Let’s Summon Up the Courage to Vote for the World as It Should Be

By: Michelle Obama

When I was young, my father volunteered as a precinct captain for the Democratic Party in our neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. Some of my earliest memories are of tagging along as he went from door to door. He helped people register to vote. If our neighbors needed absentee ballots, he arranged them. And he made sure people got to the voting booth on Election Day.

My father loved educating folks about their rights, and he believed deeply in the responsibilities that come with being participants in our rich and varied society. He never missed an opportunity to vote. He viewed it as his obligation as a citizen—and a moral obligation to those of his generation who marched and fought and sometimes died for the right.

I’m very grateful to my father for teaching me the value of voting. As a parent, I try to instill that value in my daughters. I vote because I care about my country and my community; because I want to have a voice in my government; and because I believe that our country has a better chance of solving the problems we face if we all speak up and get involved.

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