find a way to use the word “disenfranchised” in a sentence

There’s a lot of thoughts rolling around in my brain today. In the wake of the 2024 election.

I don’t want to give the negative thoughts too much shape, because I believe in the power of words. I believe in the power of love, and I believe in the power of unity. No matter how bleak the feeling is right now, in this moment—I will still believe in those things.

I don’t have to reiterate everything that was at stake this time around. We’ve all heard it over the course of the last year. But I will say this: I’m a person that tries to lead with love. Always.

 I’m finding that difficult today, so—in the wake of all these swirling emotions—I’ll do what Toni Morrison encourages. In 2015, Toni Morrison published an article on The Nation titled “No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear,” and although she recounts the way she felt following George Bush’s re-election in 2004, her words still ring so true. Here, she wrote, “This is precisely the time when artists go to work … We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” So that’s what I’ll do. I will speak, and I will write.

I’ll lead with love before I inevitably talk about the dissatisfaction of this election and its campaigns. The thing I love about America is the idea of a democratic process. I love to romanticize standing in the lines at polls, smiling at the volunteers and poll workers that help make that democratic process possible. I love the optimism and pride that I feel all over me when submitting my ballot. I love smiling at people as I leave, sticking the “I Voted” sticker on my jacket.

 In “No Room for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear,” Morrison instructs us with more wisdom, though. She says, “I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence.” Toni Morrison is right, on both counts—so I’d like to take a second to acknowledge the hurt I’m feeling.

The first thing is this—until I see an election in 2028, I will be on edge with the state of American democracy. There’s been whispers of Project 2025, and although Donald Trump and his team have reportedly “disavowed” it, I don’t really trust that. That anxiety—for me—will only be appeased by a fair and free election in 2028, with the 22nd Amendment still dutifully in place. Still, I’ll take it a step further. Whether there’s been a fair and free election has been up for debate in every election I’ve been old enough to vote in. There are rumblings of unfairness again this time.

Of course, there’s always dissatisfaction with the Electoral College, no matter what the founding father’s good intentions may have been. The electoral college was built to “evenly distribute” votes across the country, but its effectiveness is largely debated (has been for a long time). We’ve seen several elections where the winner of the popular vote has lost to the winner of the Electoral College. I’m of the opinion that if this system should remain, it might be time to reconsider the Electoral College’s “winner takes all” policy. It’s discouraging for voters to show up for their candidate, only to feel like that vote didn’t matter when the state’s Electoral College votes are not distributed based on the popular vote of that state. I’m remembering the first slogan of the American Revolution as I type this: “No taxation without representation.” That winner-takes-all distribution of the electoral college votes dilutes the representation of those that vote for the opposing candidate. Maybe there’s other logistical reasons it’s been done this way—but philosophically, it doesn’t feel right. I’m not convinced the Electoral College is the best approach to a free and fair election.

The Democratic Party hasn’t made it easy to vote for the candidates they’ve put forward over the course of the last three elections. Don’t get me wrong, even with all their flaws, the Democratic candidates were still not Trump. But the voices of young people and marginalized communities across the country have grown increasingly more left leaning over the course of the last three elections. In 2020, the young people’s push for Senator Bernie Sanders to be the DNC’s pick was overwhelming. At the end of the day, though, it’s important to remember that our political parties are wheels in a giant capitalist machine; Senator Bernie Sanders was referred to by news headlines and other Democrats as “divisive.” Political strategists online and in the news thought the only way for a Democratic candidate to win would be a return to center. That’s not a new strategy for democrats either. It did prove narrowly successful in 2020, but this time around, Kamala Harris’s attempt to appeal to the center didn’t land well with the whole of the Democratic party.

To me, the common denominator is always economics, right? This need to enshrine capitalism with every election is cannibalizing the middle class. That is the fault of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. I don’t need to go into specifics for you to know what I’m talking about—more Americans than ever before are living paycheck to paycheck, health care is expensive and inaccessible, most Americans won’t be able to own a home in this lifetime. The little guy suffers while the elite get more elite.

On the other side of this election, people are feeling disheartened, scared, and anxious. Women are feeling more at risk than they have in a long time. Men are feeling emboldened by the rhetoric that has been normalized by Donald Trump’s language on stage after stage. And despite the rallying that was attempted, the working-class people didn’t show up to vote in this election. Who could blame them? Despite any candidates promises, the working class hasn’t seen any tangible benefit to voting in a long while.

In 2020, a total of 155,508,985 votes were cast at the polls. This year, a total of 140, 439,667 votes were cast. That’s more than 15 million people who didn’t participate in 2024. Believe it or not, Donald Trump’s win this year doesn’t mean that more people showed out for him. In 2020, the popular vote was 74,224,319 for Trump. This year, he sits at 72,560,841. That’s a difference by almost 2 million votes.

So, what does that mean?

To me, that means this election was less about the candidates, and more about Americans feeling disenfranchised by the process.

So, where do we go?  Toni Morrison is right. We go to speak; we go to write; we go to make art. Art is powerful, and it’s human. If disgruntled is what we feel, then it’s up to us to translate that into all kinds of mediums. Talk about it; write about it; paint about it—feel about it. That’s not only where healing starts, as Toni Morrison tells us. Art is how we keep pushing forward. It’s how we continue to impact change.

PS. Please forgive any spelling or grammatical errors. Content editing and being emotional at the same time is so hard.