The Right to Vote is a Human Right! Should I end the post here because I’m pretty sure there’s not much to debate after that…. Haha! Voting is awesome guys! No seriously, there’s so much that you can do with it. A stockpile of opportunity and agency voting allows you to have, and that’s just a small portion of its positive relevance.
In 2016, I voted for the very first time and I remember every second. A bit cheesy but looking back, it was all worth it! After my 12:30PM class ended, I ran to catch the bus to University Hall, where polling was taking place. I ran because unknowingly, before leaving my apartment that morning, it was expected to rain. Though I was in class looking through the window, noticing the sky become more grim and bleak, I still hoped for a ‘semi-clear day’ for my first day of voting! Just my luck, eh?
Once I caught the bus, I was en route to casting my ballot. I couldn’t believe I was voting for the first time. I graduated high school at the age of 17, and could only volunteer to canvass or phone bank for my local reps. I wasn’t of the legal age to vote yet, and by no means was going to commit a felony- nope, not me! Instead, I just patiently waited for the day to come, when I walked up to a booth and discreetly filled each bubble in, alongside the candidate of my choosing on the ballot. How electrifying it all was and still is!
After I filled out the ballot, I submitted it to the electronic machine for scanning. Eeeekkkkkkk! My vote had been cast. Now turn to the right about 90 degrees and Voilà- a booth with voting stickers…. Yes, please! After a nice elderly woman handed me an “I Voted” sticker and told me to “Have a nice day!”, I smiled back and said to her “You too!”. Truth be told, I was already having a nice day, this just made it even better! The icing for my cake.
First thing’s first- post on social media because I just received the Chanel Bag in Civic Duty 101. Instagram- check…. Facebook- check….. Twitter- check. Okay, now “Siri, call Mom”. I had become incapacitated, as my body was practically numb with a gleefulness that I seemingly could not dial my mother’s number. Wow #shameful
“Mom, I just voted! Ahhhhhh”, were my exact words. LOL
That evening- I dedicated time to reflect on my day. Pushing through the storm (literally), I voted and performed my civic duty. I think that moment was most memorable because I was so empowered. I had just voiced my opinion and shared my viewpoints with my government, the nation, and the world, simply by casting my vote.
My human right to vote allowed me to relinquish any reservations and disagreements I had with current policy, and to infuse these opinions into a single vote.
When I think back to a time when voting was disallowed for people of color, for women and other marginalized groups, I immediately re-energize my belief that the right to vote is intrinsically a powerful human right that has transformed tides of ideas into waves of revolution.
Voting starts in a singular form- with the Individual: the person who decides to voice their quieted thoughts and no longer agrees to sit under a cloud of silence. The dismay towards cowardness and disempowerment is initiated when you place a megaphone in front of your mouth and voice what matters to you.
Then, you see a shift in a movement towards plurality- the masses join. What once started as a single idea that both genders should have the right to vote became a suffrage movement for women in the early 1900s, with women in the United Kingdom earning the right to vote in 1928 and women in the United States earning this right in 1920.
But history doesn’t stop there- though the scores were growing for White women during those times, finally fleeing their cults of domesticity and political inferiority, people of color’s accounts and political suffrage were discounted.
Then roles around the 1960s and the fight against Jim Crow laws is now a demand for equal voting and civil rights. Contestation begins with the few, welcomes the many and disenchants the oppressive.
Exercise your right to vote because it is your human right.
“Voting is as much an emotional act as it is a logical one.”
All sound is in essence theory until the sound calls for something greater than its own medium. When the vocal took to protesting for the right to vote, they recognized the importance and power in this activity. Not just being able to channel your perspective into the political arena, but staging your opinion of a national level for the government to process and report to.
Disclaimer- I am a young, woman of color who performs her civic duty whenever she gets the chance. I never take for granted the right to vote and I would never sit out an election. Can you imagine Ms. Talkative over here (me), obediently silent during polling season before an upcoming election? I think not, haha!
And quite frankly, those that came before and those without today, have taught me to not take such an opportunity, a privilege, a human right for granted. As you can imagine, there are many people around the world still disenfranchised by oppressive systems of government that forbid them to speak, let alone vote. For women and children in suffocating regimes that do not recognize them as the humans they are, are accordingly stripped of their rights. This is what pushes me to VOTE.
The objective of voting for me is to let my peers around the world know that I am fighting for them. I am urgently voicing that the same freedoms I enjoy here in the US, be rightfully granted to them primarily based on humanity.
I will never stop voting. I will never stop voicing my opinion. And I will never give up my human rights. I encourage you to follow this ambition because it is your human right to vote and even further, your duty to speak to something greater than yourself.
What does the right to vote signify to you? And what other human rights are meaningful to you?
I’m eager to learn more about you guys, so please do share your opinions and thoughts on this provoking, political piece. #foodforthought
Enjoy your week and I’ll see ya soon. – Sig
TIME WITH SIG 
Being able to vote makes me feel heard, especially as a black woman who wasn’t born in this country. I remember being so upset I got the wrong sticker after my first time voting so my dad mailed me the “I voted” sticker in the mail. Very extra, I know. But those before us fought so hard for us to be represented and I would be doing both them and myself a disservice if I didn’t vote.
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Great post!
As Sem mentioned in here, voting means a lot to me as a woman of color and an immigrant. I remember that faithful day in 2016 when I went to cast my first presidential vote. It was the first major vote I ever casted and I remembered feeling so empowered by the act of voicing my political views (and hoping to take part shifting the political landscape). I remember being so shocked and heartbroken in the aftermath of that presidential election, like many of my peers and friends. I think it’s important to remember that sometimes voting doesn’t result in the immediate results we want to see. However, it is still our civic duty to represent and vote every single place (local, state-wide, and national) we can.
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There’s definitely something to remember about your first time voting! I also think you share SOOOO much wisdom when you discuss the fact that casting your vote for your preference doesn’t warrant an election turnout in your favor. But then again, nothing worth it in this life ever comes easy. You must work for something that you want and if you want equality for all genders, cleaner more sustainable living conditions or a specific party in office, don’t stop VOTING. Thanks Beth- I’ll you on the next post! ❤
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While I utterly would be disappointed if I didn’t get my voting sticker, I’m glad DAD came in to save the day! Voting is critical and very much like you said- if you’re not willing to understand your impact now, always reflect on the struggle and progress of those that came before you! With reflection, comes wisdom and clarity- and then, you’ll understand just how important your participation is. ❤ see you next time, Sem.
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