If you’re a politically-astute African-American, who has always made registering and voting an unvarying constant in your life, this reminder is about as necessary as it is for the umpire to call “batter up,” when a baseball player is already on deck. The batter on deck ceremoniously slashes the air with his favorite bat, as he anxiously waits to step up to the plate and take his cuts at the opposing hurler’s repertoire of pitches. He is anxious to do his part to help his team win, therefore he can’t wait to step up to the plate and do his thing.

If, however, you are one of the millions of voting age African-Americans that mainstream media has labeled “politically-apathetic,” you’re so indifferent to what’s going on around you, until your mind isn’t even on the game, therefore it becomes incumbent upon African-American New&Issues to remind you how important it is for you to step up to the plate on Nov. 5, 2002 and vote. We’re sure that this is no news flash. More than likely, those of you who take voting lightly, or consider participating in the democratic process much ado about nothing, have been told many times in the past how important your vote is.

Important to whom? Surely not to you, since the only time your vote seemed to count was when you voted for term limits. But that backfired when you learned politics weren’t about the woman or man, but about the plan. Voter apathy aside, you are tired of playing political games, because you’ve been there and done that. Nevertheless, as Texas’ widest circulated newspaper with a Black perspective and African-American’s editorial voice, we would be remiss not to remind you that your vote is important one more time. No, we’re not coming at you with baseball vernacular because the World Series is still fresh on your minds.

But on second thought, there isn’t much difference between a baseball game and the game of politics, since your team can be a winner or loser. Without doubt, the most resourceful team that knows how to play the game best, usually wins. Yet, the losing team sometimes comes away with a moral victory. There’s honor even in defeat, when a team takes its best shot and plays as hard as it possibly can. Back in the old days, when “Negroes” took voting and politics serious, we won some and we lost some, but we always gave our foes one helluva scare.
What happened to those proud, politically active African-Americans, whose political clout was coveted by political allies and feared by their opponents? Unfortunately, Black America has become a perennial loser because our politically- apathetic players fail to realize they’re still on our team and must play the game, whether they choose to show up or not. We Must Understand, everything in the game of life is somewhat political. Come to think of it, I recall reading that Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Nothing in the world is certain but death and taxes,” but in 2002 America even death and taxes have become political.

So, if you are among those so-called politically-apathetic people who think that all you have to do is stop caring about what happens, to stop playing in the game, you’re dead wrong. Even when you’re dead, there’s a political process somebody has to go through to use our tax dollars to dispose of your remains. However, dead people won’t be expected to vote. Unless they died in Florida. On the other hand, we see no valid reason why every registered Black voter shouldn’t be ready, willing and able to step up to the plate and vote and try to knock a few bad politicians out of the box and put a few good ones on base.

We would also like to see a record setting number of Black voters show up at the polls, if for no other reason than to crush the HISD bond proposal and send a message that we aren’t to be taken lightly, ever again. And while we’re at it, we would like to add another page in our Black History books by making Ron Kirk the first Black Texan to become a member of the U.S. Senate. But more than that, we also want to serve notice that the Black vote, a sleeping giant, is now fully awake. AAN&I has been shaking that sleeping giant for over six years, and it would warm our hearts to see it flex its political muscles.

It’s time that we let the powers that be know in no uncertain terms, that the news of Black Power’s demise has been greatly exaggerated by the mainstream media. We aren’t naïve enough to expect our adversaries in the mainstream media to admit it, but we know that they realize that over 300,000 weekly copies of one of the most unique and interesting publications in America, distributed in five major Texas cities and on the Internet at (www.aframnews.com)-- is a force to be reckoned with. Perish the thought we’re blowing our own horn, but it’s important for Black voters to know that they have their own lines of communication to depend on.

From our watcher on the wall position, it’s easy to see that angry White males are circling their conservative wagons and planning political strategy designed to divide and confuse Texas’ minority majority, so that they won’t be out- flanked at the polls. You can be sure, the conservative team will be pitching heat, and hanging political curve balls, therefore we must be ready when we step up to the plate on Nov. 5, 2002 to vote.