>also, my point was that voting is the minimum, what else have you done in addition to voting.

Voting *and* holding elected officials accountable is the minimum. The minimum, by definition, should be sufficient. Otherwise, we need a new minimum. I agree with you in being knowledgeable on the issues is also required...but that really is dependent upon a free and unbiased press. Need I say more on that topic?

As far as holding our elected officials accountable...we can't even convince our own people that their issues are American issues. So on that front, we did fail. If I had a nickel for every time I heard "He's the President of America, not Black America..." those first couple of years of Obama's presidency. LBJ wasn't the President of Black America either, but we sure as hell pressured him and Congress to pass and sign the Civil Rights Act.