I have to admit to feeling a little, um, discouraged at the moment. Voter turnout June 1 was terrible, the election results were kind of mixed (but I'm going to keep my feelings to myself since I'm a journalist and therefore not entitled to feelings) and voter registration last night SUCKED. On the bright side, I received a fan letter following my coverage for Channel 8 and there is the Talib Kweli show tomorrow night to look forward to.
Also just learned that Jorge Ramos, who wrote The Latino Wave, How Hispanics Will Elect the Next American President will be in Santa Fe June 23 and it looks as though I'll have the opportunity to interview him, so that will be interesting, since New Mexico's role, or rather, importance in the coming election has been pinned to some extent on that Hispanic importance. When we talked Tuesday, on air, about the low turnout, we basically decided that because New Mexico had had a February caucus for the Democratic nominee, interest in the primary elections had been greatly diminished, since most voters in this area are Democrats. This kind of thing makes me crazy, though. Certainly, the presidential election is important—it's very important to me, but local politics are important as well, or they should be. Then, last night, Gay Pride hosted voter registration and they were just NOT making contact with the ChicanoBuilt crowd. I warned them that it was going to be a hard sell, but beyond that, there were a lot of folk from out of town, many already registered and about half a dozen convicted felons! On the bright side, Andy Primm and I worked on the documentary we're making on the project and had some good interviews. One person in particular, David Vigil, was very eloquent about why he votes and why he thinks it makes a difference, so I suppose all is not lost. It was just not a good week for feeling as though things are changing or can change. And last night people seemed way more interested in dancing and drinking then much else. Of course, maybe I'm projecting—I had three cocktails after all.
So, I'm sitting here listening to Black Star, getting psyched for tomorrow night and thinking about how to amp up next month's project. We may have some interim events as well, given that there are some bigger planned events for the summer.
Also just learned that Jorge Ramos, who wrote The Latino Wave, How Hispanics Will Elect the Next American President will be in Santa Fe June 23 and it looks as though I'll have the opportunity to interview him, so that will be interesting, since New Mexico's role, or rather, importance in the coming election has been pinned to some extent on that Hispanic importance. When we talked Tuesday, on air, about the low turnout, we basically decided that because New Mexico had had a February caucus for the Democratic nominee, interest in the primary elections had been greatly diminished, since most voters in this area are Democrats. This kind of thing makes me crazy, though. Certainly, the presidential election is important—it's very important to me, but local politics are important as well, or they should be. Then, last night, Gay Pride hosted voter registration and they were just NOT making contact with the ChicanoBuilt crowd. I warned them that it was going to be a hard sell, but beyond that, there were a lot of folk from out of town, many already registered and about half a dozen convicted felons! On the bright side, Andy Primm and I worked on the documentary we're making on the project and had some good interviews. One person in particular, David Vigil, was very eloquent about why he votes and why he thinks it makes a difference, so I suppose all is not lost. It was just not a good week for feeling as though things are changing or can change. And last night people seemed way more interested in dancing and drinking then much else. Of course, maybe I'm projecting—I had three cocktails after all.
So, I'm sitting here listening to Black Star, getting psyched for tomorrow night and thinking about how to amp up next month's project. We may have some interim events as well, given that there are some bigger planned events for the summer.
posted by Julia at 7:20 PM
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