With Election Day right around the corner, now is a good time to read or re-read two pieces, Frederick Douglass’ “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,” given on July 5, 1852, and Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet,” given on April 3, 1964. More than one hundred years separate these two classic speeches. At each point and time both speakers saw the importance of the vote. The vote is just as important, if not more so, in this day and age as it was more than one hundred years ago. All should read these two pieces, but especially those who don’t vote (and then complain about politicians), those who don’t realize the importance of voting, and those who don’t understand the struggle and sacrifice to obtain the right to vote….