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DALLAS, TX (KTVT) — You’ve probably heard of “Rock the Vote.” Well, Linnyette Richardson-Hall of Plano can do you one better — because she’s got snacks.
“‘Snack the Vote’ is a little brain child that I had,” she explained while handing out bagged treats at the American Airlines Center, a mega polling location in Dallas County. “I’m originally from Baltimore, and I did something similar when they had the Freddie Gray riots. I went down to ground zero, fed the protestors, fed the first responders because to me the common denominator for a good conversation is always food.”
So it makes sense to bring her deceptively simple, but powerful act of service, to Election Day 2020.
“I figured why not?” she explained while showing off her snack-filled wagon. “It doesn’t matter if you’re red or blue, you can have something to eat, because hunger knows no color at all.”
And she’s finding that some pretzels, crackers and cookies can also help strangers push past first impressions: opinions that too often colored by color.
“It was interesting because there was a phalanx of them (voters who did not look like Richardson-Hall). I went up to them and said ‘hey, would you like a snack?’ And I could tell that it took them off guard. A black woman, coming up to give you food. And immediately it started a great conversation… not about politics; but, just about us as people,” she said.
Her kindness begs the question: aren’t we all hungry for something?
“Look at the smaller picture, rather than the big one,” suggested Richardson-Hall. “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
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