By Andrew Suseno
New York, New York
Editor's Note: Every Wednesday this fall, Andrew is hosting "Living Room Chats in the Park," asking people to join him in talking about the issues that matter to them. You can find him between 5:00 - 6:30 PM on the 14th Street facing steps of Union Square Park in New York City. Cookies, juice and good company promised.
Snap Shots:
Topic: Women's Issues
I was only able to stay an hour tonight but enjoyed three conversations.
W. believed that Palin did not represent her views and was infuriated with the setback for all women that her being elected might represent.
S. is from Mexico. His parents sent him to America to study. They are very suspicious of government regulations and what he perceives as leanings toward Socialism. He mentioned that Mexican government allowed Americans to flood the Mexican markets with cheaply made genetically modified corn with all of its American Government incentives and the free pass of NAFTA. Women tortilla makers could not sell their local corn anywhere as cheap, thereby putting them out of business.
A. works for the New York Times Almanac and collects tons and tons of facts. She was most concerned with the state of the sustainable farming in the Rural America. What was Obama going to do for farms?
When Perry and I canvased in PA, a gentleman who claimed to be independent said that he would not vote for Obama because of he felt like he focused too much on disenfranchised in the cities. And because of this he felt like Obama was only doing things to help people of his own race, which I guess this man believed was black. So rural and urban in York, PA, is seen as synonymous with white and black. Wow. I had no idea.
So this week's topic will be RURAL/URBAN and racial politics. Hope to see you there! 4:30pm - whenever! --probably no later than 9pm.
Contributor's Note: Andrew Suseno is a dancer and is studying to be a physical therapist. He has voluteered extensively with Habitat for Humanity and is co-coordinating TPP's efforts in New York City.
