I climbed the levee, walked through a gate flanked by razor wire, and looked around. A few yards higher, a woman sat alone on a castoff lawn chair, her expression empty as she watched me approach. I climbed toward her and glanced briefly at the chair beside her. It had no seat, so she stood and grabbed another from nearby. They were the only three chairs I had seen in the camp, and her act fel…
Blog posts : "General"
Of Harm and Hope - A Response to Zero Tolerance
By request, I'm sharing the transcript of a speech I made in front of Dallas City Hall last summer, when the United States government began to openly steal children from their parents. Many of those families remain apart, and private accounts speak of continued separations. I find it important to share these words again. Please note the links to research. The harm is real. And so is the hope.…
The Word We Dare Not Say
The Word We Dare Not Say
Raising our family in a small Midwestern town was mostly lovely. The girls could walk to dance class, visit neighbors, ride bikes to church. Our favorite tea room was a block away, and a fun used bookstore not much farther. But life was complicated too.
My stomach tightened the first time I heard a teenage friend speak against immigrants. I pushed back but didn’t …
Brokenness, Danger, and Reconnection
Tonight, I feel unsafe. My doors are locked, and my neighborhood is quiet. But my heart races as I pull up the news. More bombs. Another mass shooting. More dehumanization. More threats against this group. More threats against that group.
My chest tightens. I know this drill – from social psych studies of troubled lands.
Social psychologists know a lot about how commun…
Posttrauma Leadership - Why We Need Survivor-Leaders
Eric shook himself, once again, from the terror of sleep, the smells of blood and cypress. He opened his eyes and looked toward morning. He was a leader now, a changer of lives. A leader set in motion by grief—and by purpose.
Eric was only sixteen the day the mobs came, but his grandfather had prepared him. They rushed together toward the forest, as did Eric’s grandmother, wido…
Facing the Underbelly -- Racism and Immigration
Soldiers in camouflage, each with a machine gun, surrounded our two-door Plymouth, but I was more tired than afraid. In her carseat behind us, our baby began to stir, and I hoped the soldiers wouldn’t order us to unpack the car as their counterparts had at the last checkpoint. That order was no small task, since my husband Peter and I had filled every inch with food and dishes, clothes and beddi…
Moral Shift and the American Newcomer
The plan began with two truck bombs, one on either side of the apartment complex. Once the bombs had exploded, but before the dust had settled, the men would run from home to home with their cache of weapons to kill survivors. Somali Muslim refugees are dangerous, the plotters reasoned, even the babies, so none could be left alive.
The refugees’ rescue came in the form of undercover agents,…
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