In these pages about a year ago with the presidential election imminent, Dr. James B. Ewers Jr. urged voters to “Get up, Get out and Vote!” His words are no less significant now as voters ready their pens for the consequential mayoral primary on June 22.
We are well aware of the ho-hum attitude that often accompanies primaries, and that lack of interest may be all the more in play with the new date for the primaries and the introduction of Ranked Choice Voting.
Making a difficult situation all the more complicated is the number of candidates vying to lead the nation’s largest city. We have endorsed our candidate for mayor, Maya Wiley, and ranked the others—now it’s your turn!
Our so-called democratic tradition is once again endangered with voter suppression, an increasingly troubling prospect in the GOP tool chest, and as we continue our fight to uphold the hard-earned victories of the civil rights movement we know that struggle begins right here in our precincts.
As Dr. Ewers reminded us, “…We must vote and encourage our friends and neighbors to vote as well.” Defending our franchise is a touchstone of the democratic process, and one that we should never take for granted or be blasé about.
So on your mark—and don’t forget to make it—get set and let’s go to the polls and express your opinion about who is the candidate best prepared to lead us out of the pandemic and onto a recovery path of new prosperity.
Our ancestors gave that final ounce of devotion to leave us this inheritance, and during this crucial phase of choosing new leadership, let’s not have the late David Dinkins look down and find us missing in action, to paraphrase one of his famous admonitions.