Start The New Year Right -- Register To Vote!

“What one does realize is that when you try to stand up and look the world in the face like you had a right to be here, without knowing that this is the result of it, you have attacked the entire power structure of the Western world.” -- James Baldwin

“Apathy gets you the government we have today.” – Gil Sery

When I was a kid, all the Southern black folk around me took their civic responsibilities very seriously.  Election Day was a solemn moment, one fraught with a reckoning to the past and the full understanding that once upon a time, the simple act of casting your ballot in a local election could get you and perhaps your entire family killed, or at least run out of town on a rail. To vote was to stand shoulder to shoulder with those who couldn't -- and I figured if the powers that be were going to work this hard to keep me from doing something, I should do it.  Voting became synonymous with adulthood.  I would couldn't wait to grow up so I could move to New York City, live in Harlem, live the life of an artist (whatever that meant), and vote. 

So far, so good.  



I can't explain why white women voted for Trump in droves, many of them knowing full well that their vote would have elected Hillary -- and yet they showed up for a record-breaking women's march on Washington, DC the next day. 



I suppose I could blame the electoral college. Still and all, I don't know why half the country didn't bother to vote in the last presidential election. I can't tell you why most people don't vote in mid-term elections. I can tell you this: Way too many people genuinely don't care -- and unfortunately, the first sign of bad nutrition is apathy. 

I can also tell you that 2018 midterm elections will be fire. 

If you want to stick your toe in the water, here's some tasty apps. I'm already at the other side of the pool -- eating clean, running and working on a new song cycle.  It's 2018, folks. #GetYourLife!

1. Click here to get all the information you need so you can register to vote!
   
   * General election: November 6, 2018
   * State primary: September 11, 2018
   * Federal primary: June 26, 2018
   
2. Voter -- Matchmaking for Politics!
   Answer a few simple questions and find out which politicians truly have your best interests at heart, and have a track record to back it up.
   
   Because advertising is one thing -- but who your favorite politician really is? That's probably something else.
3. Countable
   An app that makes it easy to pester your Congress member.
   
   
   
   If you'd like to know what your representative is up to in Congress, you can use this handy app to  find out. And then you can use the app to contact them directly, tell them how you want them to vote on legislation and you can see their voting record -- so if they're half-baked, you can vote them out in the next election cycle.