By james art 
by Julianne Malveaux
(Trice Edney Wire) – I was on a Black Women’s rallying call last week when one of the leaders challenged each of us to reach ten people to encourage them to vote. I don’t know a person in my immediate area who doesn’t vote, and I’m not looking for people who proudly say they’re not voters. Every now and then I run into a few, like when I was walking down the street one day when a brother, recognizing me, wanted to argue that voting was a waste of time. I gave it five minutes (checked my watch) and then moved on. Most people I know are politically aware, political activists, civil and social justice activists, and more. Maybe my circle is too narrow and I’m fine with that.
This column is not about those who are “doing the right thing,” voting despite their skepticism about our deeply flawed country and our equally flawed political system. This column is for those who wonder what their votes are and if they matter. What’s at stake? Every election since I can remember – 1972 – we say this is the ‘most important’ election of our lifetime.” The wily Dick Nixon had 61 percent of the vote and swept the Electoral College, winning every state except the District of Columbia and Massachusetts. Nixon fired the liberal McGovern. Was it our most important election yet? One can both argue with that and wonder how our nation might have evolved under a McGovern presidency.
I remember hearing “the most important election in history” every four years, and while it sometimes reads like an exaggeration, it’s sometimes more real than we’d like to admit. When the Supreme Court stole the 2000 election from then-Vice President Al Gore, it was a runoff election. Did Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton concede too early in her race against Mr. Trump? It’s debatable, but many think so. 2020 was such a back-and-forth election that Mr. Trump’s dark forces tried to overthrow the government to steal the election. Now he says he will pardon them if elected in 2024.
So in many ways these are the most consistent choices. What’s at stake? Some believe they describe 45th The president as a “threat to democracy” is extreme and false. But Project 2025 shifts our system from one of checks and balances to one of imperial power. We have a stable civil service that a President who adheres to Project 2025 would dismantle, in a system that would allow presidential appointees to replace civil servants. Black people, especially black women, would lose out from this change.
All women, but especially black women, lose when reproductive rights are curtailed. So are we when draconian policies gut public assistance in the name of “welfare reform” and make even basic health benefits dependent on work. We don’t have the infrastructure to require jobs, but we have the ability to punish those who don’t have jobs.
The Ministry of Education is at the stage of Project 2025 and removing it would widen the achievement gap. Project 2025 would eliminate Head Start, one of our demonstrably successful government programs. It would eliminate Pell grants that help hundreds of thousands of students from low- and moderate-income families attend college. It would eliminate race-specific programs and affirmative action by banning programs that consider DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in selection and allocation. In fact, Project 2025 delves into the details of the curriculum, regulating how subjects are taught, including history, slavery and other subjects. Project 2025 will penalize universities based on how certain subjects are taught. While Project 2025 aims to rationalize governance, it instead expands governance by creating ideological regulators that would eliminate “left-liberals” and “Marxists” from elementary and middle school classrooms, as well as colleges and universities.
The opposition to Project 2025/Agenda 47/Republican platform is to understand the redundancy of these closely related documents. Mr. Trump says Agenda 47 reflects his positions and he is trying to distance himself from Project 2025, even though more than 100 of his allies, associates and former government officials have worked on it. If you read these documents carefully, you will understand what is at stake.
Law enforcement agencies. The environment. Immigration. Elections. Consumer protection. Union rights. Payroll, Vice President Kamala Harris has a markedly different approach to politics and governance than Mr. Trump. Would you like to live in an oligarchy where a president has the unchecked power to investigate, fire or prosecute. Are we willing to give up our freedoms for a narrow minded blasphemous bigot? What’s at stake? Our very freedoms. Staying home is not an option. VOTE!!!
Dr. Julian Malvo is an economist and writer.