Black women,

Black men who are felons cannot vote but you can. Because nearly 1.4 million black men out of 10.4 million of voting age - more than one in eight - will not be able to cast ballots because state laws strip felons of their right to vote, my SOS plea to Black women is to make doubly sure that you vote in the presidential election. Black men who are felons may be your father, husband, son or brother make up 35 percent of all Americans barred from voting. According to the Sentencing Project, a private group that favors reform in the criminal Justice System, an estimated 2 percent of all Americans have lost their right to vote as compared with 13 percent of black men.

After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, was ratified on July 9, 1868, without the vote of a single state from the South. It mandates that "No state shall deny any citizen within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Fifteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on February 3, 1870 mandates "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude (for example, slavery.)" But for nearly a hundred years the South continued to exclude, except for a few, Blacks from voting. When I returned to my native state of Alabama, after serving four years in the Army during the Korean War, I succeeded in voting but only because of my courage and persistence. Let me add I had the GI Bill.

In response to the Civil Rights Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted. Our thanks to President Lyndon B. Johnson who, after signing the Amendment, called it a "triumph of liberty over restriction" and "the verification of people's rights." Since its enactment many Blacks in the South have voted and some have been elected to political offices, something that was not possible prior to the Civil Rights Act. But even today, many white people, especially in the South, are using various tactics, including never-before voting ID- laws and the incarceration of black men and denying them the right to vote after they are released from prison, to prevent Blacks from gaining political power. When punishment for a crime exceeds one year, by even a day, a person becomes a felon. A year or less in prison is considered to be a misdemeanor, not a felony.

Today, many Southern politicians whose antecedents were Democrats/Dixiecrats, beginning with the administration of President Richard M. Nixon, became Republicans primarily because they believed that they would have a better chance of preventing black people from receiving justice and equality. They cannot get over the slave-master mentality. They have been effective in dominating the Republican Party where they found Republicans in a number of states outside of the South who embraced their 'States Rights" and "Conservatism" philosophy.

Shortly after Barack Obama became President, Republican Senator Minority leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky announced that his "top political priority was to make sure that Barack Obama was a one-term president." Thereafter, Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives have opposed every major piece of legislation proposed by the President. However, despite the lack of cooperation from Republicans, Obama has achieved a robust Health Care, rescued the automobile industry, ended the Iraq War, killed Osama bin Laden, regulated Wall Street, expanded student loans and more. Think about what could have been accomplished if Republicans had not embraced Senator McConnell's "top priority."

So, Black women, it may be that again you will have to play a major role and bear more than your fair share of responsibility, just as Rosa Parks did, to make certain that Obama has a second term to move America from recovery of an economy worse than any since the Great Depression to a prosperity that will equal the economy that existed when President Bill Clinton was President. During his presidency 22.5 million new jobs were created and the Congressional Budget Office reported budget surplus of $236 billion in 2000, at the end of his presidency. President George W. Bush squandered the surplus, cut taxes for the wealthy and put the Iraq War and Afghanistan War on a credit card.

Black women be aware that, unlike White women, many more Black men than White men are felons, mainly because of the racist system that espouses and practices white supremacy in America. I plead with you to spread this news to other Black women in your sororities, social clubs, churches and wherever you go. (Forward them this email.) Also be aware that there are many white people who share your conviction and are on your side. Share this message with them too.We dare not let this opportunity to reelect Obama to a second term pass us by. We have fought too hard, lost to many lives, and suffered to much injustice to turn back. We owe it not only to ourselves but to future generations to vote in this election. You do not have to wait to election day on November 6 to vote. You can vote now. In some states it is not too late to register to vote. There are people near you who can assist you, let you know how and where you can go to vote before or on election day.

Black men who are felons, like the Black man I talked with a few days ago when I was canvassing in Virginia who told me that he would like to vote but because he is a felon who was released from prison twenty years ago he cannot vote. This was my message to him and I offer it to all black men who are felons: (1) support black women in voting in any way you can, and (2) urge blacks, whites and other Americans to vote. Do not hesitate to let them know that you are a felon denied the right to vote and that you are counting on them to vote. It may be them who will make it possible for your right to vote be restored.

Black women, thank you in advance, for responding positively to my SOS plea for you to vote.

Your Black man,

Uriah J. Fields (Electronic mail, October 17, 2012)