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Issues that Brought Me to the Polls: Amir Gawish, Maryland

As told by Amir Gawish
Salisbury, Maryland

Story Narrative:

Amir has short cropped hair, a blue t-shirt, and glasses. He sits in a dorm room.

This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Maryland Voices initiative at Maryland Humanities, specifically to supplement the "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. This collection, made up of stories of first-time voters between the ages of 18 and 24, showcases the experiences of young people as they wrestled with the 2020 presidential election, issues around social justice, the environment, immigration, and the pandemic. 

Amir Gawish (00:00): My name is Amir Gawish. I am 22 years old. I go to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and I am a die-hard Lakers fan.

Amir Gawish (00:09): Definitely immigration. I am a huge product of immigration. So that was probably one of the biggest ones for me. Both my parents are immigrants. They both immigrated from Sudan, which I think up until last year, or the year before last, was ruled by a dictator for about 30 years, I think. So that definitely influenced what I think about voting and politics and that sort of thing.

Amir Gawish (00:36): I grew up in a part of the state which had a lot of immigrants, so I think helping them navigate... A lot of them are new immigrants, so helping them navigate whether it's the community, the government itself, that sort of thing. Just being able to help out new Americans, I guess.


Asset ID: 2021.03.03.g
Themes: Immigration, voting, democracy, being American, Africa, politics
Date recorded: February 5, 2021
Length of recording: 01:02 s
Related traveling exhibition: Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
Sponsor or affiliated organization: Edward H. Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University, in partnership with Maryland Humanities
More informationhttps://www.mdhumanities.org/programs/museum-on-main-street/2021-2022-tour/

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