Tell Me More (a shameless plug for NPR)

For those of you who don't know, I am an avid listener of NPR and, thanks to podcasts, I have been able to keep up with my shows down here. One of my favorite shows is Tell Me More with Michel Martin. If you've never heard it, I highly recommend listening to her. Anyway, Michel has been following the South African elections and the other day she interviewed two women from the country about their experiences on election day. Something one of them said made me reflect on my own experiences during election day here in the U.S., and I wrote Michel and the Tell Me More crew an e-mail. I wanted to share it here:

Dear Michel and everyone else at Tell Me More,

First of all, I want to thank you so much for the show. I am a self-proclaimed NPR junkie, and Tell Me More is my absolute favorite. I am currently studying in Argentina, but I tote my computer to an internet cafe every few days to download the podcast!

The other day you did a piece on the elections in South Africa and you had a conversation with Nanette Sabidys. She spoke about her first voting experience, which happened to be in the first democratic election. She talked about standing in line behind an 87-year-old man who was voting for the first time in his life. She said that it felt "really really good and very humbling."

I was very touched by this story, and I felt humbled myself hearing it because I have been lucky enough to grow up in a country that has held democratic elections for a long time. Her story made me think of my experiences during the U.S. presidential election last year. I know it's been five months since November and that we've all heard a million stories about Election Day, but I wanted to share mine because I found parallels between Nanette's story and my own.

I am a university student in Richmond, VA, where I worked for a well known progressive nonprofit organization, canvassing neighborhoods to register voters. I canvassed almost exclusively in African American neighborhoods; unfortunately in Richmond this is often synonymous with low-income neighborhoods. The reception my fellow canvassers and I received was astounding. People were thrilled we were there and would often come back to us with their children, parents, neighbors...anyone they knew who wasn't registered. We got smiles, hugs, and many cheers of "We can do it!" I don't think for a minute that it was really about us. People were just so excited to be getting involved in the election. I've never felt such a strong sense of solidarity--of really being part of something important. What's more, I registered many people who were in their 40s or older who had never been registered. I cannot tell you how many times I heard things like, "I've never voted before. I never thought it made a difference and I never cared who got elected. But this year I'm going to vote." They were so proud and, thanks to them, Virginia went blue for the first time in 44 years. Like Nanette's story, I found the whole experience extremely humbling--not only to have elected a man who inspired people to believe in their power and gave them renewed faith in their government, but to be with people who were discovering and believing for the first time that they do have a voice and the ability to make a change and to make history.

Thanks again!

Lina Rodriguez, from Arlington, VA (and Richmond and currently Buenos Aires)