What do you do when the odds are greatly against you?  What do you do when you have to climb the rough side of the mountain?  I addressed these issues at an Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) Convention.  I was not supposed to speak.  Others were chosen to present but could not come.

So I was one of those who filled in.  I think it worked out alright.

The occasion was the Alabama New South Coalition Luncheon.  The theme was “We are our vote.” A separate organization, the Alabama New South Alliance, had screened political candidates that morning. Our chances of winning were on everyone’s mind.

Before I spoke at the luncheon, two others had presented:  Dr. Carol P. Zippert of Greene County and Scott Douglas of Birmingham. Both made excellent presentations on how to mobilize voters. Not much was left for me to say, and I do not even remember exactly what I said. However, I want to share with you what I tried to say because we are our vote.

We must face the hard cold truth:  the path to voting victory is not just uphill but up mountain.  The only question is whether we are mountain climbers. I want us to understand that the path is extremely difficult but not impossible. We just have to be mountain climbers because we are our vote.

How do we be mountain climbers when the mountains are so steep and so high and so rough?   Well, we climb mountains with our hands and feet, one pull of the hands and one step of our feet at a time. Every time we register a voter, we climb the mountain. Every time we help citizens secure Voter ID, we climb the mountain. Every time we truly educate voters, we climb the mountain.  Every time we organize and mobilize voters, we climb the mountain. We climb the mountain with one step of our feet and one pull of our hands because we are our vote.

We become mountain climbers by taking what we have and making what we need. We become mountain climbers by maintaining our faith in the face of daunting odds. We become mountain climbers by working with those in need one person at a time. This will be a low turn out election. If those of us who want a better Alabama vote at a 70 percent rate, we can climb the high, steep, rough mountain of voter victory. We must be mountain climbers because we are our vote.

The challenges that face us can be met by powerful participation in the November General Election.

A great leap forward in health care can be accomplished through expansion of Medicaid. We can protect and improve public education. We can provide more and better jobs for our children and grandchildren and ourselves. We can rid ourselves of voting roadblocks such as Voter Photo ID. We can have higher wages to properly provide for our families. We can enact laws that promote justice rather than spread oppression. All this and more is in our mountain-climbing hands and feet.  We must be mountain climbers because we are our vote.

I promise to do everything in my power to help us climb the mountain. I will do robo calls to spur voter registration, to stimulate voter education and to mobilize voters. I will write to inform and educate. I will speak wherever the need arises. I will use other technology to get people to vote.  We must be mountain climbers because we are our vote.

Voter Photo ID is a great obstacle. However, we must see it as a challenge rather than a curse.  If we see it as a curse, we believe that we cannot overcome and we don’t. If we see it as a challenge, we believe that we can overcome and we do. The obstacle does not change, just our perspective and therefore our actions. We must be mountain climbers because we are our vote.

During slavery, the “Master” would kill a hog. He would take everything worthwhile for the “Big House” and throw the unwanted remains in the bushes.

Some enslaved people would go into the bushes to check out the remains. The first ones picked out the tails and ears and made pig tails and pig ears. Later ones picked up the feet and made pig feet. Even later ones grabbed the head and make hog head cheese.

The last ones took the guts and make chitterlings (“chitlins”).  They took what they had and not only made what they needed but created delicacies out of unwanted remains.  We have a long history of overcoming great odds;  of taking what we have and making what we need;  of making something out of nothing. We must stand on that history, reaching higher and seeing further. We must be mountain climbers whether the mountains are physical or social or political or communal. We must be mountain climbers because we are our vote.

Do our words matter?  If so, how much?  We never know when our words will make a difference. Sometimes they pass people by.  Sometimes they move people to act immediately.  Sometimes they are seeds planted that germinate, grow and bear fruit years later. We never know if or when our words make a difference, but we plant our words when and where we can.