move On

On Saturday Move On org volunteers met in Glenn elementary parking lot at 10 AM.

Our objective was to go door-to-door canvassing in nearby neighborhoods to talk directly with preselected households of registered Independent and or Democrat voters.

The volunteer, pictured above, arrived after working a 7 PM to 7 AM nursing shift at Duke Hospital. She said she could give us an hour. We were grateful. At the end of her shift, we learned that she was five days into life as a citizen of the United States of America. This was to her an important act of citizenship.

Imagine for a moment all the excuses those of us born in the United States come up with for not participating in regional or national elections. There are so many demands on our time. Weekends are precious family time. Valid excuses.  My vote does not matter. All politicians are liars. Consider the fragility of our representative democracy.  Consider how many people feel disenfranchised from the process. Can you blame them when so many of our decisions are made for us?  Where do we have exercise control of our own lives and the political process?

There is one sure way to exercise your power in the process. The bare minimum ask is to vote. There are so many forces that don’t want you to participate. there are those who want to confuse you about the bare minimum threshold requirements to participate.

The new citizen above came from a country where elections were not necessarily free and fair. She voted for the first time in the United States in our beautiful city Durham North Carolina.

Participate and you will find that every individual makes a difference.