5 Important Quotes on Voting and Engaging in the Political Process from Revolutionary Black Leaders

A common thread in this year's midterms is that "democracy is on the ballot." These Black freedom fighters articulated timeless gems on Black folks engaging in the political process.

Fannie Lou Hamer speaking to Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party sympathizers, circa 1965; Photo credit: AP Photo, William J. Smith

Today (November 8), millions of Americans will cast their ballots in midterm election races across the U.S. Over the past decade, the electoral process has become as polarized as it perhaps has ever been in the nation’s history, as partisan lines have been divided not by slight differences in ideologies, but rather extreme and at times violent levels of division regarding the direction of this country.

We have reached a point in the American narrative where a multitude of voices from every possible direction is descending onto a democracy in peril, and demanding to have their version of a model America manifest through leadership that directly align with their ideals. The 2022 midterm elections are taking place amid a peculiar time, one in which the entire world has been on the recovery from a two-and-a-half-year pandemic, and the United States which had once been viewed as an exemplary pillar of open democracy, has had the curtains pulled back on how long it has truly been fractured.

A recurring theme for this year’s midterm elections, particularly amongst prospective candidates from the Democratic Party, is that democracy itself is on the ballot as it pertains to leadership, policies, amendments, etc. There is the belief (and to some extent evidence) that post-Trump America has made way for an even more grandiose version of MAGA-influenced conservatism and that the Republican Party, by and large, has succumbed to the vision of its most extremist identities.

On the left, there is a large swath of voters, specifically voters of color and other minorities, who feel that the Biden-led administration, along with the majority Democratic House and Senate, has defaulted on deliverables promised. These voters likely have no interest in casting their votes for GOP candidates at the local or federal level, but at the same time only feel obligated to continue the legacy of voting for “the lesser evil”, based on the presumption of comfort that comes from dealing with “the devil they know.”

For Black American voters, the tension that comes with engaging in the political process is ever-present, despite gains made by the Black political class. We know the sacrifices that were made for our right to vote just like we know the still persistent efforts to suppress our voting rights. We have seen Black politicians ascend to the highest offices in the land, all while witnessing our material conditions remain relegated to that of second-class citizens.