Every generation has an obligation to vote their conscience after contemplating the results of not participating in a right so few in the world have. If you have an aversion to political discussions, I must warn you to not read further.
My Earliest Memory of
Being a Political Activist
This blog originated to share family stories, but unusual memories emerge from
recessed compartments of one’s mind. One such recollection resurfaced prompting
me to revisit the blog topic of this posting.
My sister characterized my younger years as
always being driven by “a cause.” I thought it stemmed from the influences of
the 1960s when I was a formative child and preteen. Music touched my core being
from my earliest days, so hearing “If I Had a Hammer” or “Okie from Muskogee”
or so many other ballads and cause-born songs must have been an impacting
factor. Even Kurt Kaiser’s “Pass It On” that was sung by every church youth
group in the 1970s, supported the idea I embraced of purposefully being an
agent for positive change.
Never do I remember not knowing about the two
major political parties of the United States. My paternal grandfather, Edmund
Gates, Sr., was a staunch Republican, a devout follower of the party of
Lincoln. He was worried about the national debt before most people even knew it
existed! Yet as my aunt, Mamie Marie Gates Tice, stated often, “Papa was a man
of principles.” On the opposite spectrum, my maternal grandpa was the precinct
registrar and a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. Yet I heard my parents say that both
of their fathers had voted for a candidate of a party with whom they were not
affiliated because of the candidate’s track record or the platform on which he campaigned aligned more with their personal beliefs.
Yet as I have contemplated the
state question on Oklahoma’s ballot, a retrospection prompted a memory from
April of 1959. I do not have the retention of a savant to recall with precise
accuracy dates, but I did remember the account with my grandparents. Then to
verify the correctness of my recollection, I corroborated the date with
state history.
The day was either nearly spent or cloudy. Whether
precipitated by the time of day or the weather, in my little
almost-three-year-old mind, it felt ominous or foreboding. Perhaps the mission
upon which my grandparents embarked lent to that atmosphere in the cab of
Grandpa Calvin Callcayah Smith’s pickup. Always ready to go when a pickup left
the farm, I was nestled between him and Grandma Gladys. She was the mastermind
behind this fact-finding endeavor.
 |
Calvin Callcayah and Gladys Rainey Smith with me standing between them. |
Even though I was not quite three years old, my
ears were always alert to whatever was happening with the four adults in our
home. I knew Grandma was known as a radical or fanatic as
a Christian. She tenaciously pursued people for the Lord. I had heard her talk
of an older man, an alcoholic, who had bragged to Grandma about his “setting
the bottle” before his sons. Each of his boys eventually became alcoholics,
too. Then she told of how he turned to Jesus and away from his alcohol. The
sorrowful, elderly man questioned her tearfully about why his sons turned a
deaf ear to his request to follow him in embracing a commitment to Jesus. I
knew she had witnessed boldly to moonshiners and other purveyors of
intoxicating beverages that she met.
Oklahoma was voting that spring about
introducing a more openness to selling alcohol in the state’s marketplace
because the state needed the supposed massive amount of tax revenue that was being
missed. My family disagreed with that state question. Grandma always put action
to her beliefs.
As a member of the Masham Baptist Church, she
and Grandpa had the blessing and support of the congregation to secure a
billboard sign opposing this measure. With the help of members who were
landowners on Highway 18, she had secured permission from one of the landowners
to post the sign on their land. They had selected the most optimal place to
position the sign to impact the most travelers on the state highway. The
billboard had been erected to secure it no matter what spring weather might
occur. Those committed farmers knew how do something like this.
What a shock to receive the phone call that the
large sign had vanished! Evidently, the depiction of a passed-out person with
the huge words emblazoned above the graphic, “The End Result of the Brewer’s
Art,” registered too descriptive for someone. But who had moved such a bulky
billboard? To locate the missing campaign message board was our mission – even
though I was a less-than-three-year-old little girl.
In those days, our best communication was a
party line. With a few calls and a few visits, it was determined the local
county shop was the resting place of the sign that appeared to have vanished.
Thankfully, I don’t recall who had been responsible for removing the campaign
sign from private property.
Perhaps this early experience scripted me to
continue to be an activist for what I believe strongly – maybe not as “out-
there” as Grandma. If we are followers of Jesus and the Bible, we must search
our hearts, asking what we believe about the principles that are important to ensure
a state and nation that will honor the Creator that endowed us with the rights
of life and liberty. Above all, we must choose. Not voting asserts that the
non-voter will acquiesce and agree with whomever and condone whatever the
majority of the electorate decides.
Anyone that knows me very well also knows in
this way I am like Grandma Gladys - I will hold to my Biblically- based
principles and Christian world view over economic gain or over public opinion.
But as my father, Edmund Gates, Jr. would often say, he "fought for your
right to your belief." Of course, I better close with my wise and seasoned
98-year-old mother's belief that one's vote should be cast, especially on a state
question, based on the outcome “down the road” for the safety and well-being of
our state citizens, especially our youngest, most vulnerable ones. She and I
have discussed our observation from Oklahoma history. No legalization of "vises" to pursue taxes from them have been the end-all answer for our state's financial concerns.
You may disagree. We each are guaranteed by our constitution this right to express our beliefs. This right of free speech is uniquely an American right and privilege. Let's respect that in each other. So no matter if we differ sharply; hopefully, we can disagree agreeably.
No comments :
Post a Comment