The following article was written by Allen Cameron Gary, State Content Writer for Convention of States Maryland.
I knew relatively early in my life that, while America was a special place to live, there was (at least where I was raised) an "imbalance" in our south Baltimore neighborhood, circa 1960.
I had a friend. I knew him by one name and one name only: "Turkey." One Saturday we wanted to go to a matinee at the McHenry movies. We were told that I could be admitted, but Turkey was not allowed.
We remained neighborhood friends. I knew then that things were not only separate, but separate and unequal.
A year or two later as an acne-faced 16-year old, I slammed into a reality wall. I actually wrote a speech, not only in search of an answer to that single unanswerable event a year or so earlier, but to the broader question of inequality.
I read it to my mother and told her I was going to go to Washington D.C., because I heard Dr. King was going to give a speech.
Mom was bedridden most of the time. We didn't really have a discussion. She simply asked that I not go. I didn't. I held to the belief that had I gone, I might have been given a chance to speak.
We should all be able to be heard. We should all voice our opinions. We need to engage in civil debates. We have the power to correct course when needed. Dr. King knew this, as history demonstrates.
Our Constitution begins with "We the People.” Article V of our Constitution provides a blueprint and a pathway for We the People to sound a clarion call, a gathering call as it were, that constraint must be placed on the federal government.
WE the People must stand and demand the government reduce its size and control. We the People must do away with the redundancy of incumbency and place term limits on the House and Senate.
I believe in WE The People.
I believe from the core of We the People comes E. Pluribus Unum: "Out of many, one."
I believe we are meant to use Article V and restore our government to We the People.
