This whole system is untenable

Erin English

Ron Paul for peace

Jan Gorlach, architect and artist

A place for all kinds of people

Matias Ramos, in Washington DC

More activism for the middle classes

Tolerance and poverty

A hope for more tolerance, but a fear that what's next is higher unemployment and poverty.
Nancy Rodriguez (with an off-screen editor)

A child's perspective

"I don't know, I hope Obama wins"

Madison, Wisconsin: Ludell is 52 and has cerebral palsy. He cannot speak so points to letters and phrases on a keyboard. There isn't a video, and this took him some time-- he spelt out his message letter by letter-- but when asked what's next for America he said: "I don't know, I hope Obama wins."
Thanks Ludell, for taking the time to tell us what you think

I demand that things be better

Liz Kindig, who describes herself as: teacher/ photographer/ true American.
She is working in a shop in Chicago while looking for a teaching job

More unity and acceptance

Reina Ortiz

From a very dark and rainy Chicago

Stall owner Jose Luis Islas and his friend Gonzalo, in Pilsen, one of the Latino parts of town.
Work, or the lack of it, is causing problems and people can't pay rent. Let's hope it improves, says Islas

On the Zephyr part 2

"I'm a bit worried... but I can't predict the future"

Deep snow and unfettered rivers. Hopefully.

Ali Wade and Chase Edgerton, from Carbondale Colorado, on board the very spectacular California Zephyr

Obama for president (again)

Carlos Gutierrez, one of the "grip men" on the trams in San Francisco

The second depression

Robert Kenji, San Francisco

Election 2012, Occupy and Oakland

Jean Quan is the mayor of Oakland, the California city that has seen one of the biggest Occupy protests in the country. The camp in front of city hall was removed earlier this week, but the group is planning a mass day of action on Saturday

Quite possibly the most optimistic man in America

Nacer Abrouk, statistician from Palo Alto, California

Failure on immigration reform

C.J Alvarez, a fellow at the Centre for International Security and Co-operation at Stanford. In Palo Alto, California

Colonies. Says the man building in the sand

Dan Stipkovich, Los Angeles

Occupy, and learning Chinese, Los Angeles

Disaster and then reconciliation

Christopher Dazé, Silver Lake, Los Angeles

A cocktail sign, a camper van, and a hope for a new president

Brett Moody, an unemployed union electrician, in San Diego, California

"I don't know", Mike, Arizona

Mike Lockhart, Yuma, Arizona

The view from the casino

Araceli Garcia, Yuma, Arizona

Thoughts from Arizona

Juanita Molina, the director of Humane Borders, a charity that does water drops to save the lives of migrants who are crossing into the US through the Arizona desert

Peace and back to the old ways, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Teddi and Bob Peters

Emilio Gutierrez, a journalist from New Mexico

Currently seeking asylum in the US, and living in Las Cruces

David Taylor, professor & border photographer, New Mexico

...Currently documenting the monuments that line the 2,000 mile border with Mexico and the work of the border patrol. An exhibition of his work is on display at the El Paso Museum of Art

Russ Smith, from the food stall in Las Cruces

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Jeff Anderson, not in fact the sheriff but a gardener. Dressed up for Halloween

El Paso, Texas

The lighting is not deliberate. I haven't figured that one out yet.
This is Josiah Heyman from the University of Texas at El Paso

Occupy Austin

Art and aliens. Austin, Texas

Elizabeth Santillan

Think of the animals, Austin, Texas

Cayce Smith, Austin Pets Alive

San Antonio, Texas. A cheerful bunch

Slow America, Waco, Texas

Emily Martinka

Economic rollercoasters and a telenovela backdrop, Fort Worth, Texas

Edward Retta, co-chair of the Jewish-Latino Alliance, and Cynthia Brink, who works in education

Texas Minutemen, Fort Worth, Texas

Shannon McGauley, the president of the Texas Minutemen, has spent more than $100,000 of his own money on campaigns he says help secure the border, organising groups to patrol the frontier with Mexico

Justin Robertson, Fort Worth, Texas (home of the Cowgirl Museum)

