By: Cheryl Smith
It is working, and I’m keeping hope alive.
Thank you, Mrs. R.J. I really appreciate you restoring my faith in my work.
Mrs. R.J. read my column last week, where I talked about the deadline to ensure you are eligible to vote and haven’t been erased, cancelled, or disenfranchised.
She said she checked on line and found her name missing from the list of registered voters.
Mrs. R.J., a senior citizen, thankfully had a daughter to help her, and she also had my number, which I had listed in last week’s newspaper.
Mrs. R.J. said she had been voting for decades, and she did not want to miss voting this year.
I immediately called former Dallas City Councilwoman Tiffinni A. Young.
Now, Ms. Young is a native Dallasite who went to Lincoln Humanities and Communications Magnet High School and after graduation, went onto Florida A&M University, graduated and came home like so many don’t do, but that’s another story for another time.
She served in her community. She served her City as an elected official, and she continues to serve, for her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, on the social action committee.
She’s not going to tell you who to vote for because of course the sorority is non-partisan; however, she’ll make sure you’re prepared and armed with the necessary information and documentation to vote.
And that’s just what she did.
In a three-way conversation, she answered all of Mrs. R.J.’s questions. She did a thorough search and came to the same conclusion —Mrs. R.. was no longer a registered voter.
Ms. Young told Mrs. R.J. not to fret, that she was a deputy registrar and could help her.
Thanks to Ms. Young, Mrs. R.J. was taken care of and I took solace in knowing that somebody was reading my column and then acted on what I wrote.
Mrs. R.J. thanked me profusely and I thanked her and Ms. Young because as long as I’ve been talking about the importance of voting, there were times when I felt like no one was listening, and I would say to myself, “if one person benefits from the work I do, I’ve helped to make this world a better place.”
Now the deadline has passed to register to vote, at least if you want to vote in the November 3 election.
So I’m sending a message out to all the ones whose names have not been stricken from the list.
Early voting begins on October 19 and continues through the 30th.
Look at this upcoming election as if you’re saving this world, this country, our communities, and our families.
I believe that we are headed for self-destruction, and the best way to get us moving in another direction is to vote. Hopefully, you will join Mrs. R.J., the Hon. Tiffinni A. Young, and me in voting.
