Ferguson Proves: Your Vote MATTERS. [View all]

[riqster]

https://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/ferguson-proves-your-vote-matters/

Source info at the link.

And your vote can change things. In Ferguson, MO, the locals did more than march in the streets: they marched right into the Board of Elections and cast ballots. And they tripled the number of council seats they hold. “Huge” doesn’t begin to describe it.

Ferguson residents voted to add two African Americans to the city council, a move that diversifies an elected body that was overwhelmingly white in a city with a majority black population.

Ella Jones, Brian Fletcher and Wesley Bell captured three seats on the Ferguson City Council. Jones and Bell are African American, while Fletcher is white. The six-member council will now have three black members for the first time in its history.

Bell said he was heartened by the sturdy turnout — especially since prior elections had featured dismal voter participparticipation. “We knocked on doors. We were all about community outreach and staying positive. And it brought out the highest turnout in the history of Ward 3,” Bell said. “That’s what I’m most proud about – that we reached out to citizens. Residents who have not felt a part of the process. And they came out. And they came out and they spoke loudly.”

Shortly after the Michael Brown murder, two things happened: the city militarized to suppress the black community, and said black community started to register to vote. We now know which method works best.

The former racist city administration has been shamed, sued and purged. Meanwhile, the formerly marginalized majority of the city’s voters now hold 50% of the city council. Ballots won, bullets lost.

This is how we change things, peeps: by voting. It works. It is powerful. It is effective. It is truly the American Way.

Vote.