Under the baobab: Take part in the most important political process of our lifetimes

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” —letter from a Birmingham Jail, Rev. Marin Luther King Jr.

Tuesday is primary day in Pennsylvania. Millions of citizens will cast their votes in the most important political process of our lifetimes, the election of the President of the United States. We already know that it will be a contest between President Biden and former President Trump in November. Members of the entire House of Representatives and one third of the Senate including PA Sen. Bob Casey’s seat are also up for election.

In our home state all 203 members of the State House, presently controlled by Democrats, and 25 of 50 members of the Senate, presently controlled by Republicans, will be elected. These outcomes are critical to the political future of our country. Pennsylvania is projected to be one of the swing states that will decide the presidential election. In 2020, 6.9 million PA people, 71% of the voting age population, participated in the record turnout.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a registered Democrat. I support President Biden, Senator Bob Casey, and the rest of the party’s ticket and most of our platform. I believe that voting is not a privilege but a sacred right. Thousands of people have sacrificed their lives to assure that we have the democratic right to elect our political leadership. We owe those ancestors and our future progeny our best efforts to ensure this government of, by and for the people will not perish.

I first became actively involved in the political world in 1964. I was not yet old enough to vote. The voting age was still 21. During the summer, along with a thousand other young people I volunteered to join the Mississippi Project to register disenfranchised African Americans. Less than 1% of the eligible Black folks had been allowed to vote. On our first day white supremacists kidnapped and lynched three of our volunteers. We carried on.

Today we are at another crossroads. How we comport ourselves over the next six months leading up to November shall determine the future of the American experiment.

We are not alone. Most of the people on the planet will be holding or have held major elections this year, including eight of the world’s 10 most populous nations: Bangladesh, Brazil, India, United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Mexico.

India, the world’s most populous democracy, is holding its national parliamentary election. Between now and June 4, almost a billion eligible voters will find their way to the polls. South Africa will celebrate 30 years of democracy with this year’s election, which may be the first that the ANC does not win an outright majority of the votes.

In the community

On Saturday the State College Borough held an Earth Day Celebration in Sidney Freeman Park. The School of Theatre presented the heart-rending classic, “Falsettos” effectually directed by Zack Steele featuring Ronald Spoto, Alex Iozzio, Jonathan Fenton, Nora Goudie, Joelle Sellers, Isabella Obot-Nkamiang, Katie Abt, and Matthew Feinstein.

The APIDA Heritage Festival held its annual celebration, “Night Market” at the MLK Plaza and South Fraser Street. It was co-sponsored by PanAPIDA Circle, APIDA Caucus, State College Borough and the Paul Robeson Cultural Center.

The Bellisario College Student Film Organization presented the annual Blue and White Film Festival at the State Theatre featuring short films by Andrew Reilly, Liana Danielle Simmons, John Westmoreland, Kameron Skrobacz, Marco Falcucci, Daniel Serdy, Kyle Raynor, Ethan Bannon, Matt Ditmore, James Rickard, Lucas Hydock, Kathryn Pinto, Ryan Manuud and Jase Gibbons.

Sisters and brothers, as we continue on this challenging journey remember that we are not alone. MLK said, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

Charles Dumas is a lifetime political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Congress in 2012. He was the 2022 Lion’s Paw Awardee and Living Legend honoree of the National Black Theatre Festival. He lives with his partner and wife of 50 years in State College.