Addai: The Opportunity to Vote
Jill Addai
The opportunity to vote is here and time is of the essence. With Covid-19 time has been lost. Lost time with friends, family, loved ones, even coworkers. We have collectively travailed through trying months that have tested a Nation already wrought with issues from racial injustice, financial crisis, and the less talked about but equally damaging gentrification of historic neighborhoods, like Five points.
With that same energy and tenacity used to hero through the COVID-19 disaster, we are heading to the polls in numbers to make our voices heard and take advantage of the opportunity to vote.
The urgency to vote and make our voices heard in a time when oppressors are using institutional and physical intimidation tactics to defeat us at the polls mirrors that of our mother’s, father’s and grandparents’ experiences. They weathered literal storms (police brutality, attack dogs, water hoses, etc.) to demand change at the polls. Our days have been filled with so much uncertainty. But voting in this presidential election feels so right! It feels so right that many of our community members are flocking to the polls to flex their political muscles. We are taking a cue from our forefathers and learning about the issues that affect us directly and voting in our best interest. We have educated ourselves and learned that as a people we have POWER. Knowledge of your power is a critical life tool. To quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson “There is no knowledge that is not power.”
Undoubtedly, community members in the Five Points area are using their voting power to express their will in matters that hit close to home such as racial injustice, police brutality, income inequality, high rent and mortgage prices, struggling businesses, etc. Fathima Dickerson, one of the five owners of Welton Street Café, describes the change she wants to see in the form of informational power. She would like for community members to receive more education and direction in terms of where to obtain needed resources. The community needs “resources that can help the community thrive such as information about where to get education support, how to start a business, how to buy and sell a home or property.”
This election period brings to mind one of the core tenets in the Social Work field that I work in, which is advocacy. Advocacy involves the achievements of self-fulfillment, people empowerment and social justice. With the knowledge of my vote being cast, I know that I have lent a voice to the positive changes that need to happen. I’m mindful of the times but hopeful of better days to come.