In 2020, I published a blog post with tips for Americans living in South Africa who wanted to vote in the U.S. presidential election. I thought about simply resharing that post this year. But then I realized: 1) I want to write a U.S. election post that will be fun and informative for everyone, not just other Americans; and 2) Believe it or not, the U.S. presidential election stakes are even higher in 2024 than they were in 2020. So I’m introducing you to some really cool Americans in Joburg – one who I’ve known forever and two who I just met – and tell you a bit about who they are, why they live here, and why they vote.

Before I go any further: If you’re an American citizen living outside the United States, you have the right to vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS every bit as much as it would if you were living in the U.S. Please go to VoteFromAbroad.org, if you haven’t done so already, and register to receive your ballot via email, and the people at Vote From Abroad can help with any specific questions you have about what to do from there. You need to act SOON (like now-now) to ensure your ballot arrives in time to be counted.

Americans in Joburg

I recently went to a networking event for Democrats Abroad South Africa (I’m not talking too much about politics in this post, but I’m sure my political persuasion comes as no surprise to anyone) and met a bunch of Americans living in Joburg. I asked two of them if they’d be open to speaking to me for this blog post and they both agreed. They are both insanely interesting and each of their stories are worthy of their own lengthy blog post. But here’s a taste of who they are.

Charles Belk (voting in North Carolina)

Charles Belk, an engineer, film producer, and self-described jack-of-all-trades, is originally from North Carolina but has lived all over America and the world. His life changed in 2014 when he was wrongfully arrested for bank robbery in Beverley Hills, Los Angeles – while he was on his way to an Emmy Awards event! – in a case of mistaken identity. (“I was the wrong tall, bald Black man,” Charles said.) Although the charges were eventually dropped, Charles discovered it was incredibly difficult to get that arrest off his record. This incident led Charles to embark on a mission to help other people in the same situation to get their records expunged after a wrongful arrest. He’s helped get legislation passed in several states and is working toward national legislation.

Charles briefly considered a run for Congress in 2016, but after Trump was elected he decided to travel the world, with the goal of visiting 100 countries. He wound up in Joburg by chance in early 2020, planning a short visit, but decided to ride out the lockdown in an apartment in Hallmark House during covid and fell in love with the city.

Charles came and went a bit over the following few years and has now decided he wants to retire in Joburg. He’d been back in town for about two weeks when we met. (Charles told me he narrowed his retirement options down to five cities – Paris, Buenos Aires, Budapest, Medellin, and Joburg – and chose Joburg.) He’s currently staying in Hurlingham so we met at the nearby Milk Bar in Parkmore.

I asked Charles why he still votes in the U.S. “I think it started with my incident when I got wrongfully arrested. Because then I had a cause to really rally around. The way to solve this is to get involved in the political structure of our country. Once I got engaged and involved, regardless of where I was – if I was in Colombia, if I was in Hungary, if I was in South Africa – I still had that vested interest.

“It’s so easy to leave the United States and forget about what’s going on in the United States…except when you still own property there, when you still have a passport from there, and you have to go back…When Trump was president, it was really shameful to travel because people looked at us differently, in my opinion, than when Barack Obama was president. So I try to stay involved when I’m abroad.”

In the past, Charles’ main priority was to make sure he voted himself, in both local North Carolina elections and national elections. But this time he’s “amped it up a little” and he’s deeply involved with encouraging other Americans abroad to vote and helping people to register. “I’m going at it 100%, so much so that I was at this birthday party, registering people online so they can vote abroad. Because a lot of people don’t know that they can do that – they don’t know how to do that…I’m trying to do everything I can from abroad to get the Vice President elected.”

To learn more about Charles and his adventures traveling the world and encouraging people to vote, follow him on Instagram and Facebook at “Black Man and Abroad”.

Tiwana Merritt (voting in Alaska)

Tiwana, who is originally from Georgia but spent much of her childhood in Alaska, has also lived all over the world. She moved to Australia as a young adult and lived there for 11 years, working at an experiential outdoor learning school in a small town along the coast of Victoria. She then worked as an educator in China for several years before moving to Joburg to work at the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ) about five years ago. Tiwana is AISJ’s Service Learning Coordinator and Coach, working with students from pre-kindergarten all the way up to 12^th grade. She lives in Lone Hill.

