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1789 to Today Ordinary life involves rights that to others, appear like pipe dreams. As someone born in New York to naturalized parents, I never wondered how my life could upend should the government change its mind. With insurance through hyperspecific employment, healthcare hasn’t been a worry. Even as a woman of color, I have the “model minority” sash: I’ve long presented as respectable and adaptable, with ambitions as American as Asian. I’ve struggled, as shared in Seven Yrs and five-plus years of therapy, but I think of how the healing began in college. I attended through scholarships and financial aid, so much financial aid I could attain only because I’m a citizen. I am lucky to be fine, that I have rights to be fine. But as anyone tracking the news knows, not everyone is protected: a woman in Oklahoma cannot do what a girl in California can; a Dreamer cannot do what I can; a black man can call the police, but why would he? Fannie Lou Hamer said, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” I believe freedom starts with equal say on what happens to you. I believe this means voting rights. —And quickly, this newsletter has been about personal endeavors and creative tidbits and will remain so. To me, this topic fits because without policies that rep our collected beliefs, what we do as individuals goes to waste. Storytelling can forge empathy and awareness, but what does it matter if the real world does not shift as our values do? How can I expect you to thrive if you still have to survive first? Every well-meaning person, including myself, says to vote to enact change—but enfranchisement has been a battle since the beginning of the US and voting itself has lost power this past decade. Here is my Primer on Voting Rights, put in order of what feels most crucial: #1 End gerrymandering Drawing electoral boundaries is called redistricting and how it’s done is decided by each state, every 10 years after the census. Redistricting is legal and necessary as populations grow and communities shift; what is not necessary is gerrymandering, manipulation of redistricting to ensure certain people retain or gain power. When one party dominates legislature, gerrymandering is child’s play because state officials draw the lines, meaning one party draws the lines. The fairest solution is for every state to have an independent redistricting commission, something any citizen can propose through a ballot initiative. Not only would communities be better understood, but their truly chosen representatives would get a say in important matters, from recommending what gets federal funding to appointing people to those silly electoral colleges that decide the presidency. To dig deeper, I rec playing with NYT’s How Maps Reshape American Politics and watching Slay the Dragon (scroll down!). #2 Strengthen access to voting Cries of voter fraud have been buzzing for years, but that is some timeworn bullshit. This is a false rationale to invoke voter suppression. There has never been in a time in our democracy when everyone could vote, and it’s because there are people in power who do not want that. White male property owners AKA money could always vote, but it took protests and a literal Civil War to yield the right to each group. When a newly freed black population emerged after the war still, it heralded the heyday for voter suppression: requirements to pay to vote via poll taxes, literacy tests designed for participants to fail, and violence towards those who dared use their rights. While they sound archaic, these actual laws persisted into the 20th century till the Civil Rights Movement garnered the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This landmark legislation prohibited racial discrimination in voting nationwide. A key piece was preclearance, meaning any state and district known for attempting discrimination was required to get approval from the feds on any change proposed to their voting practices. But in 2013, preclearance was struck down by the Supreme Court and the floodgates opened for legally accepted suppression. The act still exists, but its impact didn’t get to last half a century. Nowadays, suppression is just raising the barrier to vote, from requiring birth certificates at the polls to purges that clear names from registration lists without notice. See what’s being challenged by the ACLU here and know your own rights to vote. #3 Propose new ballot initiatives If you’re not dead yet, neither is democracy. While the odds are clearly stacked, we can still push by using the direct tools we got. As mentioned under gerrymandering, a ballot initiative is the process any citizen can take to put the change they want to a vote. With simply enough signatures (number varies by state), an initiative can get on the ballot. If voted for, an initiative can repeal, amend, or create local and state laws. In other words, we don’t have to wait for representation to rep ourselves. Want to tax the rich? Initiative. Get more affordable housing, raise the minimum wage, get paid medical leave: initiative, initiative, initiative. Then off with gerrymandering’s head! And remember how I said not everyone can vote? People convicted of felonies are barred in several states and they include “returning citizens,” those who have completed their sentences. When we recognize how the justice system disproportionately punishes Black and Latinx folks, we see how the loss of this right takes away from their communities to address that. Rights can be restored with an initiative. Do and vote for the people who cannot. #4 Register people to vote I don’t like making eye contact in parking lots or outside the grocery store either, but registering people to vote works. Underrepresented are young folks and Latinx people, so strategize tables for colleges and neighborhood events. Organizations like Rock the Vote, League of Women Voters, and Voto Latino can always use help. Remind each person that every vote is a say in what happens. Those who manipulate the system don’t care about who’s not in it, so let’s give them a lot to worry about. #5 Vote Google your choices, DuckDuckGo those guides! Rules vary by state, so register to vote OR check that you’re registered before your state’s deadline. Vote early if you can~ And if there are more fundamentals I’m missing, hit me up.
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