This song and video are for Crystal Mason, an American citizen and mother of three. Crystal was arrested for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 election, because she was considered by election officials to be ineligible. For this she was sentenced to 5 years in prison. In Texas, felons have the right to vote after they are released from prison, but [here is the fine print] not while they are still under supervision. Crystal had served prison time for tax evasion, but by 2016 she was released and was back home with her family, had a job, things were going well. She did not know she was still ineligible to vote, so her provisional ballot was cast, but it was never counted. My heart broke for her and her family when I heard her story on Democracy Now. A 5-year prison sentence is an outrageously harsh response to a misunderstanding, and seems like this excessive sentence was not about justice, but about voter intimidation. I was deeply moved when I heard the strength and dignity of her response to this situation. In the middle this, she was encouraging her own kids to vote, and to make a difference. Her spirit lifted her story from being one of voter intimidation to one of voter inspiration. So this song is for her, I tracked her down and gave it to her as a gift just as she was going into trial, and published it with her blessing.
Crystal Mason had a piece in the Washington Post, about what happened to her, and her current determination to get out the vote and help restore our democracy: "I was arrested for voting, but I won’t let the government intimidate me".
No comments:
Post a Comment