Tiwana and I met for brunch at Ukko, a trendy restaurant in the Nicolway Shopping Centre, and wound up talking for more than five hours. I was enthralled by Tiwana’s story and relate to her in so many ways. We’re close to the same age, and we both left America for love and then built lives for ourselves in that new country after our relationships ended. We’ve both been gone from the U.S. for many years – Tiwana for 19, me for 14 – and can’t really see ourselves back in America. And Tiwana’s work in Joburg has exposed her to an interesting array of different South African communities, as has mine, so that was fun to talk about.

Tiwana and I also talked a lot about how our experiences as Americans abroad differ, especially in reference to race. In the countries where she’s lived, Tiwana often feels like people see her as “an ambassador to Black culture”, which can be exhausting. And as a Black woman from America, South Africans often treat Tiwana differently than they treat me, as a White woman.

The experiences Tiwana shared really made me think. And in a way, this discussion made me think even more about the importance of voting in this particular U.S. election. Tiwana talked about previous elections in which she wasn’t super engaged with what’s happening in America and didn’t vote. “I felt very much like what’s the point? We have a broken system…Does this even count?” Tiwana talked about the U.S. Electoral College (America’s weird, messed-up system of apportioning presidential votes by state), and how it’s “predicated on a history that supports racism and bias in our country.”

But Tiwana has become more politically engaged as she’s gotten older. “I think, these things do matter, and as I age they’re going to matter even more to me. I’m still an American, I still go back and forth home – I still call it my home. I still have family there…And the bigger thing is that my ancestors worked really hard for me to have this right and this privilege…I shouldn’t take that lightly. I should be honoring the fact that they struggled to get us this far, that they died – they were harmed, they were beaten. So I do it for them.”

Nina Neubauer (voting in Virginia)

Nina is my oldest American friend in Joburg and also one of the kindest people I know on this earth. We’ve known each other since 2011, when Nina moved here after coming to visit for the World Cup in 2010 and falling in love with South Africa. Nina worked for many years as a volunteer for a group of foster care homes, and she is now pursuing her master’s degree in drama therapy at Wits. Nina was born in Germany but spent her childhood and young adulthood in the U.S. – she holds dual American and German citizenship.

I didn’t do a full interview with Nina, but I recently stopped by her house in Parkhurst to pick up her absentee ballot – I’m about to travel back to the U.S. and I’m going to drop Nina’s ballot into the mail when I drop mine. I asked her the same question that I asked Charles and Tiwana: Why does she vote?

“I was born in Germany but we left Germany when I was three years old. I don’t really engage in [Germany’s] political system. But I became a naturalized U.S. citizen later in life – in 2007. Just not having been able to vote before, and then all of a sudden becoming a citizen and being able to vote, and knowing how important the presidential elections are…I just feel like it’s a privilege. It’s easy, it’s a responsibility, and I want to contribute and make my voice heard.”

Heather Mason (voting in Virginia)

Last but not least: Me. I’m Heather and I’m from the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area. I live in Brixton, JHB. I’m a writer, photographer, and blogger, and I write about cool things and people in Joburg. I’ve written 1,300 posts on this blog over the past 14 years so you guys already know everything you need to know about me.

When South Africans ask how long I’ve lived in Joburg and I tell them 14 years, their response is almost always the same: “Ahhhh, you’re South African now.” And they’re right, in some ways, but also they’re not. I don’t have South African citizenship and I probably never will. I still pay taxes in the United States and my entire family still lives there. I will never get rid of this damn American accent, and my Americanness will always be the first thing every person notices about me as soon as I open my mouth. So yeah, I’m kind of South African but I’m also very American, regardless of how long I live overseas. And I vote in every U.S. election, even though it’s kind of a pain, because it matters: For me, for Charles, for Tiwana, for Nina, and for every other American, abroad or otherwise.

I’ve printed out my ballot, and as soon as I finish writing this post I’m going to fill it out. I’m voting for Kamala Harris, who I really, really hope will become the first woman/woman of color to be President of the United States. I’m going to seal it into an envelope and take it with me back to America, where I will drop it into the first U.S. Postal Service box I see. And I know my vote will count. Yours will, too! Please go to VoteFromAbroad.org, RIGHT NOW, to find out how.