As a Black American, I believe that we Blacks need to flood voting polls like never before | Opinion
The midterm election day is just days away. And I am concerned about the turnout and about those who are already saying that if they lose the election, it will be because of fraud.
It’s like a scene from the presidential election of 2020. Long before election time, Trump was saying that if he lost the election, it would be because of election fraud. He planted that seed, and many Americans watered it and watched it grow into the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
Now with Nov. 8 just around the corner, we are still digging out from under what was a blatant attack on American democracy. Shades of the 2020 election still overshadow us when voters are being fed a steady diet of lies of a fraudulent election — an election that hasn’t even happened yet.
With all the lies swirling around us, I believe that there is still hope for us to get back on the right track. It pains me when I hear of people who say, “What’s the use…my vote isn’t worth anything.”
To those who think like that, I say this:
You are so wrong. Your vote does count, now more than ever. Some of the freedoms that we have become accustomed to here in the land of the free, are slowly being snatched away. As a Black American, I believe that we Blacks need to flood the voting polls like never before. We need to come out and fight to keep the rights that so many before us died for.
These are serious times. White supremacy, anti-Semitism, and hate crimes of every kind are tearing our nation apart. History is being stolen and books are being banned. It is time now for every freedom loving American to stand up and fight for what is right. Our vote is our weapon. The right to voting is a privilege that so many people died for.
Some like the Rev. George Lee, who in 1955, was one of the first Blacks to register to vote in Humphreys County in Belzoni, Miss. He used his pulpit to urge other Blacks to register. White officials didn’t like it and told him to stop his efforts.
Lee refused and was murdered.
Lamar Smith, who was shot on the courthouse lawn before several people in Brookhaven, Miss., on Aug. 13, 1955, because he had organized Blacks to vote in a recent election.
The killer was never indicted because no one would say they saw a White man shoot a black man.
Then, there was Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, a wealthy white businessman in Hattiesburg, Miss., who offered to pay the poll taxes for those Blacks who couldn’t afford the fee required to vote.
The night after a radio station broadcast his offer, Dahmer’s home was firebombed, and he died later from burns.
Perhaps you were not aware of Lee, Smith and Dahmer. But you know about James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Henry Schwerner, three college students from the North who worked during the heat of a Mississippi summer to register Black voters and lost their lives for their efforts.
Oh, there were so many more, who died so that you and I and our children could have the right to vote. Many of those who died fighting for the right to vote never got the opportunity to cast their first vote. We can’t — no, we won’t let their dying be in vain.
See you at the polls.
Cleo Institute fundraiser
The theme for The Cleo Institute’s annual fundraiser celebration will be “A Night of Climate Horror and Hope.” The event will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 at Fairchild Gardens, 10901 Old Cutler Rd. in Coral Gables in the Garden House and Lawn at the gardens’ south entrance.
According to information from the organization, the Cleo Institute has long sounded the alarm on climate change, and now we are experiencing the devastating effects of intensified natural disasters. Help is needed to make the institute’s efforts go even further. The event’s theme reflects the climate emergency as well as all the many reasons to feel hope.
A community Climate Champion will be presented with the Dr. F. Lynn Leverett Award, and several individuals will be inducted to the organization’s Leadership Circle.
If you go, wear your most creative costume that reflects the event’s theme. The program will feature prizes for the best costume and dancing. For tickets, go to, info@CLEOinstitute.org, or call 305-573-5251. To donate to the organization, which is dedicated to climate crisis education and advocacy, mail checks to the office at 2103 Coral Way, Miami, 33145.
PATCHES Golf Tournament
The Third Annual Heartbeats for PATCHES Golf Tournament will be held Saturday (Oct. 28) at Crandon Golf Key Biscayne.
Heartbeat Jennifer Resnick says the tournament was born out of COVID and the need to host an outdoor fundraising event.
The Patient Assistance Team at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center (PATCH) at 335 S. Krome Ave., #106 in Florida City, helps to improve children’s experience when they receive medical care. This is done by working with the community to create a plan for each child based on the child’s communication needs, sensory differences and past health experiences. The honorary chairman of this year’s tournament will be former NBA Heat star Shane Battier. He will play with a young rising golf talent, Miami Country Day School student William “Gray” Richards, 11. Richards recently tied for 15th place at the US Kids World Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., and was named South Florida PGA Player of the Year.
To participate or to make a donation, contact Resnick at jensresnick@gmail. com, or call the office of PATCHES at 305-242-8122.
Bea L. Hines can be reached at bea.hines@gmail.com
