: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…

On June 3, I had the pleasure of dropping by the Racine Literacy Council (RLC) at 734 Lake Avenue to talk with Viviana Feil the English Language Learner Coordinator and Edmundo Rosales an English Language Learner (ELL) The Racine Literacy Council is a 501 (c) (3) volunteer-based organization that provides adult literacy programs in Racine…

Several times now, I have been sitting at the Branch (residencing) and saw a middle-aged man talking with two younger women. Overhearing bits of their conversation I could hear they were planning something, but not sure of what. At first I thought it was a theater production. The second time it sounded different. The third…

PART 2 [When Part 1 ended. I and my fixer were stopped at an ISIS checkpoint and taken from the car] The Free Syria Army fighter drove off and Suheib and the commander walked a short distance away and talked. I was left alone standing next to the big ugly fighter holding an AK-47 again…