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    • Detroiters rally on Election Day: ‘Our votes matter’
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    Detroiters rally on Election Day: ‘Our votes matter’

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    Music and dancing marked Election Day morning in Detroit as voters lined up across the city to cast their ballots.

    A first-time voter, a Howard University graduate and an Army veteran were among the residents who voted in person on a windy Tuesday. As the autumn leaves fell and Detroiters filed in and out of polling places on an important day in the state of Michigan, the battleground—the culmination of back-to-back campaign stops as presidential candidates sought votes in a close race. Abortion and the economy were among the top issues for Detroiters who made their way to the voting booth. However, Detroit voters overwhelmingly said they want to see Vice President Kamala Harris elected, and they hope to see that result.

    For lifelong Detroiters like Lauryn Allen, it would be “monumental” if Harris becomes president. She queued for more than half an hour at the North West Activity Centre, but that didn’t matter to the 27-year-old. It’s exciting. because a line means people are voting.

    “It’s humbling because I have this chance, the chance to have a voice, and at one time my ancestors didn’t,” said Allen, who lives on Detroit’s west side, after getting his voted immediately after the votes, shortly after the polls. open at 7 am

    Allen said he expects to stay up all night for the results. In 2016 — the first presidential election in which she voted — she remembers sitting in her dorm room in the quiet of her campus after Donald Trump won. This year, however, he anticipates a different result. She doesn’t even consider the alternative — a Trump presidency — she said.

    “Now I go home and I feel so energized and happy and excited for the future, I think when it gets close to midnight and all night, I’ll be excited, compared to 2016, I was like ” Oh”. , no,'” she said.

    When Shanel Adams voted for Harris, she unexpectedly teared up. While he doesn’t agree with all of Harris and the Democratic Party’s policies, this particular vote mattered to Adams as a fellow graduate of Howard University, a historically black institution.

    “I got emotional because I think I just see that little girl in me that would have loved this example, and I think that means a lot more than I think we give it credit for,” said Adams, 33, of Detroit.

    Adams, who grew up in Detroit, said she faced rejection when she decided to attend Howard University instead of a predominantly white institution because she was considered smart. But going to Howard changed his life.

    “It made me know that it’s important to take care of your community. So to see Kamala at such a high level now, it just shows me that our institutions matter, and by giving back to your community, you can end up being someone strong like her,” Adams said.

    Adams is a middle school teacher in Detroit, so she’s also been in tune with education-related ballot questions like who’s running for school board. Voting for Adams is a significant act — a right African-Americans had to fight for, she said.

    “Just voting for a person of color is great, but voting for a woman who is a person of color has a special meaning to me because even in small ways in my life, I think I’m still fighting for my voice to be heard. just because I’m a woman and just seeing it nationally, it inspires me,” she said.

    Cameron Collins, who at 19 voted for the first time, also sees his vote as a privilege. Although voting at the booth felt like a mock election one would do at school, the moment was still surreal.

    “Our votes matter,” he said.

    Anthony Shorter said he is voting for his future daughter and his family. For him, that means access to abortion — a decision that, he said, should be left up to women.

    “Trump is probably going to take us 10,000 steps back. That’s the way I see it,” said Shorter, 28, of Detroit.

    Collins, who has sisters and nieces, echoed a similar sentiment and said women should be in control of their own bodies.

    Both men spoke outside the North West Activity Centre, where Jacqueline Kapilango, who goes by the name ‘DJ Asset’, played music, energizing voters with songs such as Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’, just after 7am. She volunteers with DJ to vote, a group that partners with community organizations and local DJs to play at polling places.

    “We are trying to bring emotion to the voters, to get them to vote. This is (an) important moment in our history and we just want to support that through music,” Kapilango said.

    The moment was also alive at Pasteur Elementary School, a polling place where people danced while another DJ played.

    At First Congregational Church in Midtown, Andrew Burks-Wright said a Harris victory would restore faith in the country. The Wayne State University doctoral student said he feels cautiously optimistic but still worries about the prospect of a Trump presidency.

    “I know that, for whatever reason, millions of American voters don’t hold the same values ​​that I do. I will continue. Life will go on. I’m going to start thinking more seriously about leaving the country. I have a few options in mind,” Burks-Wright, 50, said.

    It’s time for a change, said Linda Morrow, 77. As he cast his vote, he found himself sweating because it felt like history in the making as he voted for someone who could be the first woman elected president.

    “If we can raise up presidents,” Morrow said, “… we can be president.”

    Contact Nushrat Rahman: [email protected]. Follow her on X: @NushratR.

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