Ana Rivera: Teaching New Residents to Engage in the Democratic Process, Florida

In early 2020 (just weeks before the pandemic), Smithsonian staff and their storytelling partners at the Peale, Baltimore, traveled to multiple states in the U.S. to ask residents of those states about voting experiences, the current state of American democracy, what issues brought them to the polls, how they made a difference in their communities, and what Americans' civic responsibilities were, among other complex questions.

Ana Rivera: Well, one of the factors that are very important to myself in how I handle our community and the issues that they're worried about, take, for instance, those who moved here to Polk County after Hurricane Maria. A lot of the locals from Puerto Rico that moved here did not understand the factors that they had to go through in order to really get involved and exercise their right to vote. They thought that voting for the sheriff, it was something different to them. They didn't understand about voting for a school board member, et cetera, et cetera. And so, I took it upon myself to teach them and lead them.

(00:40) I've been voting since I turned 18, and that's something that's very dear to me. My son, at tender age of 22 years old, ran for city commissioner in the city of Lakeland, so that's been something that we've drilled into him. And anyone that sits in front of me and wants to know about the issues that are concerning our community, I tell them, "You need to vote. You do not want anyone else to make that voice for you." So I really do feel a lot of love for sending in that ballot and voting for my representative.

Asset ID: 2022.37.01.a-b
Themes: Hurricane Maria, immigration, voting, citizenship, school board, education, issues, civic responsibilities, civic duty
Date recorded: January 9, 2020
Length of recording: 0:01:16
Related traveling exhibition: Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
Sponsor or affiliated organization: Polk County History Center, Bartow, Florida, in conjunction with Florida Humanities
More information or related assets: https://polk-county.net/events/event-details/2020/10/23/history-center/new-smithsonian-institution-exhibit-opens-voices-votes-democracy-in-america. In addition, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XltFfSQ058g