This is not the election to sit out and watch from the sidelines. Go vote. | Opinion
How much of an impact do the decisions we make today have on the future days ahead? One of the greatest liberties in the Constitution of the United States of America is the 1st Amendment, our freedom of speech which gives each one of us a voice. With that capacity to speak we have a choice to advocate loudly or just the opposite, which is to do absolutely nothing at all. Are we making important decisions based on reasonings of thought and intelligence or based on popular opinion?
Regardless of your political views on a national or local level, regardless of your thoughts on one presidential candidate versus the other, nor your ideological perspective of what a perfect society looks like; Your voice is necessary and pivotal in the upcoming election and must be heard. Do your talking at the voting polls and take a position because this is not the election to sit out and watch from the sidelines to see what happens next. This is the time to stand on the frontline for something bigger than yourselves, as the old saying goes, “stand for something or fall for anything.” And “don’t talk about it, be about it.”
The indication of “to whom much is given, much will be required” is a call to action. That we are held responsible for what we have been handed. We have inherited the rights and privileges off the blood, sweat and tears of countless men and women for generations before us. It would be the gravest injustice in history and a huge disservice to humanity not to exercise your right to vote. I promise that anyone with living relatives that were born in the early 1900’s can talk to you about the significance of voting. Back in the day when the struggle was real, you know, not just something cool or hip to say, but it was a time when they had to fight for everything they had. We have not come that far along I history to not look back and remember. I can guarantee you that if society has got so comfortable today, there is no way they would have survived the yesteryears, c’mon now. If society has progressed to a point that people feel like they have nothing else to fight for and content with status pro quo and to the point of not voting because “they are good” and “have it all” or even feel like “their voice does not matter,” then we have failed miserably as a civilization.
Are we living in a society that is not culturally woke and not willing to fight like the generations did in the past? What about standing up for themselves? Have we become a population that is easily controlled? Like they say, “get down or lay down” is real right about now and you cannot fully understand the magnitude of what is at stake if you do not get out and vote. Be the change by taking a stand.
When you enter the ballot box in November, do we remember it is a civic duty and responsibility? Do we think about the women’s suffrage movement that paved the way for women to have the right to vote? Do we remember the civil rights era when Black men and women died for the right to vote? Do you vote with a purpose? And, the most important question, if you do not vote, why?
As a society, we take time to look like a million when they did not have a dime, but do not take the time to vote and get engaged to make a real impact. Are “we, the people” more concerned with perception than reality?
Michelle Antoinette is a Lexington native, a writer, and a graduate of Kentucky State University and the University of Kentucky.