By ROGER CALDWELL

It is time for the talking to end, and the voting to begin. Many political experts will say it’s all about the ground game, and Hillary, along with the Democratic Party, will have spent somewhere in the neighborhood of over a billion dollars in this election.

If you are registered to vote, voting is your voice, so vote. When blacks say to each other that their one vote doesn’t matter, they should study black history. In 1868, the Republicans supported African Americans voting, and the Democrats were members of the White supremacist organization, Knights of the White Camellia who later became the KKK. This is not the same Democratic Party or Republican Party that we have today.

On September 28, 1868, in Opelousas St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, a few Blacks attempted to join a Democratic Party political group. The political group from the White supremacist organization violently drove them out of the party, and eventually started a massacre. This event sparked anti-Black violence that continued for weeks, and some 200-300 Blacks were killed.

Many of our ancestors died for blacks to have the right to vote. However, many blacks are not interested in voting. Prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, blacks were beaten and sometimes killed for voting and organizing other blacks to exercise their rights as Americans.

In this 2016 election, Republican governors are working to suppress the vote, and find ways to obstruct African Americans and other minorities from voting. Voting is sacred, and it is the foundation of our Democracy.

Every election is significant because it determines who will set polices that shape our daily lives. Voting determines where resources and taxes are spent, and determines if elected officials are working to improve the quality of life in the community they represent. Every American has a civic duty and responsibility in the Democratic process to vote, but many youth, minorities, and other Americans elect to sit it out.

The 2016 presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will shape the direction of America nationally and internationally for the next decade. Donald Trump has no experience in the political process, and has avoided transparency with regard to providing his federal income tax return. He has never engaged in political decisions both nationally and internationally, therefore requiring him to learn as he goes.

On the other hand, Hillary Clinton is prepared and ready to execute on day one. She has been engaged in the American political system at every level of government for over thirty years. There will be no need for on the job training, and for the price of one president, we get two. Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton’s husband, was a strong president, and it is assumed that she will be in discussion with him during her tenure.

Hillary Clinton is leading in the polls, but anything can happen in an election. When Donald Trump’s knowledge is compared to Hillary Clinton’s regarding the political system, there is no comparison. Hillary wins.

It is easy in this election to get confused with the optics and what the media is reporting. But when the noise stops and the scandals are separated from the candidates, Hillary is competent, and knows what she is talking about because she has done it and lived it. She is not making up stories as she campaigns; she is prepared to be the first woman president in America.

Blacks must remember that Hilary has a record of working in their communities, and understands racism and Black disenfranchisement with the system. Trump has no record of working with the black community, because he was busy ripping off small businesses when he declared bankruptcy six times, to avoid payment for services rendered to his company.

If eighty percent of registered black voters cast their ballot for Hillary, and other minorities vote, it will be nearly impossible for Trump to win the 2016 election. The present and the future will be decided by you, the voter, in the next two weeks.

Vote for Hillary and vote down the entire ballot for Democrats. America is at a crossroad and the country needs progressive thinking leaders to continue the policies that President Obama initiated for minorities, the poor and middle class.