Bradley Beal Shares He Will Be A First Time Voter This November And Wants Other First-Timers To Come Out Too

Source: Robert Banez / Hoop District/All Pro Reels

This year’s election is getting closer and there is more emphasis on getting EVERYONE prepared to vote. Even those who have never been through this process before whether due to age, citizenship, incarceration, or maybe just not realizing how important their vote really is. Washington Wizards All-Star guard, Bradley Beal, has been motivating others to use their voice and vote especially if this is your first time, just like him.

He described the power of voting during a press conference officially announcing Capital One Arena as a polling place for November’s election. “We just have to be better in a lot of ways, more than one. So, why not start with a vote?” he said on a Facebook Live.

Don’t Miss A Moment! Update Your WKYS 93.9 App!

Since this will be his first time voting, Beal does feel some remorse for passing up this opportunity in the past. Yes, it’s a shock that he didn’t even participate in electing our first ever Black President, Barack Obama! When asked about his previous voting, Beal felt ashamed, “Selfishly, yes… It will be the first time I’ve ever voted,” he said. “I was kind of ignorant to it. Just kind of being naive to like ‘how many people are there in the world? Okay, my vote won’t count.’ That’s kind of ignorant thinking.”

Unfortunately, this is a mindset that too many people have in our country. Thankfully Beal’s thinking has evolved, on top of his concern for social justice matters, he has a newfound appreciation for the right to vote after recent conversations with his parents and grandparents. “I am kind of understanding what they had to go through to have that right to vote and to have that privilege for their voice to be heard. For me, I clearly took that for granted for eight to 10 years,”

On Juneteenth Beal also shared a personal experience of an encounter with a racist police officer, which may have also put that extra push in him.

Beal also has plans to train to be a polling assistant and wants to work at Capital One Arena on Nov. 3. “I definitely want to nip that in the bud and make my vote count this year. Especially, after seeing how we are as a world in the last four years, it’s been horrible.”

So whether this is your first or 1,000th time voting, make sure you get out to the polls! And if Capital One Arena becomes your voting site, make sure to say hi to Brad, he’ll be looking for you!

Source: Robert Banez / Hoop District/All-Pro Reels

RELATED: Michelle Obama Rocks A Fierce Red Lip In Partnership With Lip Bar X When We All Vote

RELATED: More Formerly Incarcerated Black People Need to Vote. It Matters

RELATED: Early Voting Locations In Maryland

Bradley Beal Shares He Will Be A First Time Voter This November And Wants Other First-Timers To Come Out Too  was originally published on kysdc.com