:Lindsay Knapp We’re all feeling it; the decline of delicious summer and our steep descent into the darker months.  Fall days have always been, for me, the pause to consider how we will handle the pace change as a family.  It’s a quick respite of quick-bursting color and sun-filled pumpkin hunting afternoons.  But with each…

:Lindsay Knapp There are eleven of us, huddled into a donut shaped room;  a massive telescope taking center stage where the donut hole would normally be.  We orbit around it, people of all different sizes shapes and ages, bopping from one side of the room to the next.  There are children here, no doubt fueled…

:Lindsay Knapp Approximately two months ago, I found myself sitting in a buzzy little morning meeting; warm with June’s glow.  Twenty of southern Wisconsin’s astute bee-lovers joined forces under the leadership of Eva Lewandowski of DNR to receive updated training on bee-monitoring and survey logging.  WHAT!?  What is this ?!  I’ll pause here to acknowledge…

:Lindsay Knapp Every Wednesday night, there is a gathering of youth in the city of Racine, … underground.   Well, not quite literally. If you hear wild squeals of laughter coming from the Living Light Community Center on College Avenue, rest assured that there are a couple diligent adults who are engaging in the art of…

The Porch-People Subculture :Lindsay Knapp It’s about as annoying as a mosquito buzzing in your ear; the idea that we are living in a technology dependent age, … and it’s not letting up.  Yes, it’s easy to talk about how positive these advances are, and I’m not here to debate either way. The fact is:…

I wish I was a pun-master.  You know those people, don’t you?  They can mash up ideas and words and pull slapping sticks out of thin air.  That’s not me.  I’m what you call a “word processor” (see that attempt?!) No, truly.  I think of jokes four hours too late and usually in the most…

[This is Part 2 of an interview with Prof. Stephanie Mitchell. Part 1, on economic migrants, is the previous blog post. This post focuses on the asylum system and asylum seekers] TRAUMA AND THE JOURNEY FROM CENTRAL AMERICA I hear the same story over and over again. Somebody killed this member of my family and…

[Below is a transcription of an interview with Prof. Stephanie MItchell. Words added by me are in brackets.] In terms of history, it is a simple point I would like people to understand. This country has had waves of immigration before from different parts of the world and the anti-immigrant rhetoric that we are seeing…

Brent Mitchell, a teacher at Carthage College and musician (and Texas transplant) advocated for the Hincapie Rendón family [see previous post]. He also works with Voces de la Frontera and the Racine Interfaith Coalition (RIC) with individuals who are detained and seeking asylum. Brent’s wife, Prof. Stephanie Mitchell, is a history professor at Carthage College….

On the morning of Wednesday, May 8, 2019, 26-year-old Paula Hincapie Rendón was driving her 5-year-old daughter to school when she was pulled over by an unmarked car three blocks from her Englewood, IL home. She was stopped by Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. They told her they were looking for her but…