"With no sacredness of the ballot there can be no sacredness of human life itself"

In my closing arguments for debate, teen court, or extemporaneous speech I was always big in making sure folks connected the dots and had a bird’s eye view of everything that had occurred over the event.

As we approach Election Day tomorrow, I hope to tie this in and for folks and present my closing argument:

Three weeks ago my little brother got stuck in a sundown town for a few hours.

I had many people online that were very supportive and jumped to get him if it was necessary. I also had people that were in disbelief that a sundown town could still exist or that the town he was in, in particular was a sundown town. 

As we have been talking about the concerning amounts of strange deaths and lynchings of Black folks, one thing that has fallen to through is how those who sought to end looked at the cultural moment combined with political strategies.

When you look at the occurrences folks have been pointing to, in many if not most of them I have found that they correlate with political turnover in the region or national moments of political tension. This is not an accident. It's the reason why Ida B. Wells believed in the idea that enfranchisement was necessary to stop lynchings.

When we talk about building a better future, that includes utilizing the methods that have already been laid out for us while building on them to meet the moment. In many ways, some folks have stopped taking voting seriously or have relegated it to being unimportant but this is a deep misunderstanding of what political landscapes do and mean.

Political landscapes that embolden the hate of others based on their race, sex, religion, gender allow for folks that utilize that logic to feel safer.

Political landscapes that feel unworthy of fighting in allow for folks vying to silence us and erase the bloody history of this country to do so without opposition.

Fighting back, expressing dissent, and trying to shift a political landscape to one that is better through every method possible highlights that we are paying attention. It highlights that the fight is serious, and that we are paying attention everywhere.

I understand folks are tired of us talking about voting. If you're tired of hearing about it, imagine how tired I am of posting about it? We cannot however afford to let our irritation and exhaustion and cynicism prevent us from showing up in every way possible.

If you're tired of seeing Black bodies turn up in rivers, and streams, and from trees and abandoned buildings, ask yourself why its happening? Ask yourself what changes matter to help us eliminate it.

I will never be a "only vote" person, because I was raised where keeping your shotgun loaded is just as important as turning your ballot in. I was raised where we get out the vote and we let folks know that pull up has many meanings.

I want for folks to be aware that everything we are witnessing has a purpose.

Over the next few days and potentially weeks we may see chaos rhetoric being amplified. It may take days for all the votes to be counted. We may see incidents of suppression take place. We may see threats, even those that are unrealistic to execute, thrown at us. Do not be phased, or breathe through those fears.

Right now, It's not just about winning the election, its about showing that people are willing to do one of the most basic steps that we have here. It's to show that you cannot just buy away the rights of others without someone seeing. Its that Muslim, Black, Women, and Queer candidates can win in a country that seeks to diminish those identities

If you haven't voted, I hope that you do. Hundreds of elections over the years have been determined by just a few votes.

If you can't vote, I hope that you still see that you are not being ignored and elevate the public responsibility to protect you. If you already voted, I hope you'll do whatever you can to keep your communities afloat the next few days.

In the words of Ida B. Wells: "With no sacredness for the ballot, there can be no sacredness for human life itself."

In my own words: Buckle up and get ready. Every new chapter needs a beginning, and we cannot afford to not start here.

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