WRITING CULTURE 2012: Film, Food & Beyond

As he acknowledged to the country that he had won his second term as President of the United States.  With a tear in his eye, and amounts of happiness and appearing gratitude that overflowed, he took his place as a two-termer.  It surely was late enough into the evening, after his opponent Mitt Romney all but refused to concede – his hopes of winning getting smaller by the second as each state came in with who their votes were going to… almost every one adding to Obama’s already significantly higher number of electoral votes.

It was semi-brilliant watching FOX News’s anchors look pained as they announced Obama as the winner; the clearly biased news source would have loved to have announced Romney as our new president, but were denied the pleasure of their Republican candidate winning.  They held on until late in the evening as well, while other news outlets had announced much earlier that Obama was clearly getting the Presidential nod.

The fun really to be had on election night though was on social media – everyone with their “I am going to de-friend you’s” being threatened to their Facebook counterparts publicly endorsing their particular candidate.  I, personally, (while happy with the current president), would love to see Hillary Clinton in office; she would rock it.  http://hillaryclinton.com/

I’m in a state of beatitude. I couldn’t be more thrilled at the results of this election. It wasn’t a “fluke” as I’ve heard for the past few days that President Obama is a one-term president. It is kismet. President Obama has proven that he is a better man for the job.

This was my first time voting. I was upset when I couldn’t vote in the 2008 election. My birthday is in December and I wouldn’t turn 18 until then and you vote in November. But that didn’t stop me from encouraging my peers who were eligible to go out and vote. I made sure to register to vote this year; I know jury duty will call me soon. I was so excited to leave school to cast my ballot. I felt it was my civic duty, “Your vote really doesn’t count” I’ve been told by some friends. So what? Even if it doesn’t count, even if it didn’t count I was going to do it. Why? I had to for all those people who lost their lives to give me this opportunity as a black female. I was going to do it just because, I can. Voting is my right.

I didn’t listen to the news coverage as the polls came in from each state. I avoided tuning in to any news station like the plague. I disabled push-notifications from news application on my cellphone so I couldn’t get any alerts. I just wanted the final results. I just wanted to know if I had to pack for Canada or not. Alas, the results were in, “President Obama is re-elected!” my mother screamed. I ran outside to the living room, “Sweet baby Jesus he did it again! Yes!” I was so overwhelmed. I still am. My heart feels full of pride. I’m grateful to be apart of such a powerful election, legendary. Even through this economic crisis Americans still have faith in our president.

My eyelids peeled, eyeballs glued to the television set, owl ears alert, I had to listen to Mitt Romney’s concession speech. Most importantly I had to hear the presidents victory speech. I’m amused that Romney hadn’t prepared a speech in chance of defeat. Humility must have no place in the Romney home. However, I am satisfied with his speech. I didn’t really expect much. Almost an hour later President Obama spoke in perfect aplomb. I am awed by the presence of this man; he has this certain je ne sais quoi. My faith in his leadership is renewed, not that I ever doubted him. Sorry Donald Trump – NOT.

On election night I sat in a Thai food restaurant in the East Village stressing over not seeing election results live. I heard Mitt Romney was ahead and complaints about people having difficulty voting. Over my tofu satay, I began planning which country I would move to tomorrow.
The gentleman at this next table overheard our conversation and couldn’t help but laugh at American politics and encouraged me to seriously consider his country of Switzerland as an option if I really do decide to leave.
In 2008, I didn’t have Facebook but tonight I checked it constantly on my phone. I read news and comments from friends and expressed my disbelief that the election was even close.
When I made it home, I excitedly turned on MSNBC and was bored. I almost fell asleep listening to the dry repetitive commentary so I logged on to Facebook and Twitter and the fun began.
I was immediately connected with news sources and friends from around the country and could chime in whenever I felt the need. Maybe I’m just not a TV person and prefer interacting rather than watching.
As with Hurricane Sandy, I found more useful and relevant information on Facebook than from the mainstream media. During the hurricane I knew immediately when power went out in the East Village, information and pictures were shared instantly. Even relief efforts were rapidly organized through social media.
I can’t wait to read all the stories in The New York Times tomorrow but for election night coverage I’d like to thank Facebook and Twitter for being fast, fun and allowing me to state my opinion.

It’s almost impossible to walk around NYC today and not see an ad about voting or encounter some form of political campaigns.  There is a buzz about voting now that has escalated it to a social requirement.  Maybe its the rapid growth of social medias being used by politicians to reach the youth or Obama’s pop culture image.  Whatever the reason, its clear that despite hurricanes and blackouts, New Yorker’s are racing to the voting booths.

 

Mr.Kwan, glaring at the voting line, stops abruptly to snap a quick pic.  “Romney and Obama both are not qualified as presidential candidates.  They’re both giving out false hope and false lies to people in this country.  Both of them are not qualified leaders to take this country to a better place.”

Ms.Jones,  sipping her Starbucks, was waiting patiently  in line to vote.  “Even though Mitt Romney might think he has answers for our deficit, at this time, economically speaking, I personally do not go with his way of fixing our deficit.” She added “Even if Obama is still constantly, at this point, adding to our deficit, I have to think of myself and think that I need to retire on the Obama idea.  If I went with the Romney idea I will not only be losing as a middle class person but also losing and putting in more for medical.  In retirement I will be losing far more with Romney than Obama.”

Its evident that there is no clear concise winner here.  I stay around for a little while to gauge the crowd.  The room was lively and you could sense the excitement in the room.  Of course there was a bit of chaos here and there but that’s to be expected with any event such as this.  One things for sure, if you aren’t out here, you’re missing out.

