Who me, I got class! I am that young African-Native American girl growing up in the housing projects, whose mama on a Saturday would wash the clothes and hang and iron the clothes for church on Sunday.
Furthermore, my mama would softly state, “pray and keep faith in God”. “Do not act up!” “Put the money in church.” Who me, I got class! I am the little girl who would dance in the neighborhood to song artists such as, Wilson Pickett’s song “Mustang Sally,” and Aretha Franklin’s song, “Respect.”
The people in the neighborhood would give my mama coins, and she would then buy food for the family. But I got class!
Who me, I am the four of five children whose mama was loved and respected in the community. There was one little boy who loved my mama as his grandma.
He would be at the bus stop, and when my mama got off the bus, he while smiling would run and hug her! Who me, Yes, I GOT Class! I am the person who ate mayonnaise sandwiches without the meat!
In addition, I am the Morris Brown College student in the Art Education Class, while doing the group project that made the elbow macaroni colored picture collage, and my Morris Brown College classmate exclaimed, “Y’all, I am so hungry, I can eat this art project.”
Poverty is depicted everyday in America. People are living from pay check to paycheck. Americans, especially minorities, are having to chose from buying food, and paying their rent or mortgage. Low income Americans across racial ethnicity, religions, education, etc. are in dire need for help. Not “all Americans who are having extreme economic difficulties are “Middle Class Americans.”
We must find solutions in raising low-income Americans to the “Middle Class!”
Because We All Got Class!
It is atrocious to see and hear campaign advertisements about rectifying the “Middle Class,” and not mention helping the poor low income people in America who are living in terrible “POVERTY!”
However, despite the omission of shocking situations economically in health care, housing, food, gas, etc., We All Must Vote! Voting is crucial for economic, social-cultural, educational inequalities that we are encountering daily.
We live in a multicultural world. Voting is critical for not only “Middle Class Americans. But “All Americans.
I urge everyone to vote. Allow Dr. Benjamin E. Mays’s belief to roar in your mind. “It is not your environment, it is you. The quality of your mind, the integrity of your soul and the determination of your will, that will decide your future and shape your life.” (Dr. Benjamin E. Mays).
After voting, sing with allegiance and obligation, “Lift every voice and sing, ’til earth and heaven ring. Ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies. Sing a song of hope that the present has brought us.” (James Weldon Johnson).
Reverend Jacqueline Williams
Big Bethel AME Church, Atlanta, Georgia
Former Director of Christian Education, Mount Carmel AME Church, Atlanta Former Mission in Society President, ITC, Turner Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia
