I VOTED! And what that means to me...
It's Election Day!A day I thought would never come. It seems like we've been going thru this Clinton/Trump debacle for years...but it's here...finally. I decided to get up early and go vote before I headed in to work. The process was surprisingly simple. I was in and out within 15 minutes...but it was during those 15 minutes and those immediately after that will forever change me.This isn't my first time voting. I voted in 2008 and 2012 for Barack Obama (3 terms please!!). However, this was my first time voting as a true working class citizen. As a result, I did my due diligence to look over the points that each candidate stood for and how that would help/hinder me as a person and made a logical decision about who I would be voting for.When I walked into the voting place, they took my I.D., made sure I was who I was suppose to be, and handed me a ballot. As I took my seat, it hit me....I was about to do something that my ancestors fought, bled, and even died for.My eyes began to water as I sat and understood what they were fighting for. I didn't have to worry about poll taxes, literary tests, or even intimidation like many of my ancestors. I walked into my polling place of my own accord and was able to vote freely and independently of any harassment or violence. It took me a minute to get my emotions together.After voting for #HER and several other officials and amendments, I placed my ballot in the machine, was given an 'I VOTED' sticker, and began to walk in my car. After getting in my car, I just sat there. It hit me as a wave/rush or emotions again. I could possibly be voting for the first woman president of the United States.I was alive to be able to witness the first black president of the United States. I began to think of my grandfather. About the stories he would tell of growing up black in the South. I heard the stories of beatings, punishment, and violence by just trying to exercise their voting rights. There are times when I wished he was alive to see Barack Obama in office. To know that his pains weren't in vain...that was when I truly began to realize that I am my ancestors wildest dreams. To be able to vote without discrimination. To know that all the work the Freedom Riders didn't go in vain. Even though I live in a blood red state and my vote for #HER will not help with her electoral votes, I exercised my right as a citizen of the United States to vote and that means to world to both me and my ancestors.
Voting is the most precious right of every citizen, and we have a moral obligation to ensure the integrity of our voting process
-Hilliary Clinton
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