We know that voting does not ensure everyone will be treated as a full citizen in this country. But we also know that voting is a powerful way to put representatives into office who can help lead the hard work ahead: enacting systemic changes that will ensure we move ever closer to the equality that is the birthright of all persons.
It is too late to put your ballot in the mail. You'll need to find a ballot box. If anyone needs help getting their vote in, please let us know and we will make sure it can happen for you!
As I see all of the efforts at voter suppression unfolding across the country, I am reminded of how hard-fought the right to vote has been. I found some sustenance from this new poem by Nikki Giovanni, beloved "Poet of the Black Revolution," currently University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech. I hope you find it inspiring.
Vote (2020)
Nikki Giovanni
It’s not a hug, nor a mistletoe at Christmas
It’s not a colored egg at Easter
Nor a bunny hopping across the meadow.
It’s a vote, saying you are a citizen.
Though it sometimes is chocolate or sometimes vanilla
It can be a female or a male
It is right or left
I can agree or disagree but
and this is an important but
I am a citizen.
I should be able to vote from prison
I should be able to vote from the battlefield
I should be able to vote when I get a driver’s license
I should be able to vote when I purchase a gun
I must be able to vote if I’m in the hospital
If I’m in the old folk’s home
If I’m needing a ride to the polling place.
I am a citizen.
I must be able to vote.
Folks were lynched
Folks were shot
Folks’ communities were gerrymandered
Folks who believed in the Constitution were lied to
Burned out, bought and sold because
They agreed all men and women were created equal.
Folks vote to make us free.
It’s not cookies nor cake
But it is the icing that is so sweet.
Good for the folks.
Good for us.
My country ’tis of thee.
Rev. Virginia and I invite you to a:
Post-election Gathering on Zoom
Wednesday, Nov. 4th at 7 PM
Dial in: 1 646 876 9923
Meeting ID: 732 747 0707
Passcode: 1475
While full results may not be known at that time, we recognize how invested and anxious we are about it. Being together in the moment may help us get through the waiting together.
Rev. Craig
