My great great grandfather was imprisoned in Libbey Prison during the Civil War. My great aunt, inspired by the suffragette movement of her childhood, founded a school so that women could become educated and have the power to truly take their place as the equals of men.
I've been thinking about them because of a conversation I had with a young black mother who had just registered to vote. Her children's father is in prison. She is working part time, and the $10 an hour she is making is barely enough to make ends meet. She's attracted to the conservative idea of self sufficiency. To believe she can it on her own terms, through her own sweat and wits and determination, suits her character. But she understands economic oppression, she knows her sweat, her heart, her hands, are worth more than $10 an hour.
Self interest is a powerful force. What does it take to care, as passionately, about the common good?
My great grandfather put his own life on the line for a principle. My great aunt gave her life's work.
Why has America lost the sense of the common good? How do we get it back?
My first day out canvassing of my fellow canvassers came back from a house with her face shining. She said, incredulously, "They said they never voted, because they never been ASKED to vote."
What we are doing, in these working class neighborhoods, is helping people know that they are important. Their vote counts. We can't do it alone, but we can do it together.
That is what I am most proud of in this election. That we are drawing more people into the process. That we are working to make every American have a voice in the process.
Faith in America
The great spiritual traditions tell us we have to let go of the outcome, but never forget what it is we are fighting for.
Every vote counts.
V_O_T_E