Photos by Demetrius Freeman for HuffPost

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which gave Black men the right to vote. This year is also considered one of the most crucial presidential elections in recent history. A lot is at stake, especially for Black Americans who, despite being historically disempowered yet at the forefront of progressive movements, are often erased from in-depth conversations about the U.S. electorate.

In January, HuffPost traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, the first primary state with a significant Black population, to talk to voters about the most pressing issues on their minds before Saturdays contest. We talked to more than 30 people who had varying backgrounds, values, opinions and hesitations about the primary. The result was Black At The Ballot, a HuffPost multimedia project profiling Columbia residents whose stories dispel assumptions and stereotypes about Black voters.

Each voter had a distinct story, but the common thread was a population yearning to be truly heard. We asked each of them what it meant for them to be a Black voter in 2020. Heres what 13 of them had to say about that significance.