A Place to Call Home Buried between the high-rises of downtown Phoenix, its Capitol, and freeway system, lies a neighborhood caught in a vortex of time. Immigrants make up a majority of the residents taking up residence in homes that time forgot. Local family owned businesses, mainly mechanic shops, used tire shops, and barber shops […]
My paternal great-grandparents, who were legal U.S. residents, emigrated back to their native México during the Great Depression. Their son, my Abuelo (grandfather) who was born in San Antonio, became a U.S. immigrant to México at seventeen. Time passed and fate would again intervene when my father, a chronic asthmatic learned of a place where he could live […]
The border between the United States and Mexico is a point of contention across media outlets, politicians, and American citizens. In general, border issues are spoken of as being black and white. From this perspective, there is only right and wrong no matter the circumstances and no one should cross the border into the U.S. […]
I remember the summers of early childhood with my mother. The sounds of the Cure and Prince still bring back memories of seeing her get ready for an evening out. I watched her put on makeup, color her hair, and paint her nails with the eyes of a loving and curious daughter who came too […]
The iconic landscapes of the North American Southwest conceal the tension along the U.S.-Mexico border. Title: Presence and Absence in the Desert Borderlands Description: The iconic landscapes of the North American Southwest conceal the tension along the U.S.-Mexico border. For full HD quality watch this clip through the Vimeo site (Load the video, but then […]
You may find a few local newspaper articles about Allenville if you search the archives, you’ll find very little anywhere else. The papers will tell you about the flood of ’79 and the evacuation of Allenville. You can read about the displacement of residents and the efforts to relocate them, which results in the founding […]
I first met Sally at a yogurt shop. Inside, she divulged to me some of the most personal and painful periods of her life. I listened to her recall memories of poverty, a drug infested culture, years of neglect and maltreatment, multiple “father figures,” and repeated physical assaults against her. She told me about the […]
Contributors: Scott Warren & Jason Roehner You just can’t carry enough water for a Summer crossing of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. Based on his first-hand experience, journalist John Annerino estimated that a person needs anywhere from 2-5 gallons of water per day to replenish that lost to the relentless sun. For thousands of undocumented migrants the […]
The landscape in and around Ajo, Arizona provides a valuable lens with which to examine the way people and place interact. Ajo’s geography dictates its industries. With the closure of the mine, Ajo’s main sources of income have become border patrol and retirees. Ubiquitous green and white SUVs patrol for desperate migrants in the same […]