The Vote or Die Revolution Melissa Beedle, Features Editor Vote or Die! That’s P. Diddy’s Citizen Change campaign message, a movement aimed at getting a revolutionary number of under-30 voters in the upcoming pres- Chicago in 1959,” he said. “My life and his are totally different. It had me face the reality that I was under-appreciating the freedoms I had. I wanted to do something fo ” os idential election. He’s not the only celebrity trying to get people to vote. Cameron Diaz, Christina Aguilera, Drew Barrymore, and many more have climbed aboard the campaign to encourage people to exercise their voting rights. I recently watched an Oprah episode about voting, and was struck by the celebrity activism. Is P. Diddy just trying to get people to vote? Or is he trying to get rid of President Bush? Why is it that more celebrities than ever are out there campaigning for voters? Some say it’s because of the present political turmoil in the US. Others say it’s to get Bush out of office. According to P. Diddy, who appeared on the Oprah episode, it was his critically acclaimed role in Broadway’s The Raisin in the Sun that inspired him to get young peo- ple involved in the voting process. “IT was playing Walter E. Unger, who was growing up on the South Side of OcuOber = 13/2000 It's time for us to get involved, educated, motivated-we can change the world. a A positive with my power. I have a gift to communicate to young people, to get through to them and also my race [....] It’s time for us to get involved, educated, motivated—we can change the world. We can control the destiny of our future in this country, but we have to vote. I believe we're going to vote November 2nd. The revolution will be televised. Mark my words.” “For years, people have wondered why young people and minorities are not involved in the voting process,” P. Diddy continued, “they’re disenfranchised. I wanted to come up with a slogan that will wake ’em up and let ’em know how it real- ly is out here. People have died for us to have this right to vote and the rights we have today, and we must exercise that right. [...] I wanted to come up with a slo- » Diddy gan that was really politically-incorrect, that was rock ’n’ roll, that was hip-hop. That expressed what young people feel, and the urgency of the matter. When you vote a president into office, you’re putting your life and the lives of your families in someone else’s hands. You have to vote on November 2nd to have a say-so in your future.” Also on Oprah, Cameron Diaz cried about the fact that people are not exercis- ing their voting rights. Oprah: Cameron is having a moment. What is this about? Cameron: Well, ’'m so proud of my friend [Drew Barrymore]. She took a whole year out of her busy schedule. She’s a producer, she’s an actor. [...] She did this to take the time to educate people about it. And then I started listening to people saying, ‘Oh, I don’t vote because it just doesn’t affect me. And I just got over- whelmed, because I think this is the best country in the world. And it just scares me that we’re just going to squander it all away. That we’re going to lay (sic) down and let people take it away from us. Oprah: I am very, very afraid. Cameron: I’m really scared. I don’t know if you guys know this about our country [...] but people—we’re all alone right now. And, where we used to be the strongest in the world, we’re alone. So, that’s the beginning of something terrible, and so it’s very important to go out there. Oprah: I know. You're afraid of what’s going to happen if people do not vote. According to Diaz, it’s a dangerous time for Americans because they are dis- liked around the world now more than ever, part of her reason for being involved in the young voters drive. Drew Barrymore just finished a docu- mentary called The Best Place to Start. She hired a camera crew and spent the year traveling around the US to learn how the voting system works. On her tour, Barrymore was determined to find out the state of voting in America. “T saw what I’ve discovered to become a vicious cycle,’ said Barrymore. “The kids aren’t appealed to. They don’t under- stand what their issues are yet. But the candidates don’t take the time to show them [young voters] what their issues are or appeal to those issues because they’re [young voters] not voting,” “To me, what became important about the voting was the vote itself [....] What 7‘ Oprah [Winfrey Show] people went through [....] The conclusion that I came to was that voting, for me, became about looking inside of myself and learning who I was and therefore try- ing to find candidates and politicians that believe in the things that I believe in and will go and represent that to the rest of the country.” More than 42 million Americans aged 18-30 are eligible to vote in the US, but come the last election, only 37 percent actually voted. The youth voter drive is supposed to get the 50+ percent of non- voters to vote in the upcoming November election. According to one statistic, only 36 percent of young people vote. For more information, check out P. Diddy’s website . OUHEPPPESS 17