Monday, November 06, 2006

Girl, get your suffrage on!

Let’s just jump right in, shall we?

Congratulations go out to the St. Louis HRC 2006 Gala Committee for a successful event! A bitch attended Saturday…wearing my new fashion forward eyewear, of course (wink)…and had a fantabulous time.

Girl, get your suffrage on!
Channeling vote-based energy to the music of Corinne Bailey Rae

To my sisters in the struggle…to the millions of American women between the ages of 18 and 34 who never miss an episode of Grey’s Anatomy but can’t get their happy asses to the polls to save their lives.

Mmmhmmm.

Girl, get your suffrage on!

If you think politics doesn’t have anything to do with you…if you think the only things on ballots are candidates and issues that don’t apply to you…you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Politics will jump yup and bite you in the ass when you least expect it. There are huge issues being discussed…stem cell research, tax increases that will impact how much your happy ass pays for all kinds of shit and a potential minimum wage increase that you need to voice your opinion on.

Voting shouldn’t have to be sexy for you to participate…it shouldn’t have to be marketed a special way or spun out via YouTube complete with focus group tested fruit flavors and a cool suitably trendy free music download.

Lawd give me strength!

American women got the vote in 1920…and women of color waited until 1965 for a federally protected vote.

Before that...less than 100 years ago in our nation’s history…public policy happened to us. And catch that knee before it jerks. Catch it! Take a walk through history before you start mouthing off about how shit happens to you now....you ain't seen shit compared to 1915.

Apathy is powerful...it has managed to accomplish what jail, fire hoses, police dogs and intimidation failed to.

Now is the time to shake it off, y'all!

Get your motherfucking vote on...or get out of my face.

Too many were denied and there is a reason they were denied…because the vote has power.

Never forget that. That is the reason The Man wants you apathetic, comfortably numb and blissfully ignorant.

Power.

And that is the reason lives were risked…lives were sacrificed…to gain the vote.

Power.

I really wish I could stop giving a shit. Lawd knows I’ve tried and failed.

This is my country too. I live here. My reasons for voting have names and faces…hopes and dreams…needs and wants that are directly tied to public policy and therefore to the vote.

So…

****shaking my groove thing to Ms. Bailey Rae****

This sister is going to go get my suffrage on…and then put my records on (wink).

It matters.

Now more than ever.

Fuck milk.

Got the vote?

10 comments:

Maya's Granny said...

My great-grandmother was arrested for trying to vote before it was legal for her to do so. In our family, we all vote. We have no desire for Great-granny to spin in her grave and come out to haunt us.

Sufferage was fought for. Use it.

Anonymous said...

Haven't yet missed a local, state, or national election; as soon as I turned 18 my Irish ass was in the voter's booth. Know who else got the vote in 1920? The Irish... prior to that it was a take-off on Puffy - "Vote and Die!" So

- For my ancestors who walked through hails of rocks and garbage; who lost their lives to the Riots and the Risings; watched their children die of starvation and disease because voting meant the Crown turned its wrath on them;

- For my children (and they are all our children, yours and mine) the young soldiers and sailors and airmen and marines who bleed and die for Democracy; those who live in the shadows and starve on the streets; those who face untenable choices and nightmare lives;

You'de better believe I take 20 minutes out of my precious year to walk to my polling station, pull out my ID, grab the punch card, and vote.

Anonymous said...

If you dont vote, dont complain or you dont have the right to complain.

thatfarmgirl said...

May I republish (with credit, of course) on my blog? I just had the most infuriating discussion with a friend who refuses to vote. Arrrrrrrrrggggghhhhh.

Anonymous said...

I'm excited--not only is tomorrow my first time voting in New York (transplanted Hoosier here), but my fiance will lose his voting virginity.

Also, after years of 'discussions', my mother finally saw the light a few weeks ago and figured out that as a single mother earning about $25,000 per year, voting for Republicans is not her best bet. Maybe she can convince the rest of Indiana.

Hooray for suffrage!!

~Macarena~ said...

Tell me your favorite song.

I'm 32, I've never seen Grey's Anatomy, and I'll be voting. I know there's more than two kinds of women within the demographic.

It seems I could have voted absentee, and I'll probably regret not doing so. I bet a lot more people could do it, especially those who think voting is a hassle. Perhaps they don't know or care. Also, all the information about it reads as though the practice is frowned upon. I don't know what the big deal is. (Maybe I should have volunteered to count paper ballots.)

Anonymous said...

Went over to tell my mother in law's caregiver to get to the polls. She's got three kids and a no-good boyfriend. She was stuffing her face with bacon and eggs and watching Judge Judy tell off an African American single mom for neglecting her duties.
She said she had to go to her kid's soccer game tomorrow. She would try to find the time to go to the polls, maybe.
Grrrrr! Doesn't she realize she's the target?

Anonymous said...

My absentee ballot already went in. (Voting from Japan, here!)

It's just nearing 7:30am on the U.S.'s east coast and here it's already 9:30pm. Dunno how I'll sleep tonight, thinking about all of you over there doing your duty in person.
(oh, yes. It is a duty.
A duty to all the people who came before, all those who will come after, all those who can't do it themselves and especially to yourself.
I don't soapbox often, and here on ABB's turf it might be preaching to the choir, but you betcha,
voting is your duty.

I've been reading on a few other sites today, at least in the comments, and I recall ABB talking about it in the past, a beautiful suggestion so I hope it's not too late to get this up on here::

If you know someone who may not vote because of watching kids, can't drive, etc. please give them a call and see if you can't help them out to get their vote out.

Wish I could be with you all today.
Wish I could help, hands-on in the process.
Alas, not this year.
But my thoughts and my heart are with you today.

Go get it!

Troy3

Anonymous said...

Oh I LOVED your blog today. I carried a similar topic, but not with as much style OR musical groove. :D

http://dmfengshuilife.blogspot.com/2006/11/harriet-tubman-once-said-i-freed.html

Harriet Tubman once said, "I freed thousands of slaves, I could have freed thousands more if they had known they were slaves."

On this Election Day, we honor the women leaders who stand for their beliefs, who speak and insistent on being understood. Of Iron Jawed Angels, and Fearless Executive Women!

Dawn
http://linkedin.com/in/dmular

Lisa Blah Blah said...

to the millions of American women between the ages of 18 and 34 who never miss an episode of Grey’s Anatomy but can’t get their happy asses to the polls to save their lives.

Preach on it!

I have not missed an election since I turned 18 (way longer ago than I want to think about. Damn, time flies).

This is my country too. I live here.

Amen.

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