After having watched both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, I found myself thinking about this years election with even more seriousness than that of 2008. Additionally, my friend and colleague Mildred Luiz Sapp of UNIVERSES posted something on her Facebook wall that was equally compelling. Therefore, I am reposting this entry, which has been revised since its original posting in November 2010.
All best,
Sam
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In all seriousness, I have to admit something.
I almost decided NOT to vote today.
What can I say? I've been away from home for almost three weeks, and arrived at 12:30pm this afternoon after having been on a Greyhound bus since 7:15pm yesterday. So yes, I'm tired - and I almost chose to nap....but then I thought of my Aunt Rebecca, who did not live to see the first African-American president. I also thought of my father (who was an activist and was granted a posthumous award from the North Charleston Branch of the NAACP), Suzanne Pharr (who works with youth in Knoxville, Tennesse), my dear friend Gilbert Stafford (who inspired so many to bring the best of themselves to every situation), and the hundreds of thousands both alive and passed on who worked tirelessly (some of them giving the supreme sacrifice, albeit not by choice) so that I could walk into a polling place and cast my vote.
To have NOT voted today would have been to have given all of those people - and especially my ancestors, many of whom did not have the opportunity to vote - the equivalent of the finger, if I may.
So yes, I voted.
It is a responsibility, not only as a citizen, but also one that we have to everyone who has gone before.
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