A few people have been reading about me lately. I'm really not that amazing. What I am is extremely thankful. A lot of my readers are just finding out about me, but there are a lot of people who have been with me from the moment I started writing my blog and speaking out about issues I care about. To those people, I couldn't be doing any of this without your support and encouragement.
Haters gonna hate and there are a lot of really ignorant comments out there about me. Seriously y'all, forward together. No matter what I say or do, I can't please everyone and that's not my goal. My goal is to get the opportunity to pre-register to vote for as many teenagers as possible.
I really appreciate all the compliments, but this isn't about me. This is about young people all over NC and all over the country. This is about what kind of country we want to lead. Make no mistake, we will be leading this country someday. I don't know about you, but I would like to go back to the old motto, E pluribus unum, which means out of many, one.
Instead of wasting time trying to defend me to people who don't know me, don't want to know me, and only want to use me as their prop to discourage youth participation and spread hateful, discriminatory messages, please do this instead: Send a short email to one of your elected representatives. Send them a message promoting youth participation. If your state doesn't have pre-registration, ask for it. If your state does have pre-registration, ask for something else. You can get a lot of good ideas from this report recently published by a nonpartisan organization. http://www.civicyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CIRCLE-youthvoting-individualPages.pdf
Forward together, not one step back. When we turn on the television or get on the internet, it's easy to believe we live in a polarized world. It's easy to lose hope that we can, out of many, become one. But we can't lose that hope. We can't let the unreasonable few drown out the majority of American voices who are reasonable. We may not agree on all the issues but we should be able to agree on two basic truths. The first is that our voice and our vote matters. The second is that the future of our nation is in the hands of our young people.
Again, thanks to everyone for their support. Thank you to the writers who continue to inspire me every day. Thank you to the people who, from the start, believed in me and haven't given up on me. I promise I won't give up on us and won't give up on a better future and a more perfect union.
Madison, I am so thankful for the strength and courage you display. You are so right that today's youth are tomorrows leaders, and, for the most part, young people seem to be less bogged down by the hate and prejudices of the older generation. The reasonable majority is out there but tend to get less involved and get drowned out by their more zealous and hateful opponents. We need to motivate those that want the true E Pluribus Unum to not only just agree but to be energized to vote as well.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful that we have someone like you to speak up and who refuses to be intimidated by the haters. The youth are truly the hope for a more perfect union and getting them to the polls is the best way to do it. You, with your charm and enthusiasm draw so much attention to this issue that you are uniquely positioned to make so much of a difference. Please know that me and my family are behind you 100% and for expanding all voting rights for all so that everyone's voices can be heard, not just the hateful few.
With inspired admiration.....DS
Hi Madison. I just saw the clip of you speaking at a rally in NC. I love the term 'new suffragette'. I am 57 years old, and remember the struggles of the 60's as though they were yesterday -well- maybe as though they were only a few years ago. :)
ReplyDeleteAt your age (7th grade) we girls were fighting for the right to wear pants to school. We got it , but not without the nay sayers who warned that womanhood was sliding into moral decay.
So, go for it. Be strong, Don't listen to the idiot hate mongers. Remember that you stand on a noble tradition of right minded women who brought us to this place where we are not treated as women still are in some Muslim countries. You are the hope of the next generation - which includes my soon to be born grand daughter. I thank you, and pray you will prosper and lead. Namaste.
www.yogapeeps.blogspot.com - Margi Shindler
Maybe it's because I was a youth myself not too long ago, but I am strongly in favor of empowering our youth. Of course great power comes with great responsibility, but I'm becoming increasingly convinced that young people are just as capable of handling responsibility as adults are.
ReplyDeleteMadison, I think you are amazing!
ReplyDeleteYou give me hope for the future.
Would you be willing to travel to Ohio next March (with the adult chaperone of your choice) to speak about activism and voting rights?
My university has selected "Girl Culture" as our theme for Women's History Month, and we would love for you to be our keynote speaker.
We would cover all your travel expenses and provide a speaker's fee.
Let me know what you think!
--Mary Krueger, mkruege@bgsu.edu
I sent you an email from my personal account.
DeleteThat would be SWEET!
DeleteMadison, I wish I had seen this post BEFORE I commented on a particular bigot's November 7 letter to the editor of the Times-News, for you are quite right about the futility of trying to speak back to people who believe what they WANT to believe and little (or nothing) else. Even refraining from addressing the man directly, but instead referring to him in the third-person as "Mr. [xxxx]," I was still shaking with indignation as I keyed in and posted my comment on the Times-News website. Just not worth it, waste of time.
ReplyDelete