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My Life hasn’t changed

Writer's picture: jnwashington0905jnwashington0905

Yesterday, my parish administrator and I went around the neighborhood distributing flyers for voter registration. We stopped by the local barbershop to ask if we could leave a flyer about where to register. While we were at the barbershop, one of the clients in the barber’s chair said, 'I’m not voting.' We all turned to him in disbelief. He explained his reasoning, saying, 'My life hasn’t changed since the last election. He spoke about how, under President Obama, nothing changed for him. 'What were you expecting to change?' I wondered. This young man, in his early thirties, was clearly educated and engaged. He shared that while he votes in local and state elections, he refuses to vote for the Presidency, stating it with pride. Yes, I saw red and wanted to scream at him. But I calmed myself down and simply said, 'Too many Black people died for the right to vote.' He responded, 'They didn’t die because they were voting.' I replied, 'They died so we could have the right to vote. The barber in the next stall was clearly upset but chose to stay quiet, sensing that an argument might break out. The sad part of this story is that the young man embodies a disregard for the idea that 'freedom is not free.


The older African-American men in the barbershop, along with those outside, lamented the devaluing of the right to vote. One elderly gentleman shared a story about being literally turned away and not allowed to vote, and how deeply it affected him. My question to the young man, both then and now, is, 'What are you expecting to happen?' Janet Jackson’s song, What Have You Done for Me Lately, echoes in my mind. Is this the mentality of our younger electorate—Gen Xers and others? At one point, he was even asked, 'What do you need to do differently?' I remember telling him, 'This isn’t just about you—it’s about all of us,'.... a Motherism response. I know there are likely thousands of young Black women and men who feel the same, thinking, 'My life hasn’t changed.' But we have to ask ourselves, who is working for the greater good of humanity? How will their ideas affect my community? It’s not just about me!

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