Vote: November 4th

Tomorrow, we will elect the next President of the United States. The result will have great consequences for the nation. This election offers a choice between two men with dramatically different visions of the future. We have strong feelings about this choice. But we feel even more strongly that all Americans, regardless of political preference, have a stake in the outcome and should vote in this critical election.

This is likely to be a close election. Your vote matters. Please use it and make a difference.

If you do encounter long lines, here are some ways to have fun and ensure you can vote:

• Go with friends and/or bring phones, iPods, lawn chairs, food, reading materials, proper clothing, etc.
• Don't believe the polls if they say a candidate is winning or losing. They've been wrong before.
• Ask for the day-off from work or class.
• Verify your polling location BEFORE you head to the polls by calling 1-866-OUR-VOTE or contact your local County Election Office. Or, use the Google Maps Voter Info.
• Help others stay in line. Share your food, drink, music, reading materials, election protection information. Remember: we're in this together.
• Make sure to take this number with you so that if you encounter any problems, you can talk to nonpartisan election lawyers who can help: 1-866-OUR-VOTE or request a provisional ballot.
• If you do run into any issues at the polls, Video The Vote and document election problems.

Reading: Barker [Race]

It is interesting when looking at the history of race and ethnicity how the different simple definitions of terms can range so broadly. Moving from Darwinism's concept of race referring to the alleged biological and physical characteristics, to the argument that ethnicity, race and nationality are contingent cultural categories rather than universal biological 'facts'.


Regardless of where and how it is formed, speaking as an American, a culture of racism is very much still active in today's American culture. With Barack Obama running for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 Presidential Election, America will be tested at the polls.

As Syon Bhanot so eloquently wrote over a year ago about Obama's campaign, "It is easy to think that we live in a society without race, where hands the colors of the rainbow join to sing, dance, and play. But this is not the case. America still has a dirty little secret – an enduring culture of racism that looms large in every aspect of national policy, from mandatory minimums in drug cases to a foreign policy that devalues the life of people based on their melanin count. And the only way we are going to move past this is by breaking the silence and talking about race openly and honestly, something that is often suggested but rarely done. As Martin Luther King, who would have been 78 years old last week, said many years ago, 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.'"