One of the most important days in 2020 will be Wednesday, November 4th. No, there’s no mistake in that last sentence. On the morning of Wednesday, November 4th you will, with all of our best wishes, rise up from bed to start your day. As you rise, one of the first things on your mind will be the 46th President of the United States (I can only pray that there is someone new in office). As your mind moves through that thought, will there be a sense of relief or heightened fear? Voting this election season is urgent, it is necessary, it is of life and death. Words that I wish could be considered too harsh for this newsletter.
In Louisiana, and New Orleans to bring it home, we will have the opportunity to effect change on the levels that matter the most. Yes, the President of the United States holds the highest office in the land (regardless as to who is sitting in that seat, it is still true, for now). But stop for a moment and consider the effects the decisions of a judge can have on the life of someone who can’t afford to pay a bond or miss another day of work, a school board member can have on the schools in your neighborhood and the children at your own dinner table, a district attorney can have on thousands of people who have been wrongly accused, and changes to constitutional amendments that alter the promise of our given rights make. The candidates that will sit in these seats after election day will impact the city of New Orleans in ways we will feel immediately. The stakes are HIGH!
We have watched the Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s revive itself for all it’s good, but, mostly ugly ways in the last few years. Voting rights that were fought for with literal blood, sweat and tears have been put into question and literally stripped from the hands of Black voters around the country in legal and illegal manners. And in 2020, as we fight so many obstacles, it feels overwhelming to even begin thinking about voting. For many of us, we know we will show up to the polls to cast our vote for a presidential nominee and running-mate. But for the majority, the downballot that has not garnered our full attention. That, could be dangerous.
Whether your plan is to walk into a voting booth and vote or mail your vote in, you should arrive to your decisions based on knowledge and at the least, an educated guess. Certainly not a game of eenie-meenie-miney-moe. It is possible to create a space for more harm than good by throwing a dart at the wall in elections of this magnitude.
This election, as we know, has more layers to it than a double-decker club sandwich. Not only do we have local decisions to make, we have federal votes to cast as well, all while a virus continues to plague our country. One that we thought would certainly have been tamed by now. One many seem to think will come and go with the pull of the last calendar page on January 1, 2021.
Unfortunately, as we have now found ourselves in the ninth month of the year and six very heavy months into this catastrophe, fewer steps closer to the Hail Mary we have prayed for and just forty-seven days away from your last opportunity to cast a ballot YOU have some decisions to make. We must not only educate ourselves to prepare for November 3 or early voting two weeks prior, we must rally the troops! At this point, we cannot fumble words or run from mixing family/friends and politics. This is a time when we must normalize this conversation. By hiding from the uncomfortable conversations, we are only putting a nail in our own community’s coffin. Talk about voting with everyone you pass, bring it up around children and adults, find relevant (but yes, respectful) ways to work it into casual interactions. Do not let it fall by the wayside because it has been considered taboo or dangerous. Add fuel to the fire, rock the boat, ruffle some feathers, incite curiosity and interest. And every time you get nervous about what could happen if you open your mouth and start that conversation, think about what happens if you did not come November 4th.
