Saturday, August 30, 2008

Canvass. . .

Today I spent the day canvassing for Obama in the 8th ward. Truthfully, it was more of a 'register to vote' thing than an Obama-education thing, but it was an interesting experience. I ran into an angry Republican who talked about how Clinton screwed the country with legislation that gave him the right to deploy troops within the US without notifying congress...

Hmmm...

I believe Bush did that!.

Then he went off about Trade and said "Fuck those liberals, I'm voting for McCain!" My response went something like: "Trade? You realize that voting for McCain will not stop the race to the bottom economics that is free trade while Barack wants an instant moratorium placed on free trade?!?!"

He shut his door!

I then walked down the street and met an awesome law student who is doing really awesome work and found we had a lot to talk about in the way of politics and activism. 

This was the eye opener I needed!

Since I've been back in St. Louis (February), I haven't been participating in my community. I've been spending time with friends, working on the HEN Foundation and working to earn some green, but really, I lost touch with my community. Today, I re-realized the importance of participation. I RE-REALIZED the importance of community and KNOWING THY NEIGHBOR! I RE-REALIZED the difference one person in a community can make. I can't believe I forgot (okay, I took like a 5 month hiatus) how important it all is. But, I'm glad to be back on track!

After all was said and done, my companera and I registered three voters (regardless of who they said they wanted to vote for) and I was able to understand my neighborhood a little more. From the Kenyans now able to vote for the first time, to the Yugoslavian woman with an awesome garden and a passion for memorizing things, to the spoiled young, white, straight boys who were unwilling to consider voting because they were too focused on consuming as much as they could, I understand my neighbors, I understand my neighborhood.

Participation...Understanding...

Sweet!

1 comment:

shrink on the couch said...

I stand up to applaud your registration efforts. I'm a registrar. I went door to door during Bush/Kerry race. It was stressful (what kind of freak will answer the door and put a shotgun to my face?) but rewarding. NO shotguns. NO rudeness. I felt that almost everyone who bothered to answer the door was grateful that someone cared and wanted THEIR vote.