We've got to make this history ourselves By Cori Bush
18 hrs ago
In a few short days, this election will be over. In a few short days, the hard work of two long years will draw to a close, and the United States will decide what we want the next two, or four, or 10 years to be like. It’s been said countless times before, but that’s because it’s true: this is one of the most consequential elections of our lifetimes.
But it’s not just these past four years that will be accounted for on November 3. For many of us, this struggle has been decades in the making. Nearly every day for the past four years, we’ve watched as the current father of racism, Donald Trump, and his administration stoop to new lows. Many of us are rightly shocked at the cruelty, bigotry, and hatred that our president and his white supremacist movement sow.
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Across our region, Black organizers have taken the lead in making sure the voices of St. Louisans are heard. Action St. Louis has led the charge to make sure our communities are fully counted in the census. Young Black organizers have been leading massive canvassing operations to increase voter turnout. We’ve built a framework for what it takes to win in St. Louis. We proved it worked in my primary victory in August by building a coalition that brought thousands of new voters to the ballot boxes. We did it by reaching out to the community and inviting voters back into the system, by letting them know that they had something important to bring to this movement.
Because St. Louis voted, I am slated to become Missouri’s first Black congresswoman. I am slated to become Missouri’s first nurse congresswoman. I am slated to become the first woman to represent Missouri’s 1st Congressional District. And I am slated to become our nation’s first Black Lives Matter activist in Congress. But we still have more to accomplish.
We have a lot to be proud of—from my two close friends, former state Representative Bruce Franks Jr. and current state Representative Rasheen Aldridge, to my siSTARS Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner and St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones—we have every reason to be full of hope for the future. Because we know what starts in St. Louis can effect change all across Missouri.
We have the chance to flip the whole state Blue and start a new chapter in our history. We can defeat Trump, Governor Mike Parson, and the entire movement of white supremacy that they rode to power on. So, let’s recognize our individual power. Let’s recognize that we all have something great to bring to the table. And let’s push that forward. Because this movement is strong, but collectively, we can make it even stronger.
When we vote, we win. So, I’m asking you to vote. And I’m asking you to volunteer. Make phone calls. Send text messages. Knock doors, and help drop literature. Then do just a little bit more. Talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors, and talk to your colleagues.
We don’t want to wake up on November 4 asking ourselves the same question we asked four years ago: Could I have done more? We have the opportunity to set our state and our nation on a new path. This is a history-making moment, but no one is going to make it for us. We’ve got to make this history ourselves—and we can. Let’s win this thing together, St. Louis.
http://www.stlamerican.com/news/columnists/guest_columnists/we-ve-got-to-make-this-history-ourselves/article_7067e958-1872-11eb-b0ef-db9658c50709.html
