In a recent voter education workshop presented this evening, from the Clark Historic Site in Roanoke, Alabama, Wilkie Sherard Frieson challenged citizens to think differently about elections.
Instead of beginning with political parties, campaign slogans, or personalities, he began with a simple question:
Who controls the money?
That question led participants through a practical lesson in how government functions and how public dollars flow from the federal government to the state, and ultimately into local communities such as Randolph County.
For many Americans, politics feels distant and disconnected from daily life. Yet every day we travel roads funded by public dollars, send children to schools supported by public budgets, rely on law enforcement agencies financed through taxpayer funds, and benefit from public infrastructure maintained through governmental spending.
What Sherard demonstrated is that elections are not merely contests between candidates. They are decisions about who will control billions of dollars in public resources.
When citizens vote for legislators, they are choosing the individuals who will determine how education, transportation, healthcare, and public safety are funded. When they elect governors, county commissioners, school board members, mayors, and city council members, they are selecting the people who will make decisions affecting everything from road maintenance to teacher salaries.
The workshop also explored another issue that receives far less public attention: the role of campaign money in influencing elections.
Across the nation, billions of dollars are spent during election cycles. Political action committees, corporations, advocacy organizations, and wealthy donors invest enormous sums attempting to influence public opinion and electoral outcomes. These expenditures are not acts of charity. They represent efforts to influence public policy and governmental priorities.
This reality underscores the importance of informed citizenship.
If voters fail to understand how public funds are allocated, they may fail to recognize the significance of local elections. Yet local officials often make decisions that directly affect neighborhoods, schools, public safety, and economic development.
Perhaps the most important lesson from the workshop is that democracy is not a spectator sport.
Government budgets are not abstract documents hidden away in distant offices. They represent real decisions that affect real people. Every paved road, every public school improvement, every emergency service, and every public program reflects choices made by elected officials entrusted with managing public resources.
Understanding those choices begins with understanding where the money comes from and where it goes.
As citizens, we have both a right and a responsibility to follow the money.
Only then can we fully understand how government works, how power is exercised, and how our votes shape the future of our communities.
In the end, the lesson is simple:
If you want to understand politics, follow the money.
The Southern Justice Archive
Presented By: Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson aka
Wilkie Clark’s Daughter”
“Documenting what happened, Preserving what matters, Protecting what must endure!
