculing, belittling, and bemoaning those "troublemaker activists" and join them. Stop sitting around waiting for your rights to be handed to you on a silver platter, because they never have been, nor will they ever be!

Every right that you have, or will ever get was won by activists who got up, spoke out, wrote letters, protested, went to jail, and sometimes, died! That's just the way it is, so get used to it. Decide what group you will be in - the ones who complain, and cry for change, or the ones who go out, and bring about change? Either way, the politicians are watching, and we can either continue to be dismissed and ignored by them, or we can become one of the groups whose vote they will actively seek. It's up to us.