Illustration by Corey BrightCaleb Carter - Contributorcscarter@uab.edu
Hillary Clinton has spent her entire career working to expand opportunity, level the playing field and secure peaceful prosperity for all people.
She is the most qualified and prepared candidate to ever seek office and I have great confidence in her ability to continue the progress we have made over the last eight years.
This election has exposed the ugliest parts of our culture and she has continued to articulate a clear, positive vision for how we should move forward. When the GOP was focused on restricting the rights of women and the LGBTQ community, she was talking about how to expand healthcare, raise wages, protect immigrants and combat climate change. This election is about more than policy differences; this election strikes the core of who we are.
Clinton was raised with the values of both personal and social responsibility, which helped her develop a strong sense of public service. She is responsible for expanding healthcare access to rural communities in Arkansas and overhauling the state education system to ensure that every child had the opportunity to get a quality public education. She worked across partisan lines while she was First Lady to ensure that children had health insurance, even when our dream of universal healthcare did not become a reality. She fought for our first responders as a senator from New York because she believed in caring for those that serve and protect. She worked as Secretary of State to promote diplomacy and peaceful coalition building to combat global terrorism and made all of our embassies safe places for LGBTQ people fleeing political oppression.
I have traveled the country over the past several weeks in order to combat the idea that Clinton is untrustworthy. She has been the target of countless attacks and investigations throughout her decades-long career. The political establishment knows the threat she poses and they fear her ability to be an agent of transformation. They have watched her champion the empowerment of women, expand healthcare, overhaul education and craft international peace deals. They now see her gaining ground as she seeks the permission of the people to take her vision to the Oval Office. She has not stopped fighting for the values that have grounded her life. She wants to strengthen and build on the progress we have made by defending and improving the Affordable Care Act, protecting Social Security and defending the civil rights of women and people of color. She wants to build an economy that serves the middle class, empowers the poor and holds the wealthy accountable. She is fighting to end mass incarceration and racial injustice, because we are not whole until we recognize that every life has worth. She is working to ensure that our public education system is not dismantled and that college students are able to pursue their education without the fear of debt. She is promising the biggest investment in jobs and infrastructure we have seen since WWII, and these investments include a plan to become a green energy superpower.
I have a grandmother who died because of inadequate access to healthcare. I have an aunt who is an immigrant. I have a father with a disability and a mother who teaches in the public school system. I am a member of the LGBTQ community. This election impacts my life and the lives of those I know. This election is personal. I am urging you to cast your vote for Clinton.
Let’s stand together and make history by electing the first woman president. Let’s march forward.
