As people start lining up to cast their votes for the 2024 presidential election, the act of utilizing and exercising your voice to decide the fate of democracy can sometimes feel as if it’s just another day. Especially as citizens of this country, we can often take the privilege of voting for granted, whether forgetting the history of what it took to get there or not realizing just how much of an impact it truly has.
However, a man named Vivaldi perfectly described how it felt for him to cast his vote after spending past elections unable to because of his citizenship. Vivaldi, a Haitian-American, became emotional as he detailed what this day meant to him and what it should mean for Americans as well.
The man broke down while explaining how it felt to vote for the first time as a U.S. citizen.
In his TikTok video, Vivaldi explained that his parents moved to the United States in 1999. Soon after his family came to this country, major events began happening, from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina to the overturning of affirmative action and the housing crisis. These things were occurring and altering the trajectory of people’s lives, and Vivaldi pointed out that if you weren’t a citizen, you couldn’t vote to change it.
“You really just had to suck it up and take what you got,” he said. “There was no way outside of voicing on social media to get anybody to hear you, to have any way of affecting any sort of change.”
The man said he was voting for more than just his own selfish reasons.
For Vivaldi, after 26 years of not being able to have a say in politics and being able to change the issues happening in this country, he was finally able to stand in line and cast his ballot.
Getting emotional, Vivaldi pointed out that his vote wasn’t just for himself but for the life of his family and the millions of people in this country who might be suffering from the state of politics that is jeopardizing their rights or well-being.
More than 3.5 million citizens who have been naturalized since 2020 have become eligible to vote.
These individuals join more than 23 million naturalized citizens who were eligible voters in the last presidential election.
Though overall turnout among naturalized voters has been lower than among U.S.-born voters, participation rates of naturalized Latino and Asian American voters have been higher than those who are U.S.-born, according to Pew Research.
The man encouraged Americans to exercise their right to vote, even if they didn’t believe it would matter.
It’s easy as a citizen of this country to think about voting as if it’s just another task and to have a rather discouraging reaction to it, whether that’s because people don’t believe that voting will effect any change or because they feel disconnected from what’s at stake.
Just because something won’t affect you doesn’t mean you should allow it to affect other people.
The right to vote was an actual struggle and fight for many marginalized communities in this country. It took decades for Black men, women, and other people of color to be allowed to cast their votes and have their voices heard.
Vivaldi’s emotional gratitude to now be a part of the process is a blatant reminder of the sacrifices of those who came before us.
“I know that there are millions of you that think your vote doesn’t matter, that you are nothing but a speck in the world, when, in all honesty, there might be some truth to that,” he said. “But there are people like my family that have left everything behind, that spent thousands and traveled to cross oceans for the possibility.”
Vivaldi encouraged people to get out to the polls, and if they feel discouraged, just remember the people who’ve come to this country seeking justice, freedom, and liberty. The ones who can’t stand in line today but face the same struggles that we do. Remember them when you’re voting to make a change and create a better country for everyone living in it.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.
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