A Glimpse at Early Voting

I've not had a moment like this before, when, pulling up to the North Miami library, early voters were out by the crowd-ful, patiently waiting their turn in what was estimated to be a 2 to 3 hour wait. This was not your "typical" crowd to begin with. This was a predominantly Black and Haitian neighborhood, where you normally hear more Creole or Patois than English. What made this an incredible sight was that there were more people patiently waiting on line as it snaked around the block than I have seen at a Disney park. They were stationed like this on a workday at 2pm under the hot Miami sun in numbers that made a line at DisneyWorld look small. No complaints.The pride was palpable. Ladies in t-shirts from various church organizations sat on colorful chairs under umbrellas to stave of the sun while they gave advice to anyone with questions.

I was thinking back to other voting experiences I have had or witnessed. I could never imagine a New York crowd waiting two to three hours to cast their vote. Wouldn't happen. But NewYorkers do take pride in voting; although not in high numbers. Wouldn't it be transformative if they came out in numbers that correlated with those of these new Americans? I was thinking of voting in South Pasadena, California, where my fellow voters were mostly Korean or Chinese. A mix of older Americans and some newer citizens.  We lined up to vote in the driveway of a private home, designated an official voting site for that election -- something else I had never witnessed.

The North Miami voting line made me proud to be part of this mix. Americans all. It doesn't matter if your language is Creole, Patois, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Guarani, Korean or something else, you are encouraged to vote.  A great reminder that no matter what your native language or culture or political views, you're safe to vote and your voice does matter.  With more communities with people of mixed backgrounds, creeds, colors, religions, I can't help but think that, despite incredible bouts of intolerance, we are still the best place on Earth!