Katie Terhune, student in Fort Worth, Texas

Frenchmen Street, New Orleans. c 6pm

Scott Glab and Hugh O'Donnell

Flying cars and delivery McDonalds. Tony Street, New Orleans

Jim Sessions, New Orleans

Pelican Finn, Miami

quite possibly the best name ever. in Miami, from Cuba

Short but to the point.... Ebelio Beltran from Cuba, in Little Havana, Miami

Viviana Nunez, South Beach Miami

"We are going down"

Dr Wanda Huntchinson, Huntsville, Alabama

Greg Borland, from the DEA, Birmingham Alabama

Dr Edith Fraser, Huntsville, Alabama

Head of the Alabama A&M University social work department

Alex Ansley from Judy Bugs Books, Columbus, Georgia

The first book shop I had seen in a very long time.

The second Mr Paulk

A distant cousin. He runs one of the biggest gun shops in South Georgia, he said, selling around 8,000 a year

Everyone I met in this town had the surname 'Paulk'

Well, three of them anyway. This is Gary Paulk, a farmer from Ambrose, Georgia. He thinks the immigration legislation will lead to farmers abandoning certain crops, and that as a result, the US will have to import food from overseas

Gregory Torrales, head of the South Carolina Hispanic leadership council

'It's a capitalistic world so I might as well join in'

Hector Sanchez, supermarket manager, Columbia, South Carolina

Hector says a new immigration law, due to come into effect in the state in Janua, will affect everyone, not just illegal immigrants. His main concern is the economy: he was forced to sell his house last year as house prices dropped

Amanda Elias Vargas, director of Lexington hospital interpreting services, Columbia, South Carolina

Amanda Jackson, immigration campaigner, Columbia, South Carolina

'Do we want to go down as a country that galvanised divisiveness or a country that truly gave it her all for all of her citizens'

A South Carolina welcome

(it got better)

Asmorom George, taxi driver, Washington

'I like his plan, but Obama needs help'

Alan, Courier in Washington DC

When I first asked Alan 'what's next for America', he said: "The end?"
He didn't get much more optimistic once the camera was rolling

Ved Sharma, street vendor, Washington

Ved, a stall holder in Washington, selling umbrellas the day we meet, says prices are going up but the economy is getting worse. He wants to see a different president in 2012

Steve Timms, construction worker in Washington

Steve said he had lost his house after struggling to find work and is now renting a room from a friend. After a time out of work he is now working on a site in the city centre but he says that the construction industry is still struggling

Roxana Olivas, director of the Office on Latino Affairs, Washington DC

...and co-founder of Latinas Unidas for Obama. Yesterday she was at a protest outside the department of US immigration and customs enforcement, protesting the impending deportation of four women

http://ola.dc.gov/DC/OLA/About+OLA/Who+We+Are/Director%27s+Biography/Roxana+Olivas

Charles Hall, executive director of the Georgia Fruit &Vegetable Growers Association, on a trip to Washington

Stephen Johnson, director of the Americas programme at the CSIS, Washington D.C.

Esmerelda Pinera, housekeeping staff, Washington

Concepcion Piccioto, outside the White House, Washington D.C.

 

Concepcion has been protesting outside the White House since 1981, and her anti-nuclear weapons campaign has been called the longest continuous act of political protest in the United States. In 1988 George Joseph Tanber wrote this lovely pieceabout her vigil for Toledo magazine. Concepcion gave me a photocopy of it this week.

Dawit Fisseha, K Street, Washington

What's next for America? Washington DC

This trip will cover, by plane, train and a probably far too big automobile, 8,000 miles, 10 states, and perhaps a trip over the border to Mexico.
Along the way I am going to be asking a different person each day, 'what is next for America'. A deliberately vague question, the hope is that we hear some interesting voices, be they on the economy, the political system and who will win in 2012, or on America's place in the world.
At the end of week one I have seen Obama being (apparently) helicoptered into the White House, met the protester who has been camped outside since 1981, spoken to Washington's finest about immigration law, and eaten fried pickles. A good week. Not all of them are in the videos, but a few.
I will be in Washington DC for six days until the trip takes me to South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and then down to some of the border states.