Will you vote for President this year?

Yes, I will. I’ve always voted since I became eligible.

I’ve always considered my one vote very important. Not because I think I’m someone special but because in my lifetime, IL voted for a Republican president seven or eight times. We used to be a swing state, so this gal ain’t wasting the opportunity to keep her state blue. I tell anyone in my orbit willing to listen that every D vote is crucial. And with mail-in voting available in my state, there’s no excuse for not voting.

Further, there were countless black people before me who died or were beaten in pursuit of franchise, and even when they had won the right, were barred from voting by draconian and racist laws. Even now, there are, I think, over twenty states that legislated voting laws for the express purpose of freezing out people of color. And who can ever forget Shelby County? The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg said it was one of the worst decisions in her long tenure. That's the case where her "umbrella" analogy became famous: “[t]hrowing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” My personal belief is for a black American not to vote is disrespecting those who sacrificed their lives and the people who continue to fight against disenfranchisement.