This is a think-piece.  I hope that it will inspire you to think about its subject matter. Please approach it with an open mind.

I’m going to take a moment to discuss voting rights and black power.  I also want to discuss the idea that all politicians and political parties are fundamentally similar.  To start, I must make a confession.  I get a little upset when I hear my colleagues and peers say that they will not vote, in this election or any.  I hear many of the same things.  Black people have no power.  None of the candidates care about us.  The Democratic and Republican parties are fundamentally similar.  We have been fighting for so long and we are still second-class citizens.

I do not believe that black people have no political power.  To the contrary, we are one of the most powerful voting blocs in the entire country.  Sure, I can rarely get excited about a political candidate.  And yet, I frequently find a politician that is worth casting a ballot for.  I also believe that the Democratic party has my best interest in mind.  Sure, I am not super excited about a Joe Biden presidency.  I am excited about what Democratic progressives can do.  This arm of the party includes faces such as Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayana Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. I am even cautiously optimistic about a Vice President Kamala Harris.  When I voted in the 2020 election, it was for them.

That being said, I have been too harsh and dismissive of this mindset in the past.  All Black people are my brothers and sisters.  We are each fighting our own battle.  Sometimes we fight by voting.  Sometimes we fight by seizing institutional power for ourselves.  Sometimes we fight through protests and other civic actions.  Sometimes we fight through social media and the internet.  Our goals are mostly the same, so I need to calm down a little about the methods used.

With all that said, I do want to take a minute to focus on black voting power.  We are a group of people that has been and still is denied the right to vote, through legal and extralegal methods.  And yet, fighting for our own right to vote has allowed for us to recognize the power in the ballot.  This has had a tremendous impact on politics, especially the politics of the 21^st century.

So, let’s talk about it.

Black people are one of the most politically active voting blocs in the country.

We are more likely than Asian and Hispanic voters to turn out.  We are also nearly as likely as white people.  The election in 2012 was a critical one for our first black president.  That year, we were the most active voting bloc by race/ethnicity. 

I like to think that history plays a role in this.  For much of this country’s history, black people were not allowed to vote.  Even now, we deal with voter suppression efforts.  And yet, we have made a tremendous impact.

EDIT- I originally put together this piece ahead of the 2020 election.  In this election, one with record turnout, Black voters in Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania cast decisive votes in the 2020 election.  Black people are kingmakers when we want to be.

Black people play a tremendous role in democratic presidential primaries.

We backed Barack Obama in 2008.  We backed Hillary Clinton in 2016.  Bernie Sanders had a ton of momentum until Black people in the South backed Joe Biden.  Now, Biden is the nominee and Sanders has been exiled back to the progressive wing of the party. In other words, we backed Joe Biden.  And here is hot take.  Whoever we back in 2024 will be the democratic nominee.  You do not become the nominee without a seal of approval from black voters in this country.  This is real political power. 

Even when we are not playing kingmaker, we are content to play queenmaker.  Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as VP was a targeted olive leaf to black voters.  Sure, her “progressive” credentials are questionable.  And yet, this is a tacit acknowledgement that black voters are not a monolith.  Younger black voters are broadly not on board with Joe Biden.  Many of us who are not completely disengaged can get behind a Biden-Harris ticket. 

We play a tremendous role in the general election too.

We turned out in 2008.  We topped that in 2012 to become the most politically active voter group in the nation in 2012.  We gave Hillary Clinton our seal of approval during the primaries.  Then, we abandoned her in the general election. Voter turnout in the 2016 election was low.  And surprise, the decline was steepest amongst Black Americans.  Perhaps it was too much to ask us to maintain the same level of energy for a non-Obama candidate.  Perhaps we had become jaded from the 8 years of incremental change.  For many, Barack Obama was not the salvation that he claimed to be.  Regardless, we did not show up.  In doing so, we allowed Donald Trump to become president. 

Let us not make that same mistake in 2020 (*Note:  We didn’t).  Get out and vote (*Note: We did).  If you cannot vote, for whatever reason, I do understand.  But make sure you are doing something.  We do have power.  Be the change that you want to see. 

Our votes do matter.  There are differences across the political spectrum.

If you’re not sure who to vote for or why you should even vote, check out this website.  It does a very good job of identifying where candidates stand on the issues.  It then asks you where you stand on the issues and “matches” you to different candidates.  I like to call it “Political Tinder/Hinge”.  Take me, for example.  I strongly agree with the Green (96%) and Democratic Parties (93%), but not the Republican Party (3%).  I strongly agree with Bernie Sanders (94%), Elizabeth Warren (93%), and Kamala Harris (93%).  I am less likely to agree with Barack Obama (91%) and Joe Biden (87%).  Yet, we still agree on most of the issues.  Predictably, Donald Trump and I agreed on very little (4%).  And yet, both agree that we should release non-violent criminals from prison. 

We won’t find candidates that appeal to us on every issue.  The only way to do that is to run for office yourself.  Yet, we can find candidates and political parties that broadly appeal to what we would like to see in action.  And please, stop saying that all politicians and parties are the same, or that they have the same goals.  They may share some goals (American and Corporate Imperialism), but they have very different ideologies.

How did this content make you feel?  Please let us know in the comments. If you enjoyed it, please check out some of our other content!  If you would like to get the latest updates, please subscribe and check out our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter profiles.