I really want us to move past the idea that voting is the only way to participate in politics *and* that (when Black ancestors fought for the right to vote) all they were fighting for was for us to be able to cast a ballot within a two-party system that doesn't truly serve us.

Politics requires collaboration, cooperation, and collective action. Voting is the largest scale example of collective action (and often a form of protest). Voting is also a tool among many forms of collective action and organizing that makes the US political system work.

Voting can be used preemptively (to prevent perceived catastrophes) or retroactively (in response to failures of government). Just like political protest, it is a means to assess and respond to perceived threats to human safety and dignity.

Black folx who fought and died for the right to vote were fighting white supremacy. They were fighting to have control of their own lives and livelihoods. They were fighting for their dignity and the vote was *one* piece of that fight.

It's gross and intellectually dishonest to gaslight Black folx into voting for political candidates who don't substantively represent their concerns. It's even grosser to do it using the ancestors as one-dimensional objects.

I'm pretty sure Black folx already know how to vote for the lesser of two evils. It's literally the most common choice we've ever had.

I honestly wish people would spend less time harassing young Black and Brown folx about the vote and more time trying to explain to Karen why another four years of this could mean the end of PTA and pumpkin spiced everything forever.