Why Vote?

[preach]

Vote or Die, what an exaggerated slogan pushed by Sean Puffy Combs. The general populous thinks that it is honorable for rappers to urge people to vote. The problem lies in the fact that no one is educating people about the candidates and their platform. No one is actually backing a particular party, and some even have the nerve to say that it doesn't matter who you vote for, just vote. In essence voting has become the popular thing to do. Few care to do research in order to make  proper assessments of the individual they plan to vote for or against. Most individuals are basing their voting decisions around the war. This is dangerous because after the war ends or continues the issues that directly affect us are ignored or forgotten. Even more important we people of African descent have no proper representation. Sure at the conventions we hear some wonderful ideas and promises, but what politician in the past or present has kept their word. Knowing this why should I vote?      

[Blessed]

I had the same mind set why vote as well, but when you think about it comes down to the lesser of 2 evils.  The voters registration act which allows African Americans to vote expires in the year 2006.  So although we might not have proper representation we should at least vote the candidate that we assume will do the best for people of color ; after we do some research as you have stated.  Think about the whole civil rights movement and even prior to that a lot of our fore fathers died for this.  Don't you think we owe that much to or let our so- called voice be heard?  

[nyamabla]

 So although we might not have proper representation we should at least vote the candidate that we assume will do the best for people of color ; after we do some research as you have stated.  Think about the whole civil rights movement and even prior to that a lot of our fore fathers died for this.  Don't you think we owe that much to or let our so- called voice be heard?  

raspek

"So although we might not have proper representation we should at least vote the candidate that we assume will do the best for people of color "

so who do i&i vote for then.

"after we do some research as you have stated. "

so i ask again after doing research now for the 10 or so years i have been able to vote. who do i&i vote for.

"Think about the whole civil rights movement and even prior to that a lot of our fore fathers died for this.  Don't you think we owe that much to or let our so- called voice be heard? "

our fore fathers and mothers died for alot of things and imho not even one of them was to go with the lesser of two evils. and how do ones that vote this way determine the extent of the evilness, is there a chart somewhere.

"Vote or Die, what an exaggerated slogan pushed by Sean Puffy Combs. The general populous thinks that it is honorable for rappers to urge people to vote."

laughable at best. i guess our peoples also died for this. what a shame.

i vote for africa.

selassie i

[preach]

It is true that our forefathers died for the right to vote. That has been accomplished. What they should been fighting for is the right to chose candidates amongst their peers. Perhaps they should have fought for a pre election where everyday citizens decide whether a candidate has their interest in mind before allowing them to precede. Our forefathers were actually pacified. The system decided that it would be okay to let them vote as long as no real change in their favor would occur because the candidates were all puppets who could be manipulated to do their bidding. It can be compared to the crying of an infant. The child actually wants food, their mother's breast, or just attention. But because she has her own agenda, because she doesn't want to be bothered, or because she is outright annoyed, etc.; she tends to buy time by giving the child a pacifier, which usually works because the child soon falls asleep. The realization is the next day that child will still be hungry.
Black America is disillusioned into thinking that Kerry will be our savior. After watching him Evade questions on BET during an interview with Ed Gordon I was further convinced he is not. He has no real agenda for people of color. So it comes down to how do we want to get f*****. Slow and methodically or fast and furious. The only election to date I would have felt confident about voting in occured in 85' when Harold Washington was the Mayor of Chicago. Unfortunately I wasn't old enough to vote. But I did know that he was a man of his word, an attribute lacking in most politicians.  

[gman]

stic man from dead prez put it well in the new issue of XXL magazine; that P.Diddy etc. are being CRIMINAL in just telling Black people to vote without trying to educate them as to the reality of politics. Cos that is just allowing politicians to get a base in the community, to get votes, and to make promises which will inevitably be betrayed... many people in the u.s,. including black people, are VERY naive as to how politics works...
If I could vote in the US I might consider voting for Kerry to vote against Bush. It's a matter of choosing which enemy you would rather fight, not which 'leader' you think would 'help' you. They are both our enemies, that is the consciousness that needs to be pushed among black and downpressed people; the only reason to vote for or against one is that you think you'd have a better chance of winning the fight against the one you vote for. To me, Kerry is slightly less likely to completely strip people of what little civil liberties etc. they have, hence would be an easier enemy to fight, hence preferable. On the other hand, Bush's blatant idiocy and evil has exposed the nature of the beast to the average person better than anyone else in history probably. A lot of people are now distrustful of politicians in general because of what they've seen Bush do, and that's a good thing. Kerry could be more dangerous in the long run cos he'd be a smoother talker and have more people fooled. Anyway it's an academic question for me since I can't vote in the US.
Regardless of whether or not you vote, the only thing that will make a real difference is ORGANIZING. Too many people think voting means being 'politically active'. The government would just LOVE it if everyone limited their 'political activism' to voting for one lying warmonger or another every four years.