I can remember my great grandmother taking me to vote with her. She was a soft spoken woman, so I don’t remember her saying much about this ritual but I can plainly see walking behind that curtain, hearing it close and my five year old eyes watching her vote. I can remember it like it was today as I go to vote. The voting machines look a lot different than what my great grandmother used but the process is still as important.
My great grandmother taking me to vote is a special memory for me because she told me of the time when she couldn’t vote. For her to vote was a radical political act in itself. When I vote today I continue to give her voice. I am not only giving her voice but I am also joining with the million of voices dead and alive, ancestors, elders and my peers as we to exercise our right to vote that was won by the blood of those who died for me and us to have this right.
When I go to the polls this year ther are really souls at the polls. The souls of the ancestors are there. When I go to the polls I pray to the ancestors and I thank them for their sacrifice and I promise to not let their hard work be in vain. This year I call on the name of my Great Grandmother Laura Respress of Fannie Lou Hamer. When you vote this year whose name will you call out? In whose name are you voting? Do you see the blood of those who died on your ballot?
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