A Vote for a Better Future Black Americans today must register to vote and use their voting rights if they want to see a change in the current state of democracy. In today's contemporary world, Americans are said to live in the most equal nation, where its citizens are entitled to a number of inalienable rights, one in particular being the right to vote. However, this was not always the case. Since the days of the late Malcolm X, we have not made much progress in our electoral issues. We have the choice and ability to vote, but are we as a people (the black community) using these rights to the fullest? Did we use our votes to our advantage or did we exploit them altogether? Statistics and I say no. We didn't always have a choice or say in how things were governed and now that we do, I hope to see all Black Americans jump at the opportunity to take part in the decision-making process. Think back to not even half a century ago, when this privilege was not ours, and there were many people ready to give up everything they had, their lives and more for it. Malcolm X, the revolutionary, in his fight for freedom, emphasized the importance of voting. He emphasized the power of the vote and the importance of obtaining the right to vote, and even now not as many as should be making use of their vote. A good start is Malcolm X's speech, "The Ballot or the Bullet," delivered on April 3, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio; this speech was dedicated to the voting issues of that era. The most significant ideas from that speech that I would like to discuss are the exploitation of African Americans and the struggle. This fight was not easy; it was obvious that there were individuals who did not agree with blacks having the right to vote. When Malcolm spoke in “An Appeal to African Heads of State,” he expressed his dissatisfaction with the American government's willingness to protect the lives of its African American citizens from blatant racist murderous attacks. Malcolm calls African Americans defenseless. He refers to three recent cases. In one case two black bodies were found in the Mississippi River, in another in Georgia an unarmed African American educator was brutally murdered and in the last in which three civil rights leaders disappeared completely. Although he wasn't sure if they had been murdered, people were there... middle of paper... families would have less. I raised the question of whether or not people think voting should be compulsory as a citizen. , because I think it would support better representation of the nation. The results show that the majority, 60%, or 20 people, disagree. I would expect everyone to want this option and not want to feel obligated, but I don't see how that could be anything but constructive. When I asked if people think there will ever be a black/African American president, the results are mixed. responses, the majority 9 people and 27% said moderately disagreed. This surprised me, to answer that there will never be a black president is extreme, I believe there will be a black president, maybe not in the near future, but for one day it seems reasonable. The last questions of the survey included. Do you think elections are skewed and typically favor white voters? 33% strongly agree. And do you think African Americans are underrepresented in elections? 22 people, or 67%, responded strongly or moderately agree.