Congressman Hank Johnson is serving his eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia’s 4th Congressional District, and his mission has stayed the same – to uplift and inspire the community to make a change. Johnson spoke with rolling out about representation in politics and encouraging young people to get into politics.
Why is representation important in politics?
The first thing that we need to do is get rid of the apathy and realize that our vote is so very important because without that vote, we have no voice. We have to have a voice, we have to have someone sitting at the table representing our interests, and so we need to get active, we need to get knowledgeable, and we need to vote for people who vote in our interest and who support legislation that is in our self-interest. Another thing we can do is in order to vote, you have to get registered. If we were registered and got out and voted in the numbers that we have, we would have a lot more or a lot bigger megaphone than we have now and we would have more people representing us. And even people who don’t look like us and who represent us would be attuned to us because when we vote, they know that we can vote them in or vote them out and so we can be much more influential. This is our country and we built it, we own it. We should have a hand in running it.
Why should we encourage more young Black people to get into politics?
This is why I appreciate platforms like this because we don’t have a lot of publications that care enough and reach far enough to be able to project images and words to people who are consuming the information that they’re getting. It’s up to folks like me to have the sense of responsibility to present an attractive visual to the readership. I hope that, not just by looking at me, but by listening to what I have to say and looking at the entire package, people may be inspired. If I told you all of the things that I’ve been through as a young man, and getting to the point where I am now, I hope you would see me in you. I’m not the only one in my position, and everybody who wants to make a difference doesn’t have to go into politics. They can go into education, healthcare, business, or entrepreneurship. You can do it, you just have to prepare yourself educationally to get it done. It can happen through hard work, dedication, and preparation.
