vote.

yes.

my homeboy is a lyricist. he is, as many others are, trying to make his name in hip/hop and rap music. ive heard bits of this work, its aiight. he's white, also, and in the past ive found him to be rather arrogant and paranoid, he's said things i've thought ignorant and immature and inexperienced. but this is in the past. ive not hung out with him in years, he could be a totally different person now, i dont know.

he has written a dis to eminem. i think this is lame. i think the whole dis game in hip hop is stupid, its dividing the culture therfore weakening it. stop being worried about what other people are doing and worry about yourself. anyways, my friend's cut was talking about the eminem video that talked about voting and my friend said, "my main purpose is to tell people voting doesnt count if you dont count in the first place." and i disagree.

here was my reply:
well........... i must disagree that voting is not the answer. certainly i do not belive that voting is the only avenue, but ALL aveues must be explored/executed in the quest/struggle for freedom. even if you dont think voting does anything, you can at least fill out the ballad with write in candidates you DO want in office. you can go in and turn in a blank ballad. you can mail in your absentee ballad with a letter telling the government all your gripes; THESE are protests. to not vote... who cares if you dont vote, no one knows that you didnt.

if anything, i vote because i CAN. i vote b/c its my right. to know that my grandfather could not vote, to know that my own father was intimidated by the white folks around him to not vote, to know that people marched, endured attack dogs and beatings, to know my people kicked the door down for me so that i CAN vote... i vote. to do otherwise is like telling my relatives/ancestors their efforts did nothing, when i know it did. maybe not enough, not as much as they'd hoped, black folks arent where they could/should be, but it made a difference. maybe a small difference depending on how you look at it, but wars arent won in one battle.

i dont think that its going to solve everything, but i really do believe that if we came out en mass, it might. history shows this; post civil war was when the most number of blks were voted into office, and the rise of the KKK squashed it. and if black folks werent being murdered & massacred, they would have been able to keep going. if the gay population and gay rights supporters voted, prop 22 would have passed and gay marriage would be legalized. stoners DID vote, thats why prop 215 passed. and if these smokers kept fighting, 215 couldve been enforced. if people of color voted, prop 209 wouldve been squashed and we'd still have affirmative action. getting the proposition to pass isnt the answer, its a step. voting isnt the answer, its a step. freedom is a struggle, we fight everyday, in every way. Because blacks in chicago voted in 1982, they elected the first black mayor.

i think that to say 'voting doenst matter if we dont count in the first place...' sounds like giving up. certainly i know, study, recognize, live, this life in america as a black woman, i know the strikes against me, but i dont give up, i fight and survive and try to thrive and hope that i can make things better if not for me then for those after me.

anyways... i guess i want more, joshua. i want you to give your audience more. i speak only for myself, but to say that your main purpose is to tell people voting doesnt count if you dont count in the first place states only the problem and not any solutions or actions. if we dont vote, then what do we do? admittedly in my own art i do more of raising questions then providing anwers and solutions, but thats my intention: i raise questions, i want people to think and rethink, hoping it leads to re-evaluation of whatever. if you tell people that thier vote doesnt count, then what... sit down?

again, i speak only for myself. i dont think we need to JUST vote. i think we need to vote AND. vote and protest. vote and organize. vote and excersice your dollar. vote and. just vote AND.

update: after i wrote this, he deleted his post, and my reply. ha!