04 November 2008

Voting... An Old Family Tradition

KP and I were at the polls at 5:45 AM, and were numbers 4 and 5 to vote. We took our fold-up outside-concert-chairs, filled our travel mugs with coffee to the brim, and sat with other overly anxious voters until the doors opened at 6:55. I also took my crocheting with me (another old family tradition!) While waiting, I thought long and hard about my great-great-great grandfather, Beverly (yes, Beverly) who got up at 3 AM to walk with his neighbors to vote in the 1866 election.

He was a Republican.

The reason I know so much about him is because he had to testify before a Senate hearing committee (yes, a Black man in the mid-1800s) and it's in the history books. He witnessed the brutal slaying of a group of men who also walked miles to vote in the election. His life was spared. And because it was, I am able to vote in this historic election...

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