Your vote matters! It always has! Do not be discouraged by the current state of affairs.
Our health is political and connected to more than physical and mental dis-ease. Let's get started.
For a long time, I counted myself among “the rest of us” as I was never interested in running for a political office. Prior to serving as treasurer for my Uncle Frank’s run for the Minnesota 5th Congressional District back in the mid-’90s and my current interest in health policy, I considered my civic duty complete when I registered to vote as part of my rites of passage and went to the polls to cast my vote. However, as time went on I knew I needed to do more by paying closer attention to the local elections and not just the Presidential election. During those early years of voting, I had no idea who was running for sheriff or judge and those are elections that really matter as they are closer to home. Thanks, Uncle Frank for getting me involved sooner rather than later. As I reflect back on the issue of politics from my past I hear my mother talking about Shirley Chisholm running for President. I will save that memory for another time.
Fast forward to 2019 as I have called myself to task in trying to get beyond the chatter of social media and those preset character limits on information and the current news cycle. I chose to do my favorite thing read and research. I want to share a brief book list with you as each of these authors provide insight into the inner workings of the political process that might be evident to some but maybe not to others. They just paint a bigger picture with vivid colors. This reading list is also important to share as the authors are Black women who are actively involved in politics, from journalists reporting on Washington, DC, directing the DNC, or those that have diligently researched the impact of the political process on black women and the black community.
If you have considered politics as in running for political office, hitting the campaign trail on someone else’s behalf, or you are a concerned citizen who just wants more information from a different viewpoint than those presented via social media, cable and network news these books are worth the read.
· Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacy Abrams (2019)
· One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy by Carol Anderson (2018)
· For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics by Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, and Minyon Moore (2018)
· Sister Citizen Shame Stereotypes, and Black Women in America - For Colored Girls Who’ve Considered Politics When Being Strong Isn’t Enough by Melissa V. Harris-Perry (2011)
· Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House by April Ryan (2018)
Yes. All of this has to do with our physical, mental, and spiritual health. I hope you make the connections. Take from these works what you will and leave the rest.
Regards
Dr. Annette