It's Super Tuesday. Election Day. Time for you to get out the vote. I've only missed one election ever in my voting career - a run-off for a local office. I kicked myself so hard for that because I realize what a privilege it is to be able to freely exercise my Constitutional rights. And as much as I love democracy and hold it up as an ideal, I also realize that my ability to freely exercise rights still is not something equally afforded to all American citizens.
I'm not going to go into candidate stumping and bashing in this post (ok... well, maybe a little...). But I do want to encourage you to think back about what you learned about citizenship and democracy in your elementary school social studies classes. In my elementary school, there was a display of important historical documents in the hallway on the way out to the playground. The display, called "The Freedom Shrine," was permanently mounted to the cinder block wall. Students lined up in that hallway every day, and absent-mindedly touched replicas of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Magna Carta, the Emancipation Proclamation, and more, as we filed outside. While our little fingers danced across words of great magnitude, we viscerally beheld examples of democratic struggle. Democracy is not always easy, but it is always worth it.
I'm not going to go into candidate stumping and bashing in this post (ok... well, maybe a little...). But I do want to encourage you to think back about what you learned about citizenship and democracy in your elementary school social studies classes. In my elementary school, there was a display of important historical documents in the hallway on the way out to the playground. The display, called "The Freedom Shrine," was permanently mounted to the cinder block wall. Students lined up in that hallway every day, and absent-mindedly touched replicas of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Magna Carta, the Emancipation Proclamation, and more, as we filed outside. While our little fingers danced across words of great magnitude, we viscerally beheld examples of democratic struggle. Democracy is not always easy, but it is always worth it.
 An example of The Freedom Shrine - this one is in Memorial Town Hall in Madison, CT. | I didn't think much of it at the time, but considerable good came from the many days was I parked in line next to the Declaration of Independence. Intentional focus on good citizenship by my primary school teachers and by members of my family made my repeated exposure to words like "freedom," "justice," "inalienable," "equal," and "liberty" meaningful. What I know of equality and justice originated in my childhood and formed my bedrock understanding of what it means to live in a democratic society as an adult. |
Which brings me back to this election. It's a fact that some candidates are more invested in the democratic process than others. Some candidates have a much better understanding of the notion of "We the People" than others. Some candidates better understand the promise and shortcomings of living in a democratic republic than others. And some candidates are more willing to do the hard and necessary things to uphold justice, to work toward equality, and to strive for liberty than others.
On this Super Tuesday, please go vote. When you do, think about your eight-year-old self. Would you have voted for a bully? Would you have voted for a person who singles out others based on their religion or the color of their skin? Would you have voted for someone who only had a passing knowledge of the precious documents that hung outside your classroom? Would you have voted for someone who claimed that the fact that they had a lot of money gave them more privileges? Would you have voted for someone who tried to silence people who were brave enough to point out injustice and to propose ways to make our country better? If your eight-year-old self would have said "no" to any of those questions, then your grown-up self should know what to do. Democracy can be hard, and messy, and difficult. But at the same time, it's pretty simple. As a collective, we should do all that we can to ensure liberty and freedom for everyone; and if injustices persist, then it's up to us to do something about it. Your vote is your power. Don't waste it. Today, I'm looking for more than good. I hope that you'll be Super.
On this Super Tuesday, please go vote. When you do, think about your eight-year-old self. Would you have voted for a bully? Would you have voted for a person who singles out others based on their religion or the color of their skin? Would you have voted for someone who only had a passing knowledge of the precious documents that hung outside your classroom? Would you have voted for someone who claimed that the fact that they had a lot of money gave them more privileges? Would you have voted for someone who tried to silence people who were brave enough to point out injustice and to propose ways to make our country better? If your eight-year-old self would have said "no" to any of those questions, then your grown-up self should know what to do. Democracy can be hard, and messy, and difficult. But at the same time, it's pretty simple. As a collective, we should do all that we can to ensure liberty and freedom for everyone; and if injustices persist, then it's up to us to do something about it. Your vote is your power. Don't waste it. Today, I'm looking for more than good. I hope that you'll be Super.
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