With all of this presidential election talk, all I can seem to think about is who will be the next President of the United States of America. It seems like yesterday that I was in Twitchell Hall at Hampton University with my hall mates, counting down the time to when the next president of our country would be announced. I remember that just a few hours before, Hampton University was busing students down to the golf course about five minutes away from campus to cast their ballot. I stood in line for about four hours to cast my vote, layered up in clothing, watching my breath come out in puffs of smoke because it was that cold outside.
I knew that this election was important because President Obama was the breath of fresh air that America needed. Now, at the end of his presidency, I can honestly say that President is the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time, that is). What other president has been in office during the legalization of same-sex marriage, initiated an Iran Deal and Criminal Justice Reform, and help historically black colleges and universities by starting a White House HBCU Initiative? Yes, that is my president.
So what now? Essentially, President Obama is the only political figure that my generation has paid attention too. For many of us, he is all that we have known. Now that President Obama’s time is coming to an end, will we care anymore about who our next President is? Are we going to vote? Are we going to be knowledgable about things that are going on in the White House? These questions continuously come to my mind.
According to International Business Times, young people will carry the 2016 presidential votes. The voters that will vote in the 2016 presidential election are between the ages of 18 and 34. Whitney Johnson, a Hampton University alumna and a member of the first class of the White House HBCU Initiative believes that millennials should participate in the next presidential election.
“I would like my generation to understand that if you are not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem," she said. “There may not by any black candidates at this point, but race doesn’t determine if someone has your best interests at heart.”
According to the Root, officials are worried that African Americans in particular, will not show up at the polls like they did for the two previous terms.
Eric Perry, a current Hampton University student, agrees with Johnson by stating, "It is imperative that millennials and my peers vote because we are the first to complain when something is not right but the last to actually do anything.” He continues, “We are sometimes ignorant to the fact that we have the voting power to elect our leaders. It is time to stop casting our Twitter opinions and complaints and time to start casting our ballots to make a change.”
If this generation wants their voices to be heard, we must “take our souls to the polls," as stated by one of Hampton's most respected student government association presidents.
For others, the idea of voting is important, but the ultimate outcome can still be worrisome. Nia Simone Thomas, a student at Hampton said, “I’m nervous we are going to get a president who isn’t sensitive to the needs of the American people." She continued, “In this time we need a leader that is going to make decisions for the betterment of all people and not ease the burdens of the 1 percent population.”
President Barack Obama won his first term my first year of high school and I could vote for him during his second term during my first year of college. His last year will be the year I graduate college; all important milestones of a young adult's life. But now, it is time to put race aside and turn our attention to the candidates fulfills the needs of all Americans, despite his/her race.
So life Post-Obama is scary and it makes me nervous, but if we do not vote, we cannot complain about the problems to come after the new President is elected.
