By Rashaan Peek

I don’t remember my mom ever mentioning voting when I was growing up. But I still have my grandparents’ voter registration cards and remember a handful of Sundays when the candidates would show up to our church, to never be seen again.

I have been voting consistently for the last 15 years. Before then I voted a couple of times, once for Clinton and the other to keep baby Bush from being re-elected.

A Fortune 500 executive once told me that my efforts to have a balanced ballot of Democrats and Republicans was a waste of time, but I still did it for years.

When I moved to Charlotte I attended a few County Commissioner fundraisers and joined a civic advocacy organization. That’s when I learned elected officials were regular people, that they weren’t all crooked and that some really cared about making our communities better. So, voting became my thing.

I am voting because it’s empowering, challenging, and sometimes frustrating. I am voting to find and support candidates who will do what’s best for our city, county, state, and country. I am voting because, although every candidate does not align with my vision for what I’d like to see as priorities, I decide who will do the best for ALL citizens.

I am voting because if I don’t vote, then I give the power to someone else to choose for me.

Rashaan Peek founded, in 2004, and is chief consultant for Your Girl Inc. Virtual Communications, a firm providing business development, marketing and event management services to small businesses. She has been on staff at MeckEd and Charlotte City Partners, and has volunteered with Girls on the Run, Sow Much Good and the Beatties Ford Saints Youth Academic and Athletic Association. She holds a BS degree from Georgia State University and an organizational management certificate from Duke University.