By STEPHANIE MYERS and GEORGIA DUNSTON

Black Women for Positive Change

During recent informal discussions with Gen Zs – ages 18-24, we have been distressed to learn that many of them and their friends, do not understand the purpose of voting and are not sure if they are going to vote in the 2022 Midterm elections.

While there are excellent Gen Z leaders who are pro-voting, other Gen Zs say that they and their friends are frustrated with confusion about how the political system works, and they are reaching the conclusion that voting is a waste of time. We disagree! It is our belief that all eligible citizens in America must vote because voting is a fundamental responsibility that affects the quality of everyday living for citizens, in America.

We wonder whether the anti-voting attitudes among some Gen Zs are the result of the civics classes being eliminated from K-12 schools, or whether parents, churches and the workplace are failing to educate youth that democracy works, only if citizens vote. Some of the Gen Zs we talked to did not seem to understand that individual voting is at the core of democracy, and that the people who are elected to political offices make critical decisions about everyday life in America – and many of those decisions affect them personally.

In today’s fractured world many people do not understand how the election of certain individuals to public office gives them power over important decisions. For example, elected officials decide daily whether or not violence is prevented or promoted by police, and law enforcement. They also decide if, how, and where affordable housing is provided, the quality of education, and access to affordable health services. Clearly much more is needed in civic education to help citizens understand the role of elected officials, and how to hold them accountable for their decisions.

Black Women for Positive Change is a multi-cultural, interfaith, intergenerational organization of predominately African American women and Good Brothers, and we believe individuals must understand their vote is important in the 2022 Midterm Elections and in all elections.

We must find ways to help people understand that voting is personal – it is like paying taxes – you don’t have a choice. All eligible voters need to understand that the candidates they vote for will affect their lives in various ways. Below are listed four examples of how elected officials use everyone’s tax dollars to either help to stop violence or to promote violence:

• Governors: Control billion-dollar budgets from tax dollars, that fund prisons, police departments, court systems and foster-care homes. Governors appoint judges who will be fair, or who will employ systemic racism.
• Mayors: Using local tax dollars mayors hire or fire police chiefs and city attorneys who handle the criminal justice system. Mayors also fund local nonprofit programs that can be either helpful or detrimental to Black communities that suffer from violence. Racist mayors elected to office can appoint racist police chiefs who allow police officers to kill Black men with no consequences.
• District attorneys: Voters elect district attorneys who oversee court systems and prosecutors who bring charges against individuals arrested by police and determine what crimes they will be charged with and how long they will spend in prison.
• Judges: People elect judges who make decisions in the courts regarding who is innocent or guilty and the punishment they will receive or if they get sent to rehabilitation programs.

All of the people listed above are put into office by the vote, and that is why Black Women for Positive Change urges everyone to vote! We ask all readers to support the “John Lewis Good Trouble Voting Rights Pledge,” and to vote in the 2022 Midterm Elections. Please help Gen Zs, millennials and all voters to become leaders in getting 1 million plus individuals to sign the pledge and promise to vote! Everyone can sign the pledge to vote at BlackWomenForPositiveChange.org.

Dr. Georgia Dunston is chair of the Science Committee and co-chair of Voting Rights for Black Women for Positive Change. She is professor emerita at Howard University College of Medicine; and founding and former director of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University.

Dr. Stephanie Myers, is national co-chair of Black Women for Positive Change, and co-chair of the Voting Rights Committee. She is vice president of R.J. Myers Publishing Company and author of the book, “Invisible Queen: Mixed Ancestry Revealed.”