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I – (that’s me, Nina Robinson) have asked two very knowledgable people to give their assessment of Barack Obama, 100 days into his presidency.
Joe Maggioncalde has worked at GM in Detroit nearly all his working life. He’s been a regular contributor to Your Story - see some of his work here.
Joe writes …
This is one of those “milestones” the media uses to kill time and trees.
But what really has been accomplished?
Here in Detroit, the situation continues to decay quickly and daily.
Now GM has basically closed the doors till mid-July.
Here in Detroit we’ve seen nothing. Nothing. If Obama can somehow stimulate the rest of the country to the point where they feel capable of buying cars, then they’ll probably build a statue of him, chisel down his nose and wash him with a hose.
Although we sang his name
we all went hungry just the same
Read Joe’s full post on his blog.
Cynthia Harrison’s husband Al, works at Chrysler in Detroit. Here’s her assessment, 100 days in.
Cynthia and husband, Al
Cynthia writes ..
We certainly got change, just not the sort we expected.
As a part-time college teacher, I expected to be working less after 20 years on the job, not more. But like many wives of auto workers, I have added hours where I can, to make up for the smaller paychecks my husband Al now receives.
Our factories no longer bustle with activity, and our dealerships are deserted, but our auto plants are open most days. Al, who has been an employee at Dodge Truck for 35 years, has worked 30 of the last 100 days. He’s been laid off a good part of Obama’s presidency, but he still believes the right man won the office.
“Obama’s personal involvement has helped Chrysler stay viable as a company so far,” Al says. “If McCain had won, he would have let us hit the wall.”
So while times are tough, they could be worse. It’s almost certain that they will become worse. But we have Obama to thank for the reprieve, and if we can trust him to guide us through this streamlining of the auto industry, we can trust him to stay behind us if and when the bankruptcies begin.
Every week, as new waves of lay-offs occur, we wives of auto workers hold our collective breath. In my book group, there are three auto wives. One has already seen her husband forced into early retirement.
Obama seems to be everywhere at once. He’s in Europe and Mexico and in the Oval Office, but he is also in Detroit, working with our governor and with the auto companies. He cares about us, and we know it. And that is some comfort in these distressing times.
How do you think Obama is doing 100 days in? Add your comments below.
Here are some of the photos taken by the World Have Your Say team in Mexico City. If you have any swine flu photos you would like to contribute to Your Story, upload them here or here.
Closed due to Swine Flu
Woman working at a food stall
Swine flu - Mexican newspaper front pages
Mexican football stands are empty
I’ve had quite a few ideas for reports from you, comments that have been made on this blog here and also that have been sent in using this webform on the Your Story homepage.
Here is a selection of what I have received – let me know if you are interested in finding out more on any of them …
Firstly, I received a terribly shocking and graphic photo of a burned child. The person who sent it into me said that they wanted to bring the world’s attention to what is happening in a certain part of the world. I cannot verify where that photo was taken and even if I did, I would have to consider fully whether to publish it as we follow strict guidelines on what we show under the BBC guidelines on reporting suffering and distress.
Teenagers who shoot up drugs in Bangladesh. This is one of the story ideas from two people ; Someta and Farzana- who wrote about the issue in regard to how people in Bangladeshi society are viewing the problem – this is a topic I have not heard about before and so might work for us. Here’s some more info on this I found.
Moldova protests. Mark has been sending photos and video from Moldova on the student protests there. I also got a message of support for what they are doing from a student in Bulgaria. I passed on his details to the Europe Today programme who were covering the issue extensively with our correspondent Oana Lungescu.
Citizen journalism from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Celestin contacted Your Story. As a resident of Goma, he wanted to find out about trying to send material to us from there. Safety is the key consideration here as we do not want to put anyone in any danger if they decide they want to contribute. I am calling him tonight to find out more about what we can do safely.
Racism on facebook? I had a message about racist groups operating on facebook so trying to find out more on this. If you have come across anything, let me know.
America and Cuba making music together. Dr Peter Rovit from the University of Alabama messaged to say that he’s travelling to Cuba to work with Cuban musicians on two chamber music concerts. A signal that relations between the two countries really are getting better?
This is just a short selection of what we’ve had, if yours is not included please don’t be offended – I’ll talk about more story ideas in the next post or you’ll get an email from me directly. thanks and keep them coming.
Lenny, one of the citizen journalists who has been reporting on the South African elections says ..
Hello people of the world, this is Lenny from Port Elizabeth.
Lenny gets star treatment
When the BBC asked me to be a citizen reporter, I was a little bit scared. It’s been a great experience though as I have learned so much in a short time. When the radio and video recording started, everything started to flow!
Usually, you don’t talk much about how you feel about your livelihood about the problems you come across, the challenges you face, but this reporting has given me the chance to speak out, so I feel relieved now.
