BARACK OBAMA & THE DEATH OF PROTEST

Real quickly, let me explain why protests don't work anymore.

 2 words: Barack Obama.

 Every politician with a gram of sense has studied the logistical genius that was the Obama campaign machine. They all know that you can win a national election even when most of the people, most of the vocal public apparently hate your guts.

 President Obama taught politicians how to look past the impressive numbers of the huddled masses and see down to the microscopic levels of who was actually voting and in which districts.

Politicians know that they don't really have to please or pay attention to their constituents. They only have to please and pay attention to the registered and likely to vote constituents who make up the base and swing votes in the key zipcodes they need to carry next election cycle. The rest of you chanting sign wavers can kick rocks.

 So, when a few thousand people show up on the capitol steps and the elected knuckleheads inside look out and see a bunch of out of county and out of state tags, when their own undercover street teams survey the crowd and find that 3 in 4 of the in-state adults aren't even registered to vote----- they just laugh and vote like you weren't even there.

 Yes, you're an American. Yes, you have a right to have your voice heard. But, the days of voices changing policy are pretty much over. One of the many lessons of the Trayvon Martin trial is: Voices change media coverage. Voices do not change law. Votes change laws.

 Wanna make a real difference. Instead of standing among 5,000 generic protesters who are only gonna boost tax revenue over the weekend when they check-in and eat out; stand among 500 Alabama residents who are all registered to vote in the same congressional district. In this state, that's enough to change the outcome of an election.

They'll listen then. The age of protests is over. The age of Voting Precincts has begun.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

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To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

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