Casting A Historic Ballot: Georgia Advance Voting

I earned a badge of great honor in my recent receipt of the Georgia Voter sticker. On Wednesday, October 17th around 3:15 pm I cast my ballot for the 2008 Presidential general election for Barack Obama.

I consider myself a private person and in general try to respect the privacy of political affiliations in general discourse. At the same time I always enjoy a respectful exchange on current politics. But to mark this historic occasion, and honor the sacrifices that have been made in order to make this day come to pass I'll speak openly about what voting this week meant to me.

I contemplated the nostalgia of voting on November 4th, election day and the hustle and bustle of making history. Instead, my wife and I decided to create our own memory. At 2:30 pm we picked up our youngest son from school. We headed over to the early voting center, completed a form (could hardly complete it in line before it was my turn to vote) and was called to vote.

Early Voting Line Where I Voted (15 mins)

Cobb County, GA Voting 2 1/2 hours

Walking in I was a bit overwhelmed with the enormity of voting for an eminently qualified candidate for President that also has brown skin like me as a black man. My grandfather was the President of the Kansas NAACP and fought for equal access for blacks in Kansas City, KS and worked with Dr. Martin L.King, Jr. and Thurgood Marshall (when Marshall was a civil rights attorney working on Brown vs. Board of Education in Topeka). My grandmother served alongside her husband devotedly and held a national office with the NAACP. Well in to her late 60's, I remember my grandmother volunteering at the polling station. Proud to announce to voters with appropriate gravitas, "Your credentials are in order. You may vote." I wish that they could have lived to see the culmination of their work being galvanized through this election.

Yet with my proud history of grandparents, uncles, aunts, father and in-laws that were trailblazing in creating change for blacks, just 5 years ago I would have said that a black president wouldn't happen in my lifetime. I remember pulling for Jesse and having a Run Jesse Run shirt as a pre-teen/teen. I was genuinely unengaged in Al Sharpton's candidacy But since Barack Obama's speech in 2004, I've watched his meteoric rise to Democratic Presidential candidate.

I wore my black and old gold to represent my pride in my fraternity and support our organization's national initiatives supporting voting registration and activation. My wife wore her colors in the same respect. I viewed the first screen of the electronic ballot with my 6 year old son by my side and I saw Barack Obama's name there in lights. I know it's been two years but in a small way it was validating to see the ballot with his name. There were also 6 other pages of GA state seats and referendums that I was much less informed about.

It was a relief to get voting out of the way early and was a smooth and quick process. Moreover it struck me as a moment that I'll never forget. Thanks to this candidacy my three sons will view opportunities differently as black men in America.