Do it for Laverne Cox
Find Laverne Cox’s original Instagram reel here.
I spend all my time thinking of ways to say things that I believe are important. I’m always jealous when other people seem to do it better than me. Laverne Cox–she’s a miracle. In a recent Instagram post, she spoke about voting in a way that was, for lack of a better description, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.
“Voting for the lesser of two evils is harm reduction.”
Today is the day. A day that should be a national holiday. It’s voting day. If you’re reading this, I’m honored. You likely received countless emails just like this one. The difference is, I would typically never ask you to vote. I would ask you to radicalize and work to destroy the systems that exist. Not reform them. Unionize your workplace a take the power away from your employers. Join your city council and stimy, local developers, from ruining your towns and cities. Are you a billionaire? If not, this system will never support you. But until that time, we have to work with what we have.
I get not voting as a protest against the broken two-party system. We inherited a mess from our less-than-empathetic generational predecessor. I do agree that both parties support the rich and don’t care about the working class. This has been evident for the past . . . well, since the beginning of America. The difference is that we have a party that actively wants to undo our democracy. If you’re still dragging your feet (believe me, I get it), here is one last try from me to convince you. Especially if you live in a swing state (New Hampshire, Minnesota, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas).
I Lost My Home because of Mid-terms
Photo credit Historychannel.com
There are so many different arguments about this that I’m only another cook in a crowded kitchen. I’ll just speak on my own experience as a very young progressive activist in the 2000 election between George Bush and Al Gore. Do you remember the election that was, too close to call? Would the Gore administration have invaded Iraq? Maybe. Would we be in the same climate mess? Possibly. I believe that we would be living in a much better world if Gore won—if more of us would have shown up to vote. Voter turnout was 50.5% for this election. Too bad I was only 15 years old.
In my home state of North Carolina, we were known as the progressive oasis of the south. We were the most forward-thinking state in the dixie. We lost it all during the Mid-terms after Obama was elected president. The GOP took over and redrew the voting maps so they could never lose again. I lost my home state. Now we are losing our country in the same way.
Now go! Grab all your friends, stuff them into a minivan, and travel to your nearest polling place. Drop them off at the local Ben & Jerry’s, then go pick up more friends. The mid-terms this year will determine the next decade. This is it!
See you on the other side.
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Do it for Laverne Cox