Reflections on Success Rep. Harold Ford, Jr.

In every neighborhood in my hometown of Memphis, and all across America, I see young people tutoring and mentoring, building homes, caring for seniors, and feeding the hungry. I also see them using their entrepreneurial spirit to build companies, start non-profits, and drive our new economy. Young people today are inspired by an unshakable confidence in the future, and a genuine commitment to helping their neighbors and bettering their communities.

 But that same spirit of activism and involvement has not excited most young people about politics. A recent survey by Harvard's Institute of Politics revealed that while 60 percent of American college students involve themselves in community service, only 16 percent have joined a government, political, or issues-related organization. While I would encourage them to become more involved politically, I am very proud that members of the younger generation - my generation - have dedicated themselves to forms of public service that are equally worthy and effective. But what troubles me is that young people don't vote. Today every American enjoys the right to vote - but fewer than half of us choose to use it.

To fail to exercise one's right to vote is to forget the efforts of those who fought and often died to give us that right-the brave women of the suffrage movement, the martyrs who died registering Black voters in the South, and the young soldiers whose sacrifices in Vietnam persuaded this nation to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. Young people have always been the sparkplug of change in the world, whether facing police dogs in Montgomery, Alabama, or staring down tanks in Tiananmen Square. Today's young people have proven that they are as engaged in their communities as generations before them. They have proven their optimism, their thirst for fresh ideas and approaches, and their concern for the future of their communities and their country. I challenge every young person to bring those qualities to the polls each and every year. Together, we are a powerful voice for change.

Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. is a Democratic Congressman from Tennessee.