Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America

by Stacey Abrams

The census is more than a statistical juggernaut; it is an organizing tool we can use to salvage democracy. As the fiscal impact of the census grinds at the lives of the undercounted, so too do the political realities that come from not having access to resources or the ability to elect leaders to secure them. A regional census director has repeatedly told the story of a community that had begged county leaders for a public park. With no public green space, kids played in the streets and in vacant lots. On a regular basis, neighbors reported near misses with oncoming cars and drug deals occurring on street corners where kids congregated. Outraged and desperate, community leaders organized themselves and put in a proposal for funding to convert one of the lots into a safe space for children to play, free from the dangers of the streets. But the county commission rejected the proposal despite pleas from their district’s commissioner. The staff explained the denial: in the last census, a majority of families in that district had not participated in the census, and that meant an undercount of the children in the neighborhood. The commissioner argued that anyone driving in the area could see the streets teeming with kids in need of recreational space. But, the staffer responded, those kids were not included in the last census, and she could only go by the numbers. The average American understands the basics of voting rights because elections are nearly annual occurrences with m...