After the election I was so charged from all the energy that I still wanted to get involved in politics and have a say in my community. I continued to volunteer for the Democratic Party and I eventually became the precinct leader for my area. Once I was really apart of this I really got to learn how much the political parties allow for you to be involved. Often times people complain about what is happening in their community but the truly don’t know of all the opportunities that your particular political party has. As an 18 year old in my small community I was the precinct leader for my town, which meant that if anyone had any concerns they would come to me and I would relay this information to big heads in the Democratic Party. This summer I hope to become more involved with the party and volunteer more of my time especially because of the elections coming up as well. Many feel that getting involved in politics is boring and no one listens but if you are willing to fight there will always be someone there to listen.
Even though President Barack Obama opened a lot of doors for African Americans there are very few of them holding governmental office according to Black Politics on the Web there are 44 African American men and women that are in the house of representatives, and that’s out of 435! Its crazy how we account and are affected by the legislation that is made yet we have little to no say. On Howard specifically I have noticed that people do not care about politics and feel that it doesn’t affect them. When someone tells me something idiotic like “what’s the point in voting its doesn’t effect me” it makes me cringe. When I came to Howard University I assumed that students who went here were involved in politics and that was one of the reasons that they choose this school. Sadly this was not the case and I almost had to give a limb in order for the college democrats club to be reactivated in on campus. Its as if our young African Americans are loosing interest in politics these days. As the membership director and head of woman causes for the college democrats on campus it is very important for me to understand why so many our fellow students don’t feel like they should get involved.
Ultimately I would encourage all young people to look into politics because there is a serious lack of true representation. When trying to figure out your political affiliation I urge you to research what political party you belong to based on your beliefs not of those around you or your parents and stand strong in what you believe in no matter what.
