Editorial: Make Your Voice Heard In This Election

Today is Election Day. If you haven't already voted this morning, I urge you to stop reading this column, turn off your computer and go vote.

We should not underestimate how important it is for people who are concerned about HIV/AIDS to vote. AIDS doesn't care if you are a Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, a member of the Tea Party or the NAACP. However, if you are concerned about changing the trajectory of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America--if you care about reducing HIV/AIDS rates, if you want to increase the percentage of people who know their HIV status, if you are concerned about expanding care and treatment for people with HIV, if you are concerned with developing programs that reduce stigma and help young people and other vulnerable populations have access to lifesaving information--you need to vote. Today is the day we decide which policymakers will make the decisions that will dramatically impact HIV policy and funding, arguably for the next decade.

For months now the politicians have been telling us what they think--or at least what they want us to think about their opponents.  On this day we get to tell them what our priorities are. While no HIV/AIDS initiatives are on the ballot that I know of, the candidates have staked out positions that we have an obligation to understand and either affirm or reject with our vote. There are candidates who support the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and there are candidates who oppose it. There are candidates who support healthcare reform and eliminating pre-existing conditions as an exclusionary cause for health insurance and the lifetime cap on payouts--both are life or death issues for people living with HIV/AIDS--and there are candidates who oppose these measures. There are candidates who support comprehensive HIV-prevention education in schools and there are candidates who advocate for abstinence-only sex education. There are candidates who support a sustainable AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and there are candidates for whom preventing or eliminating ADAP waiting lists is not a top priority.  Today is the day that we demonstrate what is and what isn’t important to us.

During this election season there has been a lot of talk about taking back our country. Quite frankly, I'm not sure if I know what that means. Who is the "we"?  Who are we taking our country back from exactly? And why weren’t "we" concerned about who had “our” country before the 2008 presidential election? What I do know is that in a democracy, we the people get the government we deserve. The only chance we have of getting a government that is aligned with our priorities is to elect officials who demonstrate their respect for us by supporting initiatives that are consistent with our concerns and against those that are not.

If you believe the political pundits, we are going to wake up tomorrow to a very different political reality. We should ignore the pundits. In fact, I believe that we should take our country back from them. The only polls that matter are today's polling place results. And regardless of who is or is not elected--regardless of which party controls the House or Senate--when we wake up tomorrow, there will still be an AIDS epidemic.  There will still be people engaging in risky behavior who need prevention information, and there will still be people living with HIV/AIDS in need of treatment and care.  And we will still need to do our jobs raising awareness, educating, treating, caring for, advocating and mobilizing Black people.  Elected officials are here for a season, but we the people are responsible at all times. OK, I’m done. Go vote!

Yours in the struggle,

Phill