Importance of Voting

Voting is a privilege that we, as black Americans, did not have until long after we were forced into this country. It is a privilege that we should not take for granted because our people fought long and hard to get us where we are today.
The first slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in the year of 1619 from a country now called Angola.
The first presidential election was held 170 years later in 1789, and we were not able to be a part of it.
The fifteenth amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified on February 3rd, 1870, granted African American men the right to vote. Even though the amendment was passed, black men still faced discrimination and other hate crimes that prevented them from voting. The fifteenth amendment was granted only for African American men, so on August 18th, 1920, the nineteenth amendment was passed. It granted all women, even black, the right to vote.
Through all of this strife and dissension, our people were still denied their constitutional right to vote, this time because of poll taxes, literacy tests, and so on.
By 1940, African American voter registration had dropped to just three percent in the south because of voter suppression. Our people still fought, protested, and marched for their rights.
The Selma to Montgomery march in 1965 changed everything for black people across America.
On August 6th, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, lifting all barriers that were stopping blacks from voting.
For nearly 200 years, black people were denied the act of voting.
After all of the heartache and pain our people suffered through, still only 66.2 percent of black people in America voted in the 2012 presidential election. Our votes are very important.
Your vote is your voice. I believe that it is safe to say that the presidential election is the most important one.
The president is the head of state, he appoints or hires people for powerful positions in the government. He has the power to veto any bill that congress sends to him, he handles all foreign affairs and much more.
We want the person running our country to be someone wise and someone who is beneficial to us. This is a matter of our wellbeing, so by voting, we are in control. We can elect someone that we know will get the job done and make America the place to be. We are the minority with the biggest voice! So don’t take this privilege for granted, go vote!