Thoughts on Activism and Voting
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JoPat Wellman, Guest Blogger | July 31, 2016
I'm the same age as Hillary so I've been around a few years, and like her, I'm a mother and a grandmother of two toddlers but also two teenagers.
One thing I’m certain of as a mother and grandmother is this is unequivocally one of the most important, if not the most important, elections of my lifetime. It's not important because of Hillary Clinton or even Donald Trump. No, it's a critical election because it's a battle for the very ideals and values we hold dear and to regain rights that are being
diminished or stripped away. My greatest fear is that if we lose those rights, we may never regain them. This is not an election to trifle with or to sit out or to cast a protest vote for an ineffective candidate. And I have a good reason to be passionate about it.
Like Hillary Clinton, my mother was my most important influence, my beacon that guided me through my life and still does even though she's no longer with me except in spirit. We have a saying in my family, WWAD-- What Would Alyce Do. My mom Alyce was born in Oklahoma to parents who never went beyond the eighth grade. She grew up in a small New Mexico town of about 800 mostly white farmers. Her parents, in spite of very little education, owned a thriving little grocery store. Sometimes my
grandmother didn't know what to do with my mother, who came home more than once with a bloody nose, her dress torn, or a cut or two. She was a fighter, a scrapper. She didn't back down from a bully, and she never backed down from defending what she believed in. Back in the 60's when she was a teacher, she forcefully pushed for a strike, something unheard of then and against New Mexico law. She couldn't gather enough support, but her resilience and courage on that day turned me into a warrior for justice.
This is what my mom taught me. She taught me to be a fighter--to stand up what I believe but to be certain I knew what I believed in. You keep fighting when others are trying to destroy you. You keep fighting when a win looks hopeless. And even in the hours before her death, when I was sobbing beside her, she focused those crystal blue eyes on me, eyes that still had fire in them, and said, "Suck it up. I didn't spend my life raising weak daughters. I spent my life raising strong women."
snip// ( I am skipping down to the last paragraph. There is so much truth in this article, please take the time to read.)
And that brings us back full circle. We need each other's votes. Don’t waste an opportunity to implement the most progressive platform ever--a platform for which Bernie and you fought so hard. Don’t waste your precious vote on Jill Stein or Gary Johnson or by sitting out the election because in the end all you will have is a pointless sense of self-righteousness and look at what you’ve lost--an opportunity to shape your own future. There will come a time you will need our votes and our voices. It’s a fair trade--your vote for my vote.
MORE: http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2016/7/31/thoughts-on-activism-and-voting
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Good Gawd, I am not sure why I get so emotional these days. I guess part of it is that this is, as Obama once said, a defining moment. This is one of the most important elections of our lifetime. I believe Hillary can have a huge impact on our future, a brilliant one that tells us that our voice is necessary if we want to move America forward. Men haven't always done the best job.
As women we have a wealth of knowledge that would astound you. We are the mothers the teachers. We birthed you and raised you, taught you and loved you.
I think it is past time that our voices are heard. Our strong steady hand, the one that nurtured you, needs to be felt.
= new reply since forum marked as read
squatting and birthing baby's in the field then go and pick some more crops? Ya, me too.
Love you. Thank you for putting this in GD! 