In future, I don’t think I will have the same fears about talking or asking questions to other people NOW I don’t fear anything!
At the time of writing this post, the ANC are leading the election count. Get the latest on the figures here.
Your Story has been working with the Township reporters Lenny, Lucky and Asanda. They have been filing their reports and talking live to our presenters on the World Today programme.
Asanda talks about the experience of being a citizen journalist for the BBC World Service during these elections.
I was sceptical when the BBC asked me to do this thing. I wasn’t sure whether they would ask me deep political questions. I thought to myself, I’ll just say what I know and what I feel.
I’ve got so much out of doing it though. The real gift was thinking hard myself about which party to go for. It would have been a huge struggle to decide if it wasn’t for doing this.
Also it’s brought out qualities in me that I didn’t know about. I’m quite grateful for that, I didn’t know I could do it, it boosted my confidence. And I have enjoyed it very much!
To answer that question, please read this post and add your comments.
Dariya looking smart for a friend's wedding
Dariya’s citizen journalist report as a Nigerian living in Ukraine is about his fear of racist attack. He speaks to his Nigerian friends and an Iraqi friend. Dariya’s fears are backed up in this report by Amnesty International which says that racism is on the rise there, as well as in other parts of Europe.
I asked Dariya to try and speak to white Ukrainians for his report. He spoke to four of his fellow students but they all did not want to speak on tape.
Dariya and Mustafa from Iraq talk together about why they think that people show prejudice and they put it down to not having wealth or the ability to travel to other countries to experience other cultures. Mustafa has not had any problems with racism himself and has a Ukrainian girlfriend. He is hopeful for the future and says that in time, these attitudes will change.
If you have any messages for Dariya, post them below.
Dariya’s report will be broadcast on BBC World Service Radio tomorrow.
Our three township reporters, Lucky, Asanda and Lenny have been busy reporting on issues effecting them personally from in and around Port Elizabeth in the run up to the South Africa elections.
You can read what they have been doing in their reports, see photos and video they have produced here on the BBC news website.
Lucky has been talking about the experience so far ..
Lucky (in purple), his dad who's in the ANC and a friend
When I was approached by the BBC guys to do this, it was very exciting but at the same time I’ve been feeling a little bit of pressure.
Mainly because of the experience that goes with being a citizen journalist. I was told this would be about my country’s development and also about me talking about political issues that face my country.
The important thing for me is to expose what we are trying to do in our community here in New Brighton. I think people need to hear our stories. Like how we have intellectual capability to develop, we have values and morals, entrepreneurs, these are things that will help South Africa move forward.
But then being there exposed in front of an international audience, it was an experience for me!
I’ve had a self realisation from working with the BBC’s Your Story citizen journalism project. It’s made me realise what I am capable of. Sometimes you have doubts, but I have gained confidence and I’ve been able to relate my ideas to other people.
Asanda likes the party but not the leader
I’m excited about the elections but it’s difficult when your head and your heart are saying different things. My father was a loyal ANC supporter, before he died he used to always say ‘you must vote for the ANC’, but now he’s not here and I don’t feel it’s the same ANC anymore.
Read the rest of this entry »
We spent the day on Wednesday with another of the people who’ll be reporting the election for the World Service next week. Mncedisi ‘Lenny’ Mkhize is a 56 year old artist and musician living in Joe Slovo, a semi-formal settlement on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth. It was settled in the 90s, and is a mix of wooden shacks and new government-funded houses.
People who live in Joe Slovo, most of them don’t have money, we are a struggling community, most of the people they have nothing, most of the people are uneducated like myself.
I’m living in a wooden shack just now, built by me and my wife, only the two if us. The government has promised new houses, and to get everyone out of shacks by 2014. We have a new cement house next to our shack, but because of corruption and incompetence, that was left by the contractor half done so I had to finish it myself. My son had to put the pipes in so we could have water. I’m scared to move in because of the cracks… I’m scared that my children will suffer with the cold and the draughts this winter. The houses are falling apart, I think most people still prefer their shacks to the new houses we’re getting.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lucky wants to make a difference in his neighbourhood
Your Story is here in South Africa to help locals tell you what matters most to them in these elections, so let’s cut straight to the chase, and introduce Thamsanqa ‘Lucky’ Gadi Siko. He’s a 29 year old student from White Location in New Brighton …
My passion is to make a difference in my neighbourhood. I’m part of setting up ‘Hybrid’, which is a development and training company, working with high school students and adults. There are seven of us, a mixture of ANC and COPE (Congress of the People ), some of us unemployed and some students.
We want to help learners at high school and adults, so we’re setting up a tutoring programme for school students. Kids at high school have potential, but they don’t know how to get on and make it because they have no guidance in practical skills.
Read the rest of this entry »
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