Give your consent to be governed
Vote
Your inheritance,
Your right, Your privilege
Vote
Your voice,
Your civic duty, Your future
Vote
By Mutryce A. Williams BBA CTM
While chatting with Mrs. Byron, a stalwart of the Kittitian community, at her Shadwell residence, last summer, I gained a greater appreciation for the VOTING and the political process. She voiced her concern that the people of our nation were taking the political process and the sacrifices that were made for them for granted. Her wish is that the people would become re-indoctrinated. Her wish is that they would have a greater appreciation for, and realize the true power of the VOTE.
I saw a glow go over her face as she reminisced about making that first X. I gathered, that for her and most of the people of St. Kitts at that time, VOTING was a tremendous and a revolutionary experience. A people suppressed, yet with the simple but profound act of making an X on a piece of paper these people were no longer governed but had given their consent to be governed. I tried to imagine how this must have felt, as much as I tried to associate myself with happening, all I could do was imagine.
This conversation cemented the earlier democratic ideals that I possessed, one being that there is tantamount power in the VOTE. The VOTE is your voice. The other being that a man has not truly experienced the joys of freedom until he has given consent as to how or by whom he is to be governed. Should he fail to vote, whenever the opportunity exists, he has silenced himself. If he leaves this decision to others, he does not appreciate or know his own worth. He does not appreciate or know the value of his VOTE. He is not concerned with the well being of his nation, the welfare of his fellow men or even himself. He is not civic minded. Progress and development means nothing to him. A just government means nothing to him.
Mrs. Byron schooled me on the times gone by. Times, that are not often discussed in great detail, times that the younger generation do not care to hear much about, times that would give one a true appreciation of voting and the political process. I listened earnestly, as Mrs. Byron gave an account of Mr. Bradshaw and the Labour party. She spoke about the STRUGGLE. She spoke about the VOTE. I can recall her saying that when Mr. Bradshaw went around informing, educating and empowering the people about the VOTE, that most people did not quite comprehend the magnitude of the thing. They knew that they were now going to have a choice in selecting their government. It was popular sovereignty at last, a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Mrs. Byron stated that the people rallied around Mr. Bradshaw and the idea of this VOTING thing that we so often take for granted today.
The people learnt that the VOTE was the greatest gift that any people could have. The VOTE was liberating. The VOTE gave a freedom to choose. The VOTE meant equality. The VOTE gave a freedom to elect those who would best serve the countrys interest. The VOTE meant that the people had rights. The VOTE united a democratic people. In those times, the people did not have much, in those times the common man was not formally educated. He was not rich or educated enough to make decisions on the VOTING thing. He was not counted as a citizen. He had no rights. He did not have a choice as to how he was to be governed. He could not vote. He was a work horse, a mere factor of production. Although he was no longer considered a slave, his circumstances were no different. In those times, the privileged class prospered. There was no room for the upward mobility of the common man. The VOTE, as the people saw this was the cure for all things. The X was their path to opportunity. The X has led us to the juncture that we are at now. It was a sense of empowerment for the Kittitian people. The right to vote did not happen by chance. The right to vote in St. Kitts did not magically appear. There were struggles. The people fought for this right to vote. I am often amazed at how much we know about the American civil rights movement yet we know nothing much about the civil rights movement that took place in our own country. We know nothing much about the activists that led the Kittitian people on the path to self-government.
Monday 25th October 2004 is Election Day. I know that there are some citizens who wish to remain impolitic. They lament, Oh, I aint in them politics thing wid them, me like to stop in me corner, let them battle that out, thank God, Election Day, is one day then it done! You dont have to be in the politics thing, on Election Day, all you need to do is go to the polls and cast your ballot or mek you X. This misconception that Election Day, is a one day thing, needs to be dispelled. The decisions that are made on Election Day, determines who would govern the country for the next five years, not the next day, week, or month, but the next FIVE years, that is why each vote is crucial, that is why each and every citizen need to be politic even if it is for the few seconds that is required to make that X, VOTE!
There are some citizens who lament, Oh it aint make any sense, my vote aint going be missing, how much more vote all you want! What in it for me? Some actually shout to their friends, When you make you X make it for me and you, cause I refuse to vote this election, maybe the next one! Imagine that, leaving the faith of the countrys future up to others! Imagine that give others the consent as to how you are to be governed! This is remarkable trust. Imagine that, not wanting to participate in the political process, after our forefathers have struggled so that we could have that right, to VOTE. Why are we insulting them? Are we ingrates? When did voting become a luxurious and optional thing? When did voting fail to be a necessity? Why are we taking this freedom to choose for granted? Why do we dispute the power of the vote?
Imagine that, disputing that there is power in the Vote. I am certain that if the citizens of the United States of America could recall the 2000 Presidential elections, the outcome would be different. Iraq may be in one peace I use that loosely, as there were no direct links to Al Queda or weapons of mass destruction. If the American people did not take voting for granted in 2000, Al Gore might have been in the White House, that is the power of the vote. When we turn on the television we see entertainers such as Sean P Diddy Combs rallying the people. He is asking them to Rock the Vote. Never in the history of America has there been such a wide appeal to get people to vote, in a time when voting was the right each American citizen has. America now more than ever appreciates the power of the vote, St. Kitts what is wrong with us? Exercise your franchise, as P Diddy says Vote or Die. This statement, I thought harsh at first but it is applicable to electoral process. Voting is your civic duty. Should you not vote, you would be at the mercy of an elected government that you did not choose? You are better off dead, because you have allowed someone else to pick the whip, that may very well buss your ass! Pick your own whip! At least you pick it!
It is easy to allude to the fact that we are a young nation, only 21 years Independent. There should not be questions about a thing like the VOTE. In the year 2004, there are people in our international community who still do not have the right to vote. Afghanistan just held its first elections. We have heard of the struggles of South Africa. It was not too long ago that we heard about the chaotic state of affairs in Haiti and Venezuela. There are people in our regional and international community who are struggling, dying, and sacrificing their lives for the right to choose how they are going to be governed. We have that right today and we choose not to exercise it. We have that right and we take it for granted.
Kittitians, on Election Day, go out and Rock the Vote. Give a resounding approval of who you want to govern you. Go to polls on Monday 25th October 2004, do your civic duty. Dont be silenced! With the stroke of the pencil let your voice be heard. Kittitans, our memories should not be too shallow. Look at our political history. Learn from our political history. History should never repeat itself. Make the right decision. VOTE! VOTE OR DIE!
