The Struggle is Still Real: A Plea to Vote

The following essay was awarded a $1,000 scholarship in the Racial Justice Oratorical Contest, held earlier this year in conjunction with the Martin Luther King, Jr.’s celebration, “Amplifying Beloved Community.” The contest was open to Minneapolis College students, as well as juniors and seniors attending Metro Area public high schools. This year’s topic was Voting Rights.

By Aaron Ernst

"So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote I do not possess myself.  I cannot make up my mind– it is made up for me. I cannot live as a democratic citizen, observing the laws I have helped to enact–I can only submit to the edict of others."

These words ring with a power and a force that only truth can. I can't help but feel the passion, the hope, the desperation burning in Dr. King as he delivered them, imploring others, willing them, to see how important the right to vote is–how much a part of what it means to be American. I know that desperation and understand that burning passion. It smolders deep within me too.

Like millions of Americans, disproportionately black, I too belong to an emerging sub-caste, submitted to the edict of others–not truly citizens, but still saddled with all the duties, responsibilities, and expectations of citizenship–seen but unheard. Though I dream of being a first-class citizen, choices I made in my adolescence extinguished my chance to participate in the franchise of America. Now, I neither possess myself, nor have I the right of self-determination. I am counted and taxed, yet I have no influence over the politics that impact my life, no real representation. I am part of a modern day 3/5 compromise. As a felon, as a black man, as a prisoner, as an addict, as a poor man–as one of the most marginalized individuals in this country, I would give anything to for the chance to be fully American; to be, truly, the master of my soul and Captain of my destiny. That is precisely what it means to vote.

Voting is a fundamental bedrock of our society transforming us from merely spectators to active participants in democracy; it's the action mechanism of social change, a weapon with which to fight injustice and tyranny. It places possibility in the hands of even the most ordinary citizen, granting them the right of self-determination. At no other time are Americans more American than on election day. That's when the voice of the mighty and the weak share the same resound–when the haves and the have-nots stand equal. But too many take for granted the liberty to choose, to have their voices heard. They have the freedom to shout as loud as the want, but remain silent, while there are those who would die for the chance to whisper.

Few constitutional liberties have faced as much fire. Seems there are always those who wish to prevent others from voting. Why? Is it power? Control? Fear? Or something more sinister? The ugliness of our country's history is that women, minorities, the poor, immigrants, any in the "lower castes," were never meant to be first-class citizens–never part of that grand vision of the forefathers. The campaign to exclude them predates the conception of this nation and has persisted ever since. The tactics might have changed–yesterday it was more overt, today, it is subtle, and covert–cloaked in the double speak of politics and the winks of "patriotism"–but the war rages on. The same forces that have marginalized millions of Americans know power lies in the voting booth and the best way to keep power, is to restrict access. They also know and fear what can happen when the citizenry turns out in great numbers.

I watched in 2008 with jubilation as the nation celebrated the election of the 44th–and first–African American president, Barack Obama. It was a historic occasion felt deeply within the black community. Finally, their voices were heard. I think back to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee volunteers who risked their lives to register black voters in Mississippi during the height of the Jim Crow era, the brave men and women on the bridge in Selma and the actions of countless other civil rights activists. Their sacrifices laid the groundwork for what would eventually make Barrack's candidacy, and win, a possibility.

But too many black Americans were unable to participate in this experience, either because their votes were suppressed, or because they were silenced by disenfranchisement laws intended to disproportionately impact people of color. They sat on the sidelines as the nation took its most significant steps toward a post-racial era of equality since the emancipation proclamation, unable to fully embrace this victory or claim it as their own, because they weren't able to vote.

Social justice movements like those experienced in 2020 after George Floyd's murder, where millions of Americans, joined by millions around the world, marched in protest of police brutality and racial injustice, must have action behind them–action that translates into votes. That's where real change happens, where everyone, even you, can make a difference. That's where politicians' empty promises can be rectified by a reckoning of accountability. For too long, elected officials have chosen to hear only the voice of the privileged elites with the resources to line their coffers, while the rest suffer. I've heard it said that education is the great equalizer. That's true, but the ballot box is the battle ground.

So yes!

Rise up!

Scream for change from the mountain tops, from the city streets, from the halls of higher education. Scream for justice and equality, from the north and south sides, from the burbs to the hood!

Yes!

Rise up!

March to the Capitol, block traffic, defy curfews, raise united fists in front of the police and SAY THEIR NAMES!

Yes!

Rise up!

But then...

Vote!

Vote out–the old vanguard who ignore the will of the people to preserve their own status and power.

Vote out–the defenders of inequalities and disparities who conspire to keep us merely consumer-slaves.

Vote out–hate, bigotry, racism, classism, sexism, fascism, and any other "isms" that promote division.

And...

Vote in representatives who will pass legislation that improves our lives, heals our communities, and strengthens our social infrastructure.

Vote in those who will fight for all the people they are supposed to represent–not just some.

Vote in tolerance, inclusion, equality, love and unity.

Vote for those of us who can't, for those who came before you, who struggled to ensure that you could.

Vote for every black man hung from a sycamore tree, having never tasted the sweet essence of equality.

Vote for a future where everyone is counted, where everyone counts, and every voice is heard. Vote as if your life, and the lives of generations to come, depends on it, because it does, and they do.