Choose Action over Memory

Vote on November 3rd in Virginia

Written by EA4C Staff

Dated:  Monday, November 2, 2009

Do you remember the euphoria of November 4^th 2008?  Do you remember the magic you felt when folks of all races, genders, ethnic groups, and religions joined hand for one common goal—change.  There stood Ethiopians for Obama joined hands with Eritreans for Obama.  There stood Arab-Americans for Obama united with Jewish Americans for Obama.  There stood an avowed atheist embracing a devoted Christian. For one brief moment, for one fleeting campaign, it seemed as though we were indeed at the footsteps of mountain top that Martin Luther King espoused in his dream.  For one shinning moment, we became one out of many—E Pluribus Unum.   

But that one shinning moment was but a milestone on a long journey towards the continued perfection of our nation.  Like Martin Luther King said, we are not there yet.  The problems of an opportunity gap, the menace of inequality based race, gender, or religion, or the threat of economic hardship did not disappear in one election.  Electing Obama on November 4^th was merely a down payment; an investment in hope that we would only reap with  continued engagement in our country’s civic process.  One vote was not enough to undo eight years of Bush policies.  One vote is not enough to realize the returns on our investment in hope.

No other state in the United States symbolized this transformational moment more than the Commonwealth of Virginia.  What was once a deep red enclave of the Republican party voted overwhelmingly for Obama.  What was once the capital of the Confederacy gave a resounding victory to the possibility of change.  Yet, here we stand today on the eve of an important election faced with the possibility of Virginia becoming once more a Republican enclave.  November 3^rd is an important test of our commitment to change.  This election is an important test of our commitment to that fleeting moment of hope that last year’s election represented.

Barack Obama always said that last year’s election was not about him, it was about us.  That is why thousands of young and young at heart from across America knocked on doors, made phone calls, contributed to Obama’s campaign, and registered to vote in droves.  In Virginia alone, over 500,000 people registered for and voted Obama—an overwhelming number of which voted for the first time.  It is time for those 500,000, and those of us who vote all the time, to decide.  It is time to stop remembering and start acting. In a close race between Democratic Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell, if only one third of the first time voters from last year vote on November 3^rd, Virginia will remain a blue state.  In your hands, in your action, you hold the possibility of a continued clarion call of change or if Virginia reverts back to George Bush policies.

Ethiopian-Americans for Change endorses Creigh Deeds for Governor, Jody Wagner for Lieutenant Governor, Steve Shannon for Attorney General, and the rest of the Democratic slate. This decision was not arrived at reflexively.  An invitation was sent out to both the Republican party and the Democratic Party to come and speak to our community.  The Republican party had prior commitments, the Democratic Party came out in full force accompanied by Tim Kaine, Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner, and Charniele Herring.  Based on the Democratic Party’s embrace of our invitation, those in attendance during the “Meet the Candidates” forum voted 100% to endorse the Democratic slate.   

So if you are getting this email and live in Virginia, we implore you to go vote on November 3^rd. If you are getting this email and you live outside of Virginia, please pick up your phone and call a family member or a friend who lives in Virginia and encourage them to vote for Deeds, Wagner, Shannon, and the rest of the Democratic candidates.  If you voted last year during the historic election in Virginia, you are already registered and can vote on November 3^rd.  Please forward this email to everyone you know who lives in Virginia and cc info@ea4c.org on the email.  As you vote on November 3^rd, please email ivoted@ea4c.org and tell us that you voted.

It is easy to revel in the euphoria of last year’s election, however, without our continued involvement in the political process, that euphoria will wilt in the face of a determined opposition that seek to return us to the status quo.  It is up to you to choose action over memory.  So whether you are Ethiopian, Eritrean, Jewish, Arab, Latino, Asian, African, black, white, Christian, Muslim, just think back to last year when we shed our differences and came together as one in our belief in hope and the possibility of change.  It is time for us to stop remembering and start doing. On November 3^rd, it is time for you to vote for Deeds, Wagner, Shannon.  We urge you to choose the fierce urgency of action over the fleeting whims of memory. Please vote.