On April 6th I had blogged at LiveJournal:
I couldn't have picked a better time to explain why I vote. With the passing of the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assasination and Barack Obama calling on his "brigadiers" to reflect on why they vote, I think about my reason for voting too. My reason has very little to do with politics. In fact my reason for voting is somebody that I help take care of, my grandfather.
Click here to read more on my journal.
Anyone that comes across my page is more than welcomed to add me as a friend because, after all, as Obama supporters we're one big family.
Also, if you have Myspace, you can find me at http://www.myspace.com/fieraamaryllis. It is a friends-only profile; free to add me and include a little note that you find me on this site (I normally don't accept requests unless I already know the person or there's a note explaining why the request).
One of my favorite radio ads that ran here in South Carolina was the one of Barack's life story, pretty much abridged, and how it's not just a disaster in Black America but one unlike Katrina going pretty much unnoticed in Washington.
I can relate to his life story as my father haven't been around in my life. My mother started off raising me and then my maternal grandfather adopted me. I didn't have a whole lot and was raised up on love and got Social Security as a result of the adoption.
And then there's many others that I know, from friends to even many of my own siblings and cousins, who grew up and go on without that biological father around. However, quite a few of them, unlike me, haven't been lucky enough to have a male relative or some other male close to them to step in anf fill that void. That's a problem of which I'm concerned since obtaining a bachelors in psychology with interests in child and developmental psychology... I'm lucky that I had not only my grandfather but also two uncles and a prominent member in the local Black community to step in.
And I would love very much to see that day that Washington takes notice of this problem because it's not just a Black America problem. I've seen it happen in the White, Latino, and Asian communites. And with what extensive knowledge that I have of developmental psychology just from my bachelors degree alone and observed happening in the streets, it's a problem that needs to be addressed, and I think Barack is the one who get it started.
It was last summer when I joined the mailing lists of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I joined both mailing lists because though I was for Hillary at the time out of familiarity I wanted figure out where both candidates stand on many issues and get to know Obama. I had always had some interest in Obama when he won his Illinois senate seat, and his keynote speech at the 2004 DNC convention moved me. Once Obama announced his exploratory committee and eventually his candidacy, I knew that something special was in the making but not quite like this nor did I imagine that I would come to be part of it.
As for my support of Hillary... as I stated previously it was out of familiarity at the time. Plus having Bill's administration coincide with most of my adolescent years, quite naturally as I come into adulthood I wanted to see that prosperous time come back via Hillary. And then as I am a woman, quite naturally in that respect I wanted to support Hillary.
But still, there was part of me that was uncertain in supporting Hillary as Barack Obama is black, so am I. And at that point I joined both mailing lists, Summer 2007.
Time passed where my interest in both candidates waned a bit as I began working around the same time. It wasn't until almost time for the Iowa caucuses that my interest picked up again. Seeing that Obama won there in Iowa, I began the switch to supporting him. Then there was Bill's "fairy tale" comment that really set me off. By that point I had already heard Obama speak quite a bit, had begun hearing his radio ads run here in South Carolina... I knew Bill's comment was way out of line. From that point till this day I have been strictly an Obama supporter.
As January 26th got closer, I started seeing the mailers from Obama's, Hillary's, and John Edward's campaigns come. Then there was the debate in Myrtle Beach at The Palace Theater. Having that I began to see through both of the Clintons, I knew that I would be supporting Obama. Granted I could've voted for Edwards as he's from the Upstate region, for me it was about who's honest and fair and has a strong chance of winning the Dem nod.
January 26th, I was second in my polling precinct with my mom third at 7:18am. Later in the day more of my family voted, all at the same polling place except my grandfather who voted absentee. We all voted for Obama, or as one of my aunts renamed him "the bombin' man" because that day she had a hard time pronouncing O-ba-ma.
Then as I watched the returns, I also watched House Majority Whip, Jim Clyburn (my rep as well), speak to the press. I also watched John McCain give his victory speech. And I saw that Hillary left for Tennessee before polls were closed (and I thought of that as Hillary telling us here in SC "I know you want Obama, so kiss my ass.") But importantly for me, I saw Obama give his victory speech which brought me to tears becuase this shouldn't be about "regions or religions or genders" or "rich versus poor; young versus old" or even "about black versus white." "It's about the past versus the future" and "whether we settle for the same divisions and distractions and drama that passes for politics today, or whether we reach for a politics of common sense, and innovation - a shared sacrifice and shared prosperity." (All quotes from the SC victory speech.)
And for me, that's what I'm about as well... uniting people across whatever divisions and divides that exist in the effort to move forward and bring about changes.
