Personal Voices: Staying up Late to Vote Early

By Adrienne Maree Brown, WireTap. Posted October 21, 2004.

A few weeks ago I got a call from Tallahassee League organizer Mario Yedidia. “Adrienne,” he said, “We’re doing something amazing down here – you have to come.”

“OK,” I said. “I’m there.”

Mario was inviting me to support the release of the Tallahassee League’s Voter Guide at the Camp Out for Change, an overnight event marking the first day of early voting in Florida.

When I got off the plane in Tallahassee I was shuttled to Florida State University, where John Edwards started the evening off with a speech – it was like the vice presidential debate with audience participation and no Cheney. We who were camping out that night got passes to a little standing-room-only pit in the front. We felt all badass till we noticed that the true VIPs were sitting in bleacher seats right behind the stage. But then again, they had to act cheesy for the cameras and we could keep up our cynical front.

When John arrived he was shorter than we all expected, but almost as cute as he looks on television. The genuine feeling of being connected to something greater than ourselves was only slightly cheapened by the distribution of little flags and pre-made signs that spoke to our love of the John-Johns.

For those who haven’t met him, Edwards has a great non-threatening look, soft hands (yes mom, I touched him!), and more importantly, an ability to seem like a genuine opposition to the man many Floridians feel personally disenfranchised them in 2000. Knowing that, everyone who spoke before him spoke of the importance of making each vote count.

There was also a rowdy group of Students for Kerry/Edwards who went face to face with Bush supporters out front. It felt like stepping right into a headline article. I stopped one young woman with an “I Heart Bush” sign and asked her why?

She yelled, “Four more years!”

So much for dialogue.

The next morning Jesse Jackson would come and compare us to young folks sitting in for civil rights for black citizens during his youth. He was much more genuine and soft spoken than any of us expected, nothing like the verbose figurehead I’d come to expect. There in the clear, cool morning air Jesse spoke of his days with Martin, and how this early vote, particularly for the young students of the historically black college Florida A&M University, was an act of resistance, was a way of picking up the work of his generation. He didn’t say a word about Kerry – that really wasn’t the point of this gathering and we all knew it.

But John and Jesse were bookends – in between is the real story.

After Edwards, mad young folk gathered at a Plaza in downtown Tallahassee, where sponsoring organizations had set up tables and a concert area. A local DJ was spinning, "Fahrenheit 9/11" was showing on an outside screen, a tent was set up with donated food, and on one side – in true good college organizing fashion – there was a bar! Sprinkled here and there were also sleeping tents that hinted at the point of the evening. We planned to be there till the polls opened Monday morning.

In my work for the League of Pissed Off Voters, I’m working to create voting blocs across the country. We understand that our goal fundamentally changes the nature of voting. But that’s the point: voting has to change. Democracy won’t survive if voting remains an anonymous act in a national popularity contest. Punching a ballot is just one part of counting yourself among those who wish for a better world.

That feeling was evident as young people representing dozens of organizations in Tallahassee, including the Florida Democrats, Students for Kerry, a Cobb supporter, the Young Voter Alliance, the AKAs, the Deltas, the Qs, the Nappyheads and more came over to sign up for our voter bloc.

The performances opened with a local jam band, which was followed by various Greek groups who got up and gave step shows that focused on getting out the vote. A number of organizers – including myself – spoke of the work that starts Nov. 3, regardless of who wins. The Nappyheads then gave an amazing performance, nine of them sharing three mikes and getting the entire audience to sing along to an a cappella version of their local hit “Robbery.” Three young poets took the mike to talk about the state of America – one young black man’s poem centered around the theme that “This is the day to take back our power” in a poem called “Not Tomorrow.”

Adrienne Maree Brown is the co-author of "How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office" and an organizer for the League of Pissed Off Voters.

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