Paul Revere during his midnight ride, as depicted in many history books across the country. What most don’t often also acknowledge are his two helpers, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, who also alerted fellow colonists as well.
Two hundred fifty years ago today, Paul Revere, along with William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, traveled across the colonies shortly after midnight on April 18th, 1775 to warn colonists of the impending arrival of the British Imperial navy who had imposed tea taxes on goods and were now threatening to enforce those “tariffs” on the colonists. However, many had feared that it wouldn’t just be enforcement, but also reabsorption to the British Empire rather than a separate entity, the fledgling country we now know as the United States of America. It would not be until more than year later that the fledgling nation we call home today would draft the Declaration of Independence, creating a country by the people and for the people, and needing to engage in one of the most brutal conflicts known to history.
Today, in 2025, one could see the similar parallels with our country today- youths, despite more than a dozen cities having lowered the voting age to 16(municipal elections, more cities with school board elections) and youth still paying taxes on income from employment(see my Tax Day blog entry), not all 16 year-olds can vote.
For the last few years, I’ve been working to help change that through the Frontiers of the Democracy conference, where I and several organizations have been bringing the issue to the forefront of discussion so that more groups can open discussion around the concept, and like Albany and College Park, actually enfranchise young people.
This year, our team wants to add more voices, from diverse groups across the country, across the age spectrum- organization leaders, mentors, supporters, but most importantly, the young voters themselves. But we need your help- to consider joining our youth voting panel.
It may be 2025, but we still need Paul Reveres, and Paula Reveres too. While we may be still be living in the greatest democracy in the world, the last few months and the current political climate don’t seem to make it seem like it. On top of that, we young people still continue to be alienated from the ballot box in most places across the country. If you’re reading, you can not only make the country better and fill a larger-than-life role, but also do it on the 250th anniversary year at one of the places Paul Revere is most known for and the place where the Boston Tea Party took place- Boston itself.
Most who receive this will have my email and my Twitter account is below, with a post liked by Grace Meng herself- the actual author of House Joint Resolution 16 to empower young people across the country, found here, so I am not that hard to reach. If you want to help or even just know someone who want to help, please pass on this information to them.
Thanks for reading, fellow patriots.
Jester Jersey
#16ToVoteAdvocacyProject 