Remain in Mexico
This poem originally appeared in eMerge and was inspired by my volunteer work at the southern border, and the impact of the “Remain in Mexico” policy on asylum seekers there. there is the Rio Bravo, a green viper you could ride away from the tent city but for remembering Oscar’s failed swim baby girl tucked in his shirt, wriggling gulping, […]
A kick that leaves no bruise: A visit to a civil rights museum
On a visit to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta this week I participated in an exhibit that simulates the experience of lunch counter sit-ins that helped integrate restaurants in the 1960s. Museum visitors sit, four at a time, at the counter and put on headphones. They place their hands on the counter and are instructed […]
Of migrants and justice: My trip to Brownsville/Matamoros
In mid-July I volunteered assisting migrants on the Texas-Mexico border, carrying donated items from community members in Houston. I wrote this to thank the donors and describe my experience. As I drove to Brownsville last week to volunteer helping migrants at the Mexican border with Team Brownsville, I only had to glance at the back seat, where bags and bags […]
‘This is our angel now’: Houston community rallies for justice in aftermath of Jazmine Barnes slaying
This originally appeared in The Lily, a Washington Post magazine. The rally began at noon with the clamor of dozens of motorcycles, and ended with the release of purple and white balloons into the afternoon sky. On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered in the parking lot of the Walmart at 5655 E. Sam Houston Parkway, the scene of Jazmine Barnes’s […]
Eric Heber invites you to hike Louisiana’s trails
This appeared first on The Trek. Eric Heber is an Alabama native who has lived in Louisiana for 18 years. He began hiking just seven years ago in the Kisatchie National Forest, a 604,000-acre wilderness park spanning central and north Louisiana. Quickly enamored, he headed west for more austere trails, eventually making his way to a 13,000-foot summit in Colorado’s Triangle […]
Own the hot flashes: Tips for menopausal hikers
This originally appeared in The Trek. You may see them infrequently. You may wonder at their skill or endurance. If you’re the average AT thru-hiker—young and male—you may worry about their safety and health. Don’t. Women 50 and over have as much strength and determination as any long-distance hiker. Most of them have faced one of the greatest challenges of […]
Hiking with puppies
I hiked with puppies! Excited, yipping, furry balls of fun. Or so I thought. I was on a solo overnight backpacking trip in the Kelly section of the Lone Star Hiking Trail. The Kelly section is in the Sam Houston National Forest, roughly 90 miles north of my home in southeast Houston. My hike had taken me down a singletrack […]
