Your Votes. Your Voices. They Mattered.
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Carole Wacey is president & CEO Women Creating Change. Photo courtesy of Women Creating Change
By Carole Wacey
If this election season has shown us anything, it is that we must raise our voices - and cast our votes — if we want to effect change. Change does not come overnight, but rather because of persistent, committed advocacy. That civic engagement is what seeded our organization a century ago, and what is necessary today.
The ability for many New Yorkers – and, people across our country — to cast their votes in overwhelming numbers both early and by absentee is a barometer of the type of civic engagement that matters.
For far too long, systemic barriers have prevented many of us, and in particular communities with fewer resources, from participating in one of our most fundamental rights. Sadly, efforts to suppress votes, and other roadblocks, continue to stymie many communities across our country.
At a moment in our country’s history when we bear witness to a devastating pandemic and longstanding inequities in our system, we appreciate the ability of each of us to cast a vote to ensure that all voices are heard and reflected in our elected officials. It is a moment when we should remain civically engaged, to push for policies that improve our lives, to advocate for the increased advancement of women across the spectrum, and to remember the legacy of our predecessors as we continue the fight for economic, gender and racial equity.
This is the same type of partnership and commitment that seeded our founding a century ago, when women fought successfully for the right vote. We again witnessed the strength of our voices in 2018, when record numbers of women turned out to vote during the midterm elections.
And in our second century of service to New York, we must do all we can to dismantle the systemic barriers to full participation in our communities and in the political decision-making processes.
The election of Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants, to serve as our next Vice President represents not only an achievement for women and people of color in this country but for all who have been passionately engaged in making this a better and fairer society. This election is a moment of promise and progress.
No matter who holds our nation’s highest office, we must hold them accountable through civic involvement. Our engagement matters during times like this, as COVID policies and programs deeply affect underserved women. We must activate women affected by economic, racial, and health inequities and support them to get involved and advocate for policies and solutions that improve their lives and communities.
Only then, as our voices continue to rise, can we achieve a city, state, and nation that is equitable for all.
Carole Wacey is president & CEO Women Creating Change.
