jadanzzy

I've felt anger, sadness, frustration, and even hopelessness these past few days. I scroll through my Twitter feed and the despair mounts. Peaceful protesters get tear-gassed, rioters loot and destroy, police forces roam neighborhood streets shooting at people in front of their homes, not to mention the current president who so desperately wishes he were a dictator right now and signals his insecurity every day.

President Obama said it well:

4. So if we want to bring about real change, the choice isn’t between protest and politics––we have to do both. We have to mobilize to raise awareness, and we have to organize and cast our ballots to make sure that we elect candidates who will act on reform.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 1, 2020

There's one very clear way to make this better: Vote.

Know your election dates (June 9 for my fellow Georgians! Get your absentee ballots in!). If we're not voting in all possible local, state, and federal races, whatever emotions we're feeling are meaningless—like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if we're not voting in officials who stand for equality, justice, peace, and progress, we're doomed to repeat these cycles.