Today

It was a semi-warm day in April of 1986 when my late father was driving us in his car with my mother sitting in the front seat. He stopped by a place and said he was going in to vote. I was old enough to know that it was the first time since 1968 for citizens of the Sudan to vote in a meaningful democratic elections. As he stepped out of the car, he asked my mother if she was going to join him and come along to vote.  I remember my mother saying something like it didn’t really matter and my father replying by saying something like “I think you should; it’s your right and your vote certainly matters”. My mother stepped out of the car and they both went inside and voted while we waited in the car.

Ever since that day, I always wondered how it feels like to participate in a democracy where my vote is meaningful. The processes of analysing the options, vetting the candidates, researching the facts, weeding out the gibberish and idiotic noise, etc.  have become some of the things that I wanted to experience as I grew to be a young adult and man.  However, due to circumstances that I am not going to get into, I haven’t been able to vote, ever!

Today, I have become a citizen of the United States of America and I could not be prouder. All the aspects of a democracy that I could only dream about are going to be a reality soon. In fact, I made my first contribution to a campaign tonight!

I haven’t done it just because I can; I have done it and will continue to remain part of the process because my father would have said something like “I think you should; it’s your right and your vote certainly matters”.