To the Dedicated Members of the Beaver Creek Baptist Education and Missionary Association,

"Give us the ballot, and we will no longer have to worry the federal government about our basic rights," proclaimed the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Today, as your Moderator, I, Pastor Dr. James E. Holiday, DMin., call upon you to honor that sentiment with action.

We stand on the shoulders of giants who understood that the ballot is not just a piece of paper—it is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to shape our community, our state, and our nation.

 

Remember the Cost

Our right to vote was not given; it was purchased with the blood, tears, and lives of our African American forebears.

• Reconstruction: After slavery, during Reconstruction, our people courageously voted in significant numbers, electing Black men to Congress for the first time.

• The Evils of Jim Crow: When that progress was met with violent backlash, Jim Crow laws were enacted to strip that power away. Our ancestors endured poll taxes, literacy tests, and the "grandfather clause" that was designed to deny them a voice simply because their ancestors were enslaved.

• Ultimate Sacrifice: For generations, attempts to register were met with threats, loss of jobs, and even brutal murder. Heroes like Fannie Lou Hamer were beaten, scarred, and faced bullets just for demanding the right to live as citizens.

Why Your Vote Matters in 2026

Some may feel their vote doesn't count, but if that were true, why did Jim Crow perpetrators go to such lengths to stop us?.

• Negating Your Own Opinion: Not voting is equivalent to voting for the candidate who may oppose your best interests.

• A "Souls to the Polls" Imperative: Following Sunday service, we must continue our tradition of marching to the polls, transforming our spiritual commitment into community action.

• Protecting Our Future: The decisions made today determine the economic and social climate for our children.

 

The Call to Action

I urge you, as brothers and sisters in Christ, to honor the ancestors who endured the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras by exercising your franchise. Do not let their fight, their sacrifice, and their deaths be in vain.

Make your voice heard. Let your vote be your voice.

 

Yours in Service,

Pastor Dr. James E. Holiday, DMin.

Moderator, Beaver Creek Baptist Education and Missionary Association