Elections Have Consequences
By Azher Quader
President, CBC
Chicago, IL

 

The presidential contenders will be visiting us soon for the March 15 Primary in Illinois. Of course Super Tuesday would be behind us by then and we may have winners and losers revealed. Still the handwriting on the wall is quite worrisome for us as the Republican field has narrowed and the views of the remaining few on Muslims, Mexicans, Obamacare and Terrorism is getting more sharply articulated.

The Democrat’s theme of a rigged political system corrupted by money seems to have also ignited a lot of young passions who are showing up at rallies where they had been absent before. The growing sense of disenfranchisement among various segments of the citizenry appears to be fueling much of the anger and frustration we are witnessing all around. The candidates not surprisingly are playing on it.

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican we hope you are paying attention and carefully reviewing your choices. Because elections have consequences and this one coming up in November promises to be a big one. The fight for the Supreme Court has already begun with the vacancy created from Justice Scalia’s sudden demise. If you think the decisions made by those nine people in black robes may not impact you, just recall Bush vs Gore, our response to 9/11 that followed and the longest war in our nation’s history we are still fighting, with so many innocent lives lost and so many more made homeless, in the pursuit of an elusive enemy.

Yes, elections matter and your vote is precious because it counts and it makes a difference. Empowerment comes through education and engagement. Political empowerment follows no different path. Ignore this simple truth and we will become irrelevant in the societies we live in and will eventually be tossed away into the trash bin of history. A community that lives with dignity and commands the respect of its adversaries is a community that is engaged, educated and informed. When we become engaged we become significant, we become visible. And it all begins when we go out and vote., for that is the first step in that journey for empowerment.

Community Builders Council (CBC) has provided many opportunities for engagement in the past. This year again we will offer townhalls and workshops inviting candidates and experts to express their views on topics of vital interest to all of us. The first of these town halls will take place at Northwest Suburban College in Rolling Meadows, IL. We hope you will join and participate.