Youth Voting for the First Time

Thanks to the heroic work of amazing women like Stacey Abrams, regardless of our political allegiance, the reality of so many new and particularly black voters being represented and counted was a beautiful step forward for justice in the US.

And as a pastor and ally Dan Sadlier said in view of what this means,

I was just able to tell my teenage African American son...

"The first black senator in the history of GA was voted into office yesterday...

He is a pastor...

At the historic church home of MLK Jr and other civil rights activists...

His mother was able to vote for him...."

My son was ecstatic.

And I'm now a mess.

For some of our Trellis Crew, this election was also the first time they were able to vote and two of them shared what this important moment and opportunity was like. [ the views expressed by the students are their own and we are glad to provide the space to share and articulate them]

On Tuesday, November 3, 2020, I voted for the first time, and it was a quick but
liberating experience. My voting center was at my local community center at York Street which was just a few minutes away, and when I got there, I was taken aback at first. This was because there was a lot going on, but I made my way to the front desk to get started. I gave the lady the voting card I was sent, signed my name and was given a pen that doubles as a digital stylus as a keepsake. I then made my way to one of the voting booths to fill out my ballot. I am an Independent, but I voted for one party up and down the ballot. After I was finished and went to go slide the ballot into the machine, I realized I had made a mistake: I filled out two bubbles for one category. The machine gave an error, and a lady standing by said I could fill out another ballot or I can leave the original ballot as is, but it will not be counted. Without question, I filled out another ballot quickly and double checked it for errors. I once again made my way to the machine to slip in the ballot, and it went through successfully. The lady said I was all set, and I went on my way. Like mentioned previously, the voting process was quick as it lasted less than ten minutes in my case, but it was liberating because I was allowing my voice to be heard in this extremely important election.

Kadene Harvey, part of the Trellis Crew, is a sophomore at St Francis College

I woke up at 5:35 in the morning and quickly got my clothes on and went near to my recreation center near me. When I got there I saw the line and thankfully it wasn't a long line. So I got there at 5:50; meaning that I needed to wait exactly 10 more minutes until they allow people to vote. There were people talking how now the power for change in this country belongs to the people. After four years of putting up with Donald Trump incompetence, that hopefully their vote will get this man out of the White House and Joe Biden can fix the state of this economy. Kamala will hopefully reform the police and make sure that George Floyd death wasn't in for vain and many others. No more corrupted cops and fair and equally justice will be served. People were also tied of how Trump has continuously have abused his power and made himself and his posse richer during this pandemic and not helped the working class of America. A lot of the people in the line also had to work but got earlier so they vote. So some people lost sleep but this vote needed to happened and it meant a lot to them. As soon as 6 o'clock hit, people started to get in and I had to say; other than being cold as heck, it went pretty smooth. Soon I was able to get in and when I got into the basketball court of the recreation, I showed them my permission to vote. They allowed me in and I showed them my ID and then they handed me a paper to cast my vote. Obviously I filled in Democrat and filled Joe Biden. After that I got my pen and a sticker and I went home. First vote in my life and I regret nothing.

Jesus Ramirez, a student and member of the Trellis Crew is a regular contributor