I’m joining Blog the Vote, a really interesting project going on over at Chasing Ray, GottaBook, and Lee Wind’s blog. They are asking bloggers to post through Election Day about why they vote (no partisan bashing of the candidates, please). So, why do I vote?

I vote because I can. Because I’m proud to be an American and I don’t want to waste the rights that others have fought and died for me to have. I vote because I teach children and spend my life spreading The Information, and I want them to grow up understanding what it means to choose, think for themselves, and stand up for something.

I vote because I’m a descendant of women who had no rights but passed on their strength for the generations who would. Because I’m descended from slaves and Native Americans who struggled to make better lives for future generations. Because it’s my responsibility to my family and my ancestors.

I vote because I don’t want to be powerless. As an American woman I have the right to scream at the top of my lungs in protest when someone wants to decide what I can and can’t do with my body. Women didn’t always have that right, and I will vote until my dying day to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

I vote because I can.