 

I voted after work and I was determined to get my vote in even though I was tired and hungry. AND pissed at the way the election workers were handling the sites. Even though the line outside to get in the school was super long, it moved faster than the line I had to stand for my district. I stayed online in the cold for maybe thirty minutes. The line inside the school to me an hour and half. AND then we had to wait for a privacy booth. HELL NO, I filled my ballot in the open and scanned in less than one minute. That whole “system” needs to change ASAP. 

 

I think the picture below shows how millions of Americans including myself felt after hearing that President Obama was elected for a second term.  Although, I am not heavily into politics I am overjoyed to see a face in the white house that represents my community.

ALL PHOTOS ARE COURTESY OF THE NYTIMES.

While I was browsing online today for the election news, there was an article that made me to scream for joy. My eyes were glued on the article’s headline, which says “Bangla Ballots – Be Part of History in this Presidential Election,” by The Bangladeshi Chronicle, an online based Bangladeshi news publication. The article is about how first time in the US history the Bangla ballot phenomenon became true in Hamtramck, Michigan.

The article says, “According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 demographic profile data, 6.2 percent of the Hamtramck population is recorded as Asian Indian, most of whom are Bangladeshi Americans.  Accordingly, the city of Hamtramck will be the first city in the nation to include Bangla instructions in its electoral process.” 

I am so proud and excited not only for the Bangla ballot, but also for its positive affect in the Bangladeshi community. This will inspire more non-English speaker and elderly Bangladeshi Americans to give vote in future. However, this year election is going to be a historical and memorable day for Bangladeshi Americans for all time.

Hoping for Bangla ballot to future elections in state like New York, where so many Bangladeshi Americans are living with low income, struggling to find work, and stressing out themselves everyday to communicate with others in English, after grown-up most of their lifetime speaking Bangla.

Source: http://www.bangladeshchronicle.net/index.php/about-us/

http://www.hamtramckreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/bengalivoterlr.jpg

It is 11:04 p.m. The election is in full swing and the map feature on the new York times website spells bad news for democrats. As the states on the map slowly turn pink (Mitt Romney is in the lead) or red (Romney won in that state) my stomach fills with dread.  Yet, strangely people are  optimistic. While buying groceries in a bodega a Dominican man yells that Obama will win while lamenting that Romney is a thief who wants to steal his social security money. Even after i told him about the people’s desire for “new blood”, he was adamant that Obama will win.

On twitter it seemed there was the same type of sentiment. Women’s World magazine tweeted, “I hope you have better luck finding an election night make-out buddy than Romney does of winning the election.”

As the night goes on my breathing gets better. It is now 11:30p.m. And Obama has won Ohio and Idaho and now has 250 votes compared to Romney’s  200 votes. The map is still filled with the republican red but I guess that does not matter much. The popular vote still belongs to Romney and the people on twitter as well as everyone else in the country still just want a president that is looking out for their best interest.  On the other side is people who just want to be snarky and are resigned to a crappy reality so do not care who wins with Obama being the lesser of two evils.

Some snarky ones:

Rob Tannenbaum from Rolling Stones magazine says, “Fox News now says Romney can still win election by carrying Atlantis, Valhalla, and Whoville. #election2012 #FoxNews”

Random, High School Life tweeted, “Plot twist: Kanye West interrupts the election and nobody becomes President.”

The Atlantic tweets their article, “The Sad Faces of Fox News on Election Night”

All the while I’m asking, can I vote for Bill Clinton?

 

 

 

I voted today for the first time ever.

I was so  excited to finally get a chance to vote, to be able to voice my opinions, and vote on where I wanted to see this country move. I acknowledge everything millions of Americans went through to allow me the right to vote. I am a woman and a minority and in 2012 I voted for POTUS in 30 minutes.

If that isn’t magical, I don’t know what is.

I am a political buff, so today was a close second to Christmas for me. I’ve been following CNN’s coverage online and on TV since I got home at 6pm. They did a beyond AMAZING job! I loved that they had their constant reports on the new states that were called, I also loved that I could follow online.

For the wit and fun that a presidential election brings I followed Twitter. Most journalists that were watching along with CNN or MSNBC were also tweeting, which gave an insightful look to the election. I also absolutely loved that ABC incorporated Jorge Ramos to their election coverage. Jorge Ramos is a Univision reporter, he is usually connected solely with Spanish speaking newsrooms, but he actually brings so much insight to the table. I saw him a few weeks back on This Week and seeing him tonight speaking of the Hispanic vote made me glad that I am a Hispanic who voted and  made my voice heard.

I think the most important tweet of the night was projected second term President, Barack Obama. Personally, I loved that he took to social media to thank all those that contributed to his campaign.

CowGummy / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Along with just about everyone having sort of a psychological breakdown due to super-storm Sandy there are residual problems, like voting accessibility, coming to light. Polling sites are being moved around and administrators are learning about the new changes imposed on procedure just the night before Election Day. As the sites are being maneuvered, despite extreme gas shortages, the new locations have incurred damage (especially damaged sockets) and are, nearly to completely, unusable. Delays in opening have exceeded several hours and supply shortages are causing more aggravation to fickle sanity in such a fragile time.
Many of the affected areas are poor neighborhoods with lack of resources to begin with. The election is tight and the inability to vote will widen the victory gap as it is likely that neighborhoods hold united position. The direction is unclear so far.
Email voting has been extended to some resident and workers in the area. It doesn’t make much sense as there is no power in many areas let alone internet, phone and fax. It seems that it is a process which will require more trouble than an actual poll, if there even is a functioning one around. The waits are very long causing the suffering people to just quit and focus on the recovery.