The constitutional order of the United States is an aspiration to democracy. And only that, an aspiration. The attempt for insurrection on January 6, 2021, in Washington DC is the most recent demonstration of this. However, US history is filled with events, policies, laws, and regulations that intentionally and systematically attempt against many being able to exercise the most basic democratic action - voting. There is also much to be said about a government that purporting to be of the people, for the people, and by the people is, at best, a representative structure, and at worst an oligarchy.
On January 6, 2022, the Capital Region Moms Out Front invited me to open their voting rights and pro-democracy vigil on the grounds of the New York State Capitol. When I accepted the invitation, I remembered my late grandfather, Sargeant Andrés E. Tañón Cintrón, who served in the US Army during World War II. I believe abuelo would be appalled at the insurrection. I think he knew when he enlisted that he would serve in a war for a country not his own (US) but for the sake of his own (Puerto Rico). Abuelo had a profound sense of civic duty that stemmed from that service. He taught his grandchildren that voting was not a civil right, but a civic duty. Even as I remain profoundly critical of the system of government of the US, I am committed to voting as a most basic expression of democracy because of that very foundational teaching of my grandfather. I wish I had an opportunity to talk to him about how access voting continues to be tampered with in the US. In lieu of that, I shared the following thoughts at that vigil, and commit to making sure my kids and their generation gain untethered, unrestricted, unencumbered access to the voting booth and to shaping their future:
It cannot escape us that we are one year from the intent for an insurrection against the national government of the United States. Gathering to pray for guidance as we work for democracy, justice, and inclusion may feel different after the events of January 6, 2021, in the United States Capitol. In light of these events, and of the ruinous decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding voting legislation in Arizona, the Congress of the United States has the moral, ethical, social, and political responsibility to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The political and social processes of the United States, for which suffrage is the most basic expression of, should enjoy a robust national standard.
Gathering in Albany, New York, is a reminder that, as the saying goes, all politics is local. Even when progressive constitutional amendments to expand the access to vote, and to clarify the redistricting process in New York State did not pass - and we are currently living the consequences of that decision - the New York State Legislature has before itself the need to further the defense of voting rights and the firming of the voting infrastructure so everyone can have unencumbered access to the voting booth and for that vote to be counted. New York State purports itself to be a leader in social, economic, and political policies. Access to the voting booth and transparent democratic values in the Executive Mansion, the Legislative Chambers, and throughout the judicial structures of the state is paramount for the preservation of the body politic of New York , and for the development of a truly participatory democracy in the State and the Nation.
As a Brown man born and raised in a colony of the United States, I am confounded that a year later many throughout the country, especially the White majority, continue to express surprise at what took place in the US Capitol. The promise of the country and the aspiration of the state are at play. Democracy continues to be a pursuit for the United States. Democracy is not a value fulfilled when laws and judicial decisions exist that make it hard for many to exercise their right to vote. As religious leaders, we gather to pray because many of us believe that the presence of the divine in every human being should have a clear translation in the ability of every person to participate in the formation of their government, in the development of laws that enfranchise the marginalized, and in the building of a society committed to justice, wellbeing and peace for all.
As we gather to learn, to be convicted, and to be mobilized, many Christians are observing the Feast of the Epiphany and the last day of Christmastide. I believe the words of African American Christian mystic and theologian, Howard Thurman, are apropos to this moment:
“When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.”
The final prayer I want to invite us into are the words of Roman Catholic spiritual leader Henri Nouwen, where he observes that,
“In the face of the human ability to extinguish all that is human, what does it mean to think about faith, hope, love, and live everlasting? God has been revealed as a loving (parent), guiding (its) children through history. But what if history no longer can be counted as a framework of our understanding of God’s love?...
We face a threat qualitatively different from all other previous threats and we do not have a fitting model for a response… As humanity we have entered a period in which our faith is being stripped of all support systems and defense mechanism. But it is precisely with this naked faith that we are called to build a community of hope that is able to resist the darkness of our age.”
May it be so. May it be so. May it be so.