Democratic candidates, voters march in ‘Souls to the Polls’
A crowd marched down Northwest 22nd Avenue. Some wore campaign shirts, but most waved signs.
“Let my people vote.” “Building a Florida for all.” “I am a fan of freedom.”
They marched from the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center at 61st Street to the Joseph Caleb Center at 54th Street, where there is an early voting site, for a Sunday afternoon Souls to the Polls event in Liberty City. And among the faces in the crowd were Karla Hernandez-Mats, Charlie Crist’s running mate for governor, and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
“Today gives me heart,” Levine Cava said before the march started. “Today gives me courage. Today gives me strength, to be with my brothers and sisters who are here for the cause, who are here knowing that everything is on the ballot.”
The rally featured a Junkanoo band in vibrant, bedazzled attire, an instrumental performance of “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” and colorful slushies. Even the sudden downpour of rain couldn’t stifle the celebration.
For much of her life, Kayondra Screen’s mother dragged her along to Souls to the Polls events.
Now 32, the Liberty City resident brings her daughters Aniyha, 13, and Armani, 3. It’s an opportunity for them to experience the voting process.
“They get to see where we come from,” Screen said. “Especially as people of color, we try to show our children different things so they can see where we’ve come from and where we’re trying to go.”
Screen’s mother, Lovette McGill, also got her fervor for voting from her mother, who registered to vote in 1967 — in a time when people were threatened and pressured against voting.
McGill’s mother passed away two months ago, but she was able to vote in the August primary.
“That’s even more an impetus for me to continue,” she said.
McGill, the president emeritus of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, an organization for Black trade unionists, has been putting together Souls to the Polls events since 2014. During President Barack Obama’s campaigns, she invited notable Blackleaders like the Rev.
Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson to Miami.
The events motivate voters to turn out. McGill looks forward to when her granddaughter Aniyha can vote in a few years, especially since voting is a cherished tradition in her family.
“I see a lot of young people are not excited about voting,” she said.
“It comes from the household. Things stem from the lessons that you portray.”
For Jude Bruno, 28, Souls to the Polls is not only a reminder to vote but to honor the people who fought and died for the chance to vote.
And a lot is at stake this election, from the larger races to the school board referendum, Bruno said. A former union organizer for United Teachers of Dade, Bruno said he believes the Miami-Dade County referendum to increase taxes for schools is essential to provide teachers and security personnel with the resources they need.
The Miami Shores resident said he always makes time to vote in every election.
“I’m going to vote, even if there’s a single issue on the ballot,” Bruno said. “Because I cannot complain and not do something. Part of me doing something is voting and getting others organized to do the same.”
For Daniella Pierre, president of the MiamiDade NAACP, the gathering allows people to vote for candidates who would advance the community forward — and protect democracy.
“People have fought, bled and died for the opportunity and the right for everyone ... to come out and vote for their choice,” she said.
Pierre, 40, votes in every election and focuses her votes on policies.
“There’s too much on the ballot that I couldn’t [not] come out to vote,” she said. “I’m out here to vote for education. I’m out here to vote for health equity. I’m out here to vote for my community. And I’m out here to vote for a change in society.”
Hernandez-Mats, in a brimmed hat and with campaign buttons pinned on her black jeans, urged the crowd at Caleb Center to ask loved ones about their plan to vote before ending her short remarks in a chant.
“We know that when we vote,” she said.
The crowded shouted back.
“We win!”