Laila Lalami, 'Why Vote?'

At this critical moment in American history, we turn to some of our greatest thinkers. This week, we air essays commissioned as part of PEN America’s We Will Emerge project, a collection of essays speaking directly to voters around the country in advance of the US election. This project is made possible with the support of Pop Culture Collaborative’s Becoming America Fund. The authors will read the essays in their own voice.

Today, we’ll air an essay from author Laila Lalami, a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and author of the book Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America. Her essay is titled, “Why Vote?”