General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf THIS isn't America I don't know what is.
A former Alabama sharecropper in an SUV spent more than 10 hours driving registered voters to polling stations for Doug Jones who didnt have transportation or couldnt make the trip without helpIf you live in Lowndes County and are of voting age, it's a safe bet that Perman Hardy has spoken with you about voting at some point in the past 25 years.
As one of the thousands of sharecroppers who worked white men's land in Lowndes County over the years, 59-year-old Hardy recalls picking cotton after school growing up. She eventually finished her education, bought her own home, and had a successful career as a home health nurse.
But for the past two-and-a-half decades, Hardy has dedicated much of her free time to another pursuit: trying to ensure that every single person in Lowndes County shows up to the polls for every election in Alabama. A native of the unincorporated community of Collirene, she has done about as much as one person possibly could to boost turnout in the impoverished, majority-black county with a population of just 10,458 people.
"That's my goal is to make sure everyone votes. That's always been my goal. This is what I do every election," she said as she steered her forest-green Chevrolet Tahoe through Collirene, a rural area that was once home to several cotton plantations that employed generations of slaves and sharecroppers.
"We're in an epidemic poverty county so it's so important for us to vote today," she told AL.com. "I took some people today who've never cast a ballot before."
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/12/how_a_former_sharecropper_in_a.html
MORE:
Link to tweet
kp:
next year, this California girl & posse will head to Arizona - inspired by people in Alabama like Perman Hardy.
We have much work to do.
dalton99a
(81,516 posts)GOTV!
safeinOhio
(32,688 posts)Right-to-Vote State.
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,501 posts)their polling places. Like some of us "lucky ones" get to do. Not to mention getting the day off. Or a half day at the very least.
Farmer-Rick
(10,185 posts)Why do you have to register at all? Why do I get challenged everytime I show my military ID when I vote? Why do I have to take off work to vote? Why is early voting end 5 days before the regular date. Why do I have to hunt down local voting info on line that is frequently contradictory. Why is my district a weird snake shape running along the edge of the mountains?
Why are there NO records of our vote. Why do I have to use the most unreliable machines in the world to vote?
Why do Putin and Trump think I'm stupid?
The Polack MSgt
(13,190 posts)strips progressively more voters out of the process.
As a rule people in power hate democracy .
BTW a belated welcome to DU to you.
Farmer-Rick
(10,185 posts)Good point about stripping out layers of voters. No wonder so few make it all the way through the maze.
onetexan
(13,043 posts)roscoeroscoe
(1,370 posts)Very inspiring bro!
Lonestarblue
(10,011 posts)While states should continue to manage elections, we need federal law that sets the standards for voting, and that should include a federal holiday for election day. Other standards should include early voting and being able to vote at any polling place in a county (especially helpful for large counties where people may work at some distance from their homes). Im in a large county in Texas and can choose where I vote if I havent already voted in the early voting phase. During early voting, you can vote at grocery stores and other places that voters regularly visit. And finally, people ahould be registered when they get a drivers license or renew one. Here in Texas, some might be concerned about illegals being registered, but states could isuue a voting or nonvoting license. Other rules should focus on when a person can be removed from voting rolls. If we leave all this to Republicans, they will manage to restrict voting rights even more than they already have.
SCantiGOP
(13,871 posts)There should be national standards for elections, including regulation of the primaries. No way we should let Iowa, New Hampshire and SC basically choose the two candidates.
calimary
(81,320 posts)make our candidate decisions for the rest of us.
SCantiGOP
(13,871 posts)In 1972 I spent 14 hours driving people to the polls. Got home to watch the returns and found out they had already called the election for Nixon.
world wide wally
(21,744 posts)If states want to add more, they can, but they cannot inhibit any citizens right to vote.
sarge43
(28,941 posts)Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)Thank you, Ms. Hardy for your service to voters. I read that on some Indian reservations the people need to drive 100 miles round trip in order to vote. How many do not have cars, I wonder?
Nitram
(22,822 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,670 posts)democrank
(11,096 posts)Bless her heart~
Politicub
(12,165 posts)barbtries
(28,799 posts)her dedication.
PatrickforO
(14,577 posts)Great lady.
snacker
(3,619 posts)This a wonderful and inspiring story. Thank you for sharing it.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Black women have been consistently undervalued in our society, and yet they have a unique drive & perspective on things. Many have experienced the worst of the worst and are compelled to action.
Bless this woman! I'm ashamed to say it may not have occurred to me. But it's something to think about for the future.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)Elwood P Dowd
(11,443 posts)mahatmakanejeeves
(57,489 posts)SunSeeker
(51,572 posts)sprinkleeninow
(20,251 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)iluvtennis
(19,863 posts)trip next year)
kpete
(71,996 posts)I will being going with a great group of friends,
kp
Response to iluvtennis (Reply #30)
kpete This message was self-deleted by its author.
Bucky
(54,027 posts)SergeStorms
(19,201 posts)People like her make my heart sing. Black women put Jones over the top in Alabama, and a lady like this deserves much of the credit. She's been GOTV for years, and her persistence has paid off. One person can make a difference!