What happens after we vote.

Jolie A. Doggett

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ZORA

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4 min readOct 29, 2020

Hi ZORA Fam,

Another Black man was killed this week. I didn’t watch the video. I have no interest in seeing another dead Black body. I don’t think I can handle hearing Walter Wallace Jr.’s mother crying and screaming while her son dies in the street. It’s too frustrating to watch protesters march and demand an end to police brutality again.

We’ve been here before. We’ve asked police to stop killing us before. We’ve asked for reform and policy change before. The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same and honestly, I’m getting a little discouraged. Even as we rally people toward the polls to vote out the most divisive president in recent history, I sometimes wonder if we’re looking for accountability and protection from the same systems that oppress us.

Can voting really bring the radical change we seek?

In her essay for the LEVEL series Abolition for the People, writer and activist Rakia Lumumba explains that voting out those who perpetuate harm is a key part of abolishing racist systems and moving toward restorative justice.

“Engaging in the electoral process is about unseating over 400 years of White supremacy that still plagues the U.S. system in very real and systemic ways,” she writes. “It is about creating a system of justice that values Black, Brown, trans, gender nonconforming, gay, lesbian, and disabled lives and does not condone modern-day lynchings. It’s about government representation that protects the lives of our children and their children.”

Voting is just the first step in a long journey toward true social justice and change. It won’t change everything overnight, but it’s a start.

Please vote, pay attention, take action and take care of yourselves.

-Jolie A. Doggett, ZORA platform editor

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