Last night many of us watched the MTV VMAs and discussed the foolishness on facebook and twitter as if it was a life changing event. A friend of mine said, "I wish we'd pay this much attention to the democratic process in this country"
It is easy to forget that rights some women take for granted now are historically very recent and were gained for us by women who were strong and courageous. In the United States women were NOT the last to win this right in 1920 less than 100 years ago, Young people were in 1971! This year marks the 37th Anniversary of the ratification of the 26th Amendment which gave 18-20 year-olds the right to vote. Before 1971 only citizens 21 years-old and older could vote. And in other countries around the world, some people have just begun to exercise this right while others are still fighting for it! SO YOUNG WOMEN MUST TAKE A SPECIAL STAND!
If only voting was a s sexy as the MTV VMAs! We must all realize that "the personal is political" Our personal lives and politics - power inequality - in the economic, social, and political spheres are intertwined.
I joked that politicians should give speeches in between performances at entertainment events and award shows. All the candidates running for office in NYC should've been at the VMAs last night! The host, Russell Brand, gave a shout out to Obama, but there's no presidential election this year and there were no Vote or Die or Rock the Vote ads for local elections!
We make the mistake of only paying attention to Presidential Elections but there are many local representatives running for office and Primary Elections are tomorrow!
Primary Elections are held so that voters registered with a qualified political party may select their party's nominees to the general election for partisan offices. Because a primary is a party election, only voters registered with one of the parties qualified to conduct a primary in New York City may vote in their party's (Democrats, Republicans, etc.) primary. General Elections are held to elect candidates to public offices. For partisan offices, nominees from the party primary elections appear on the ballot, along with independent candidates. http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/
In New York, citywide positions open are Mayor, Comptroller and Public Advocate while each Borough has local representatives running in certain districts and a Borough President. Did you know that if something happens to the Mayor then the Public Advocate has to step up? PAY ATTENTION! Also, every Borough (Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island) in New York City has a Borough Hall (like city hall in Manhattan) with a Borough President who advises the Mayor on special issues pertaining to that area. Where your tax dollars end up is heavily determined by your Borough President. PAY ATTENTION!
Local representatives are your legislative branch, they write bills to propose to become laws and then vote on whether or not proposed bills become laws. They determine where your tax dollars go! The person representing you in your own backyard could be the difference between whether or not Obama get support for all the promises he made to us. Your local representatives represent you in the electoral college, remember we don't have a complete democracy, we have a republic. Get involved to make sure your neighrborhood representative is representing you and your needs! Act local to impact global!
Go to www.nyccfb.info/voterguide for more information on all the candidates.
English and Spanish transcripts for candidates’ statements, as well as Chinese and Korean translations for candidates in targeted districts, can be obtained by visiting www.nyc.gov/videovoter or by calling 311.
0 comments:
Post a Comment