When author and editor Elaine Elinson heard Trump Jr. urge supporters to “join the Army for Trump’s election security operation” and “help us watch them,” her mind went back to 1994, when she was an election observer in El Salvador.

1/6 zps.la/3kQ2G1m
That March, after a 12-year civil war left more than 75,000 dead or disappeared, Salvadorans headed to the polls for the first democratic election in a generation. Elinson, then a @ACLU_NorCal staffer, was one of hundreds of international observers sent by the United Nations.

2/
Their role at the polling booths was to “create a visible presence so that the voters would feel safe,” writes Elinson. The idea was that by showing up, anyone who “tried to menace voters would be deterred.” Elinson was issued a blue shirt labeled “Misión Observadora.”

3/ Image
An hour before the polling booths opened at her assigned station in downtown San Miguel, Elinson recalls “long lines of voters snaked around the block in the pre-dawn darkness.”

“Many had walked long distances to get to the city,” she continues. “Some were barefoot.”

4/
She still remembers when a red Toyota pickup truck—"the signature vehicle of the infamous death squads, who had wreaked terror on the Salvadoran countryside”—drove slowly down the street.

“I watched the line collectively recoil as people instinctively withdrew from the curb.”

5
Her memories from 1994 have returned in recent weeks, but she draws comfort from the fact that orgs such as @NAACP_LDF, @ACLU, and @LawyersComm have recruited lawyers to ensure people can vote freely.

“Tens of thousands have volunteered,” she writes.

6/6 zps.la/3kQ2G1m

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Zócalo Public Square

Zócalo Public Square Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ThePublicSquare

4 Nov
This election season, we’ve been focusing on stories that bring perspective to the state of American democracy. From takes on India to El Salvador, Machiavelli to “American Horror Story,” these pieces offer a fresh lens on tonight.

1/8
Last Tuesday, @joemmathews processed how “peculiar and personal” the stakes of this election are for him—in that the results may determine which of his two old friends ends up on the U.S. Supreme Court:

2/ zps.la/3jGYEHv
On Thursday, historian W. Scott Poole (@monstersamerica) wrote about how the horror genre is experiencing a “global renaissance” thanks to the “politics of wounded rage” propelling the real world.

Art by @IllustratedBe

3/ zps.la/3oDwikZ
Read 8 tweets
4 Nov
Americans may be used to knowing the results of a presidential race by bedtime on Election Day, but that’s not the norm in many nations.

Author @sandipr explains how India’s election “schedule” works—and what America can learn from it on this day:

1/7 zps.la/3jU4NQG
In India, there is no such thing as Election Day. “Democracy, unlike candy, does not come out of a vending machine delivering instant gratification,” Roy contends.

It took 11 million election officials over a month to conduct the 7 phases of India’s 2019 general election.

2/
The stages allow security and electoral officials to follow the election around the country as different regions vote. Even when it takes a week for the winner to be announced after the last polling day, Roy writes, Indian voters don’t lose faith in the value of their vote.

3/
Read 7 tweets
11 Jun
Today we published two stories about the experience of “distance learning.”

One is from Alizé Basulto Ibarra, a senior about to graduate from Coalinga High School. One is from Brian Crosby, a retiring English/journalism teacher at Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale.

1/16
At the start of spring semester, everything was going according to plan for class president Alizé. She’d been accepted to her dream school, UCLA.

But then the pandemic hit, and “school just ended in the middle of the sentence.”

2/
At first, Alizé “responded like a teenager, treating this as a vacation from schoolwork and an excuse to stay up late.”

As the virus spread, she realized that she needed to keep studying—and so did her four younger siblings, ages 15, 10, 9, and 8.

3/
Read 16 tweets
20 May
TONIGHT at 5 PM PDT, Pulitzer Prize winner David W. Blight will interview fellow historian @william_sturkey, winner of Zócalo’s 10th annual Book Prize for “Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White.”

1/8
zps.la/2XDPtA9
Here’s a look back at the last time Blight visited Zócalo.

In an event titled “What Does the Life of Frederick Douglass Tell Us About America?”, Blight discussed his biography of #FrederickDouglass with author/comedian Baratunde Thurston.

2/
zps.la/3bugD0z
@Baratunde pointed out that the tension between patriotism and not-patriotism is a theme repeated through leadership across generations. “Love America or damn America … How do you understand [Douglass’s] holding of that space?” he asked @davidwblight.

3/
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!