YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE; YOUR VOICE IS YOUR VOTE

Vernalee

Greetings on this important day...

Today is the day to vote!

Voting is essentially important. Allow me to share a brief story. Before my mother passed and went home to be with the Lord, I had the honorable privilege to be her caregiver. I brought her from Mississippi to Ohio to live with me. It was now my precious turn to take care of the woman who so elegantly took care of me! I praised God for that experience because I learned so much more during her years with me (Family history, cooking skills, life lessons and beyond). Her age brought wisdom and I was there to receive it!

During that time, there was an election, so she had a mail in ballot. I am here to testify that my mother worried everybody - my niece, my daughter, her great-granddaughter, and me - about that ballot! She was uneasy until it arrived and uneasy until it was mailed.  I remember sending it via Federal Express and verifying the receipt (of course by showing her the tracking information) to assure her that it was signed, sealed & delivered to the Board of Elections in Mississippi before the due date; very early in fact. What was the hype? You see my mother grew up in an era where they were administered written literacy tests (which made it difficult for many to pass) and where they had to pay poll taxes - (which many Black folks couldn't afford) - to earn the right to vote.

So voting was one of the unalienable civil rights where some Black people lives were threatened; while others were jailed; some even were killed for their constitutional right to go to the polls and cast their ballots. So, my mother wanted to make sure that her vote was counted! 

It was a historical period in her life that I did not witness saw up close and personal what her eyes saw ... for Black folks to obtain the right to vote. So, whenever I cast my ballot, I voted not only for my preferred candidates or issues, but I also vote for my mother and all of those who sacrificed and fought for me to have that privilege! It's interesting because - our voice is our vote, and our vote is our voice. So, today...Vote!

Photo Credit: bostonglobe.com