By Stephanie Lambert
Associate Editor/Capital Outlook Newspaper
“Welcome to a movement,” Florida A&M University Student Government Association President Andrew Collins told potential voters on Oct. 20. “This morning is not simply another march. This morning is not simply another speech. This morning is about a movement.”
Collins was at the head of what looked like a snake, as Rattlers, politicians and community leaders marched to the beat of FAMU’s Marching 100 in formation from FAMU’s Eternal Flame to the Leon County Courthouse for early voting. “Time has come to demand a change,” Collins said during the Wake Up the Vote rally. “The future is now!”
Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor also joined the more than 1,000 marchers for what he described as a “passing of the baton. “Since 1887, students have waited for an election like this,” Proctor said. “We’re not to be intimidated.”
FAMU students have always been active in the political process. In the 2004 general election, students marched to the courthouse in a similar fashion, however, Monday’s “Wake Up to Vote” rally exceeded previous student organized marches.
According to Ion Sancho, Leon County supervisor of elections, approximately 1,400 people voted at the courthouse on Oct. 20. He attributes nearly 1,000 of those people to the “Wake Up to Vote” rally.
Some suggested Democratic Presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, who is running against Republican nominee John McCain, has fired up many, not just in the African-American community, but the entire nation, to get out and vote.
“I think this election has energized the students,” said Larry O. Rivers, former FAMU SGA president. “This election is a landmark in history. It’s about change.”
Obama visited the campus in 2007 prior to receiving the nomination. His wife, Michelle Obama, spoke to an audience of more than 8,000 last month during a voter registration rally held at FAMU.
Jill Biden, the wife of Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden, joined Michelle Obama during the rally.
“There’s nothing like the energy in the eyes of the young people,” Michelle Obama said at the rally. “They don’t come with all the limitations about what is possible and what can’t happen. Everything to them is the promise of the future.”
FAMU President James H. Ammons, who has never disclosed who he was voting for, said the university does not endorse any candidate over the other. “We have invited all the presidential candidates and campaigns to visit our campus and to give our students and this beautiful community a first-hand opportunity to hear from them so we can make informed choices in this historic election,” he said.
Ammons said he was taking part in the rally because he knows the community is ready to make its mark in the historical election. “FAMU throughout its history has made history,” said Ammons, who encouraged the students to remember the struggles of their ancestors in their pursuit for the right to vote. “We can make big changes by voting.”
The Rev. R.B. Holmes, vice chairman of the FAMU Board of Trustees, said he felt the spirits of Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth during the event. “We go to the polls to vote for our history and our heritage,” Holmes said.
