Activism

COMMENTARY: Elections Are Not Popularity Contests: I Stand 2 Vote for the Best Candidate

The Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (FIGB) refuses to be denied restorative justice: we want our voices heard. We want solutions. We want affordable housing. We want an end to violence. We have long been ignored, overlooked, and denied the benefits of democracy, but we can and must make a demand through voting.

Published

4 years ago

October 31, 2022

Oakland Post

Caption: Richard Johnson, right, with Mr. Fab at the recent election Town Hall at Dezi’s.

By Richard Johnson | Post News Group

In choosing the right person to represent an official position, you must be mindful that your choice truly mirrors your concerns, values and, of course, your wishes for the community.

Way too often we select and vote for reasons other than what is truly needed for that office. Be it palm-greasing, backdoor promises, or solely for ethnicity, we cannot afford to squander our votes. The choice should always be based on the best-qualified person to handle that position, whoever they may be. Sure, favors are expected in a lot of instances, for this is certainly the nature of politics.

However, no one should ever allow their selection to be motivated by emotions over capabilities. In your choice, it should be a prerequisite that candidates are able to deal with the job description over who they know and/or how much money they can raise.

Voting is not a popularity contest.

Choices have to be about the candidate having the correct skill set and strategic principle, thinking that can match the demands of the position. Being proficient in one area does not qualify anyone for a job. The need for qualified results is of high priority. Thus, your mindset in your choices has to match the needs at hand.

Politics are so polluted that the ones who suffer and end up down the rabbit hole lost in oblivion the most are the elderly, young, and misinformed. Ask yourself — not with your heart nor with personal gain in mind — who we need most to pull us up out of decay, hopelessness and the seemingly imminent destruction of the society that we exist in at this juncture in life.

More emphasis has to be placed on understanding what has to be done and who can best address it.

Further, we cannot rely on book knowledge alone because it takes both intellect, theoretical ideas and community input to govern. What’s learned in the classroom at times is not applicable to real-life challenges. Put it this way, if something has not worked in the past what makes you think it will work to address the future?

Our thinking must evolve with the times. Old ideas and methods must equally be updated in order to successfully correct things that have changed for the worst. We must rely on solution-based thinking that uses a logical approach to successfully deal with contradictions. This also applies to voting for measures, bills, reforms, and all things that affect our daily lives.

I am not telling you who to vote for or what policy measures to choose.

What I am recommending, however, is to always pick the best person qualified and the measure and laws that support what is needed for community progress.

Election Day is upon us now.

Go to the polls with confidence.

If not, we all suffer, and uncertainty continues to rule. Let hope and faith guide you, not indecision and misguided loyalty to a scheme based on uncertainty.

Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (FIGB) is highly encouraging fellow members with similar backgrounds to register and vote as well as have family members do the same.

Take a selfie and contact the Oakland Post to verify that you and your extended family members have voted. This election is about better living wages, sheltering the unsheltered and stamping out injustices.

Your vote is your voice. Go to your County offices, polling places or your post office to turn in your ballot. Voteless is essentially a vote for hopelessness!

FIGB refuses to be denied restorative justice: we want our voices heard. We want solutions. We want affordable housing. We want an end to violence. We have long been ignored, overlooked, and denied the benefits of democracy, but we can and must make a demand through voting.

An example of the true power of the vote is in Ferguson, Missouri. After the killing of Michael Brown in 2014, the town got together and voted the sheriff, mayor, and police chief out of office.

So, spread the word via Facebook, Instagram, and all social media outlets.

I attended the Mr. Fab/SoulBeat Election Town Hall at Dezi’s to stand in firm solidarity to vote for freedom, justice, and equality.

FIGB has joined with our churches, community leaders, and nonprofit organizations to knock on doors, make calls and use social media to vote like our lives depended on it. Because it does.

And in this time of racism, violence, miseducation and homelessness, voting is needed more than ever.