If you don't go out and vote, you’re a part of the problem

In 2016 I graduated from Medgar Evers College and my graduation was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Graduating from Medgar Evers was one of the best accomplishments of my life. I got Bachelors of Science in Social Work, and I graduated with honors. My school is named after Medgar Evers, who played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement. Medgar Evers fought and marched aside Martin Luther King to fight for equal rights for people of color. Medgar Evers spent a lot of his energy fighting for people of colors voting rights. During that fight Medgar Evers was gunned down in in front of his house while his family greeted him at the front door. Medgar Evers fought and gave his life so that people like myself would have the constitutional right to vote. I was 18 when I registered to vote, and I have exercised my right to vote up until this current day. Although I may not agree with every candidate, I understand how important it is for me to go out and vote. People of color are always underrepresented in the grand scheme of politics, but I still must vote. The government and the state let me down on a consistent basis. But I can't let that deter me away from voting. 

We will never be able to change the system if we are not a part of the process. People of color play a major role in the voting process. If you don't believe me, just pay attention to election time and see how many candidates come into communities that people of color inhabit and give them all type of fake promises so that they can get into the door. The reason why people of color don't feel like they have a voice within the government is because we don't collectively come together to show these elective officials how powerful we really are. People of color are so divided and some of us only focus on the major elections like who's running for president. But we should focus on every election because if we did we wouldn't have a Republican House and Senate, and we wouldn't have a Republican President. We must start paying attention to the details. You know why President Barack Obama couldn't follow through with all the promises he made the American people? Let me tell you why he couldn't get the bills through congress because the House and the Senate were being ran by Republicans. You know why because people of color tend to only focus on the major elections - not understanding that every time we don't go out and vote, a Republican wins another seat in Congress. So, it doesn't matter if you have a president that's Democrat, but if the House and Senate are Republican because nobody will ever get along and the country will suffer for it. So, therefore it's important that we go out and exercise our right to vote this November and every time there is an election. We all know what type of President Donald Trump is; which is one of the worse presidents American has ever had. Therefore, it's very important that we vote and make Congress Democrat. If we do that then we can stop Trump from destroying this country. I know you may feel helpless, I know this country had let you down but if you’re not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. If we want things to get better, then we must be more a part of the election process. People of color must put their differences aside and come together for a collective cause. If 50 million people of color were united and held the people we elected accountable for what they said they would do when they got into office. If they didn't they we would get them out of office. It's time that we start paying attention to who we put in office to represent our country. It's time we remember that the power is with the people. Medgar Evers and people like my great grandmother fought so that we would have a better life. It's only right that we do the same for our children and future children. 

I know a lot of people feel like the voting system is rigged and your vote doesn't matter but that's not true. Yes, we see that the political system needs to change. Donald Trump lost the popular vote but because of the clause of the electoral college; he won the presidency. The last time that happened was when Al Gore loss to George Bush Jr. Al Gore won the popular vote and loss the electoral college vote. This government wants people of color to think that their vote doesn't matter. Republicans will never care about the people, they care about their bottom line. That's why Trump is in office in the first place. They wanted a Republican back in office so bad that they sacrificed the safety and well-being of the American people to make that thought a reality. So, we can't ever think that they will step up and do what needs to be done by the people. The power is with the people now and forever. So that means if the people go out and vote in your next local election, so we can make the House and Senate Democrat. This means that Trump won't be able to pass any bills through Congress unless it's really benefiting the American people. This can only happen if we go out a vote. If you don't participate in the process to evoke change, you are a part of the problem. Remember this America didn't give us our freedom, we had to take our freedoms. America is not going to make things better for people of color, so we must make them better for ourselves. History shows you that when people of color come together and fight against injustice that all people benefited from the civil rights bill, the immigration bill and the voting rights bill. A lot of people died and gave their lives so that we would have the freedom we have today. We must do the same thing for our kids and our future children. We can't just sit idle and watch the world fall apart, we must do something. The voting system works against people of color because of our lack of unity. Politicians know that they can make promises that they are not going to keep just so they get elected. A lot of people of color don't go out and vote. Don't participate in district meetings. If we had more unity amongst each other then we would come together for every election and we would pick the people we want to elect as a community. Once we do they we would pool together our money and help these individuals get elected by donating to their campaign. This helps hold these elected officials accountable for what they say they were going to do for the people. This would also show the politicians that the same way we came together and help with campaign, we can come together to get them out of office. That's what happens in upper middle class and wealthy communities. If you don't participate in process, you can't be mad about the outcome. The first step is going out to vote on in your next local election. Let's make the house and the senate democratic again. Let's really make America great again by restoring the power back to the people.