AYDEN — A local church leader rallied a congregation of political candidates and civil rights advocates to climb any obstacles put before them in the upcoming election and work hard to get out the vote.
Bishop Antonio Blow gave the keynote address at the Pitt County NAACP’s GOTV Rally in Zion Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, telling the crowd that measures like photo ID requirements show the right to vote can never be taken for granted.
“And for the record, voting is not a Republican, Democrat, or an independent issue,” Blow, pastor of St. Mary’s FWB near Snow Hill, said during the Feb. 18 event. “It is a human issue that every human being deserves a right to vote without suppression, and my grandmother at 99 years old should not have to go get an ID to vote in the next election.”
The NAACP is a nonpartisan organization that advocates for human rights, and while the rally was billed as a nonpartisan event the majority of 20 candidates who attended and spoke were Democrats, including Mike Morgan, a former N.C. Supreme Court Justice who is among four seeking the party’s nomination for governor. Gerda Stein spoke on behalf of her brother, governor candidate Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general.
Early voting for the primary is ongoing. Election day is March 5 for a slate of local and statewide candidates and presidential candidates. Primary winners face off in the November general election.
Blow told the crowd that this election is one of the most critical moments for Americans, particularly for people of color, and they must realize it is vital for all citizens to exercise their right to vote, even if they have to go out of their way.
He reminded the group about how Jesus departed from Judea and headed to Galilea and through Samaria, where most Jews would not go, to carry out God’s will. He questioned why black folks then have refused to do what is asked of them regarding voting.
“We go and vote one time ... check the records for yourself,” Blow said. “We must be mindful of how critical it is that every citizen in the city of Ayden, every citizen in Pitt County, and across our great state has the right to vote.”
In Pitt County, of the 80,926 people who were eligible to vote in November 2023 election, only 12,172 showed up at polls, and of the 4.4 million that were able to vote in North Carolina, just a little over 612,000 of them did so.
Blow said any barriers to the fundamental right to vote must be removed and that voting is the only way to overcome voter suppression. He shared a story about an elderly lady at his church to remind the crowd of how many barriers had to be overcome in the past.
“She had to go to the voting poll and tell them the number of beans in that were in a jar,” said Blow. “And we’re still suppressing people’s votes in 2024 ... We’re better than that, we’re a better state, and we’re a better nation than that, and everybody deserves the right to vote.”
Blow, who also is director of facilities services with Greene County Schools, said that education also is on the ballot this year. He said he’s never seen so many people targeting public education in his 30-year career in public schools.
“Every child deserves a sound basic education, and if this is on the ballot, that means our future is on the ballot,” he said. “How could we hinder children of poor communities, black and brown communities? How can we set up all these pitfalls around public education funding? We must fund education at every single level because every child deserves to have an appropriate education to push forward.”
Blow also said poverty and health care are on the ballot, citing an article by administrators and doctors of Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro that said people who live five miles in one direction from their campus have a life expectancy of 70 years while people five miles in another direction have a life expectancy 85 years.
“When the length of your life is determined by which ZIP code you live in, life expectancy has to be on the ballot, and when you are elected to office, and it does not matter what party you are affiliated with or if you are unaffiliated, you must represent all people, and it’s fair for those with the ZIP code that only gives 70 years life expectancy, they should live the same amount of time.”
He challenged everyone to take their cars, drive two miles from their houses, knock on every door, and challenge the people who answer to vote.
Each candidate at the event was given four minutes to address the crowd. Morgan echoed many of Blow’s sentiments.
“I’m running because I have a unique skill set never seen before by a candidate,” he said. “I’ve got the audacity to tell you that, but I’ve also got the audacity to back it up. I’ve got 44 years of experience in state government, 34 years on the bench of North Carolina, occupying four different judgeships along the way, and more judgeships than anybody in the history of North Carolina has ever been blessed to hold.”
Morgan said that his is a transformative candidacy and that will make history.
“Bishop Blow said that Voter ID is voter suppression, and I wrote the decision that said it was wrong to have Voter ID in North Carolina because there’s no need for it because it is voter suppression,” said Morgan. “I’m the one that said among others that redistricting was wrong because it restricts people from having their full voices heard, so please get out to vote Morgan for governor.”
He reminded the audience that people of color trying to secure the right to vote were dragged by police, water-hosed, dog-bitten, head-bashed, hate-bombed and life-threatened. “So don’t you dare disrespect their sacrifice, don’t you dare disrespect their legacy, and don’t you dare disrespect what they stood for,” said Morgan. “Get out to vote.”
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