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A review by ivanainthecity
Our Time is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams
5.0
In her manual of action, OUR TIME IS NOW, Stacey Abrams traces the history of voting & civic action in the United States. Central to this book is the fact that, “from limiting original voting rights to white men, to the elitist & racist origins of the Electoral College, American democracy has always left people out of participation, by design.” From the 1857 Dred Scott decision stating that Black people were not entitled to Constitutional rights, to literacy tests & polling taxes, the U.S. gov't continues limit marginalized people’s right to vote.
Some infuriating examples of what voter suppression looks like now:
- Georgia closing poll locations used by predominantly Black working-class people & requiring them to drive hours to new ones.
- North Dakota requiring Indigenous people living in very rural areas to have a residential address in order to vote.
- Churches as polling locations not having to be ADA compliant and therefore not requiring ramps & other accommodations for people with physical disabilities.
My vote has been suppressed before. In the 2018 midterm elections, my husband, who has an Anglo-sounding last name, & I, with a hyphenated Spanish-sounding one, mailed in our voter registration forms together. He got a registration confirmation & I didn’t. When I tried registering again, my city misspelled my second last name. Needless to say, I didn’t get to vote. 😒
What makes voter suppression tricky is that:
- different counties have different voting policies & therefore different democracies
- it often seems like user error
- talking about it can dissuade already reluctant citizens from voting
Even as she acknowledges these huge barriers, Abrams continues to be a tireless activist for a more democratic U.S. & urges people to get involved. She reminds us that, ”those of us who believe in the promise of democracy must become outraged about even a single act of suppression. In an honorable system, the loss of a single voter’s right to participate is a wrong that cannot be tolerated—& as Americans, we should know that a failure in the system weakens us all.”
Some infuriating examples of what voter suppression looks like now:
- Georgia closing poll locations used by predominantly Black working-class people & requiring them to drive hours to new ones.
- North Dakota requiring Indigenous people living in very rural areas to have a residential address in order to vote.
- Churches as polling locations not having to be ADA compliant and therefore not requiring ramps & other accommodations for people with physical disabilities.
My vote has been suppressed before. In the 2018 midterm elections, my husband, who has an Anglo-sounding last name, & I, with a hyphenated Spanish-sounding one, mailed in our voter registration forms together. He got a registration confirmation & I didn’t. When I tried registering again, my city misspelled my second last name. Needless to say, I didn’t get to vote. 😒
What makes voter suppression tricky is that:
- different counties have different voting policies & therefore different democracies
- it often seems like user error
- talking about it can dissuade already reluctant citizens from voting
Even as she acknowledges these huge barriers, Abrams continues to be a tireless activist for a more democratic U.S. & urges people to get involved. She reminds us that, ”those of us who believe in the promise of democracy must become outraged about even a single act of suppression. In an honorable system, the loss of a single voter’s right to participate is a wrong that cannot be tolerated—& as Americans, we should know that a failure in the system weakens us all.”