Commentary: Not voting is a vote against democracy. What will you do?

This column appears every other week in Foster’s Daily Democrat and the Tuskegee News. This week, Guy Trammell, an African American man from Tuskegee, Alabama, and Amy Miller, a white woman from South Berwick, Maine, write about the importance of voting.

By Amy Miller

I am worried about who is going to go out to vote. Everyone is feeling disenfranchised about everything and none of the candidates seems wildly popular.

But let’s think again. We live in a place where we can still speak the truth, even if not everyone does.

We live in a country where, so far, no one has told me what I can and can’t write.

We have an imperfect country, but certainly a country with ideals and values worth saving. So whatever you may think of the choices of candidates, take a moment to realize that someone will win and that winning candidate will make a difference in the years head, if not decades or longer.

Four years ago, South Berwick residents worked with their friends in the majority Black city of Tuskegee, Ala., to put out a book on voting. It was one of the most important projects undertaken by residents of South Berwick and of our sister city.

One hundred people in each community were asked if it was important to vote and if they faced obstacles to voting. A few things became clear:

Almost everyone except the most cynical felt it was a privilege AND an obligation to vote since it’s one of the ways, although not the only way, we can effect change.

While almost none of the people in South Berwick had faced barriers to voting other than weather or childcare - or knew of any other white person who had faced obstacles - many of the Tuskegee people interviewed talked about obstacles they or their loved ones had experienced, often violent obstacles.

That people are willing to fight for that right means they think it matters. It also means that we, as eligible voters, have an obligation to them to actually vote. And lest we forget, women also spent centuries demanding and fighting to be enfranchised.

As my favorite talk show host said, with an added word bleeped out, “The work of making this world resemble one you prefer to live in is a lunchpail job day in and day out where thousands of committed, anonymous smart and dedicated people bang on closed doors .. and grind away on issues until they get a positive result.”

Getting out the vote means oodles of people calling potential voters, knocking on doors, writing letters and badgering friends. If you aren’t excited enough by a candidate to get out and vote, or to work to get others to vote, just remember: not voting is a vote against democracy.

And if you want to hear from people who cherish the vote, you can see the interviews or an 8-minute video by searching Youtube for “Together We Vote” and “Tuskegee.”

You can also order the Together We Vote book with all 200 interviews for $20 at colorusconnected@gmail.com.

So go at it, folks. And remember, vote on Nov. 5.

By Guy Trammell Jr.

Following World War II, Dabney Montgomery of the Tuskegee Airmen 332nd Fighter Group returned to his home in Selma, and attempted to register to vote. The registrar said he needed three white men to vouch for him. He returned with the requirement met, and was told he couldn’t register because he didn’t own property.

As he walked away, he witnessed a white soldier pass him and ask to be registered. The same registrar had the white soldier sign a form and pronounced him a registered voter. (Voting is a right, not a privilege!)

When my older brother, known as “Trap” (for Trammell), grew his afro, my mother assumed he did so to cushion the beatings he received from Southern law enforcement officers. He and others working in the Black Liberation Movement were breaking the law by distributing literature to teach southern Black people how to vote. (Voting is important!)

Where is power? Where is the ability to create real change?

The people living in Alabama’s Black Belt have been primarily Black since the time of forced African labor during the plantation era. And even though the area has the richest soil for excellent agriculture production, it is an impoverished region. This is compounded by high infant and maternal mortality and skyrocketing health disparities.

With Alabama’s tremendous space technology, incredible automobile industry, and advanced medical practice campuses, how have the problems in the Black Belt been addressed? Ok, let’s see … hmm… its hospitals have been closed; businesses have moved away, increasing unemployment; and economic and industrial development is taking place outside the Black Belt region.

So let’s see…we have the resources and the ability to transform the region, but we are missing something. We are missing the “will” to do it.

This is exactly why we must vote. We have an excellent opportunity to affect change by sending a second African American to Congress who can represent the Black Belt region. In an unprecedented and historic ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has made a Congressional seat available that can speak to the needs of Black people in the Black Belt. We could not have imagined this in the 1960s.

But now we must vote - and encourage others to vote!

In a general election, possibly 60% of voters will actually vote. But this is a primary election, where only 20% usually vote. For there to be any hope of making a change on Tuesday, March 5, more voters must vote.

Other southern states are watching Alabama for hope that they also can make progress. It is our time to make a difference, and this can encourage others.

And by the way, Dabney Montgomery became Dr. Martin L. King Jr.’s bodyguard for the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. He fought in WWII and for civil rights. So what will you do?

You can order the Together We Vote book with all 200 interviews for $20 at colorusconnected@gmail.com.

Amy and Guy can be reached at colorusconnected@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Commentary: Not voting is a vote against democracy. What will you do?