Great, another presidential election cycle
Perhaps you’ll read this as an unpopular opinion, but let me get this out of the way on the third week of 2024.
Don’t fall into the thinking that only voting in this presidential election and any others is the biggest political action you can take.
Sure, yes, voting is important (well…*gestures*), but I’ll still argue your local voting supersedes anything else. Well, big federal voting isn’t what immediately affects you and your city. Voting is still sold as the “proper” American thing to do, right? Especially for a presidential election.
It’s easy to fall into the general mindset of what we should do, vs what we need to be doing.
We can unionize and demand more power from our labor conditions. We can organize and voice our concerns about the state of reproductive health for people. We can come together and speak on the injustices of migrants on the border.
Granted, many organizations are doing these things right now. They are working against “proper” American things to do. They ask us to think about the conditions that exist and haven’t changed — regardless of who is president or not.
After all, let’s ask ourselves why the hardest-working people are still in poverty. Why are Black and poor communities largely ignored until it’s time for a presidential election? All of a sudden, they damn sure wanna talk about our problems.
Voting didn’t usher in movements like that of the Civil Rights era. Voting hasn’t fixed all these “broken” (they are working as intended) systems and institutions. Then, when people do vote en mass, retaliation arises in some way or another. See voter restrictions and actions taken.
Yes, I am a hypocrite for saying you should focus on collective work for people. I still don’t know what I’d like to join and be a part of for the benefit of people locally. It’s not that they don’t exist; I don’t know what would make more of an eventual change. Or what might be more beneficial to people right now?
I’m just read more about the work that came from collective action. It wasn’t just voting for the “better” president. I can’t say I’ve taken these lessons to heart yet because I’m still “looking.”
Will I choose to protest the presidential election and the current administration’s stance on the genocide of Palestinians? Will I decide instead to help feed people in need in South Florida with my free time? Hell, I might do a reversal and become a voting volunteer — while unlikely, it’s a possibility.
I’m rambling, and I’ve already acknowledged I need to do more than write on this blog. I hope you remember, while we’re being bombarded with “save us again, Black people, and vote blue”, there’s more that we all can do. We can do more than talk, be concerned, be scared; we can come together for common causes and work towards them.
It’s a better use of your time than worrying about presidential news when inequalities stick around, regardless of whether a Democrat or a Republican is in the white house.
