BY BASBIBI KAKAR When Ramzia, a pseudonym to protect her identity, sees people migrating from one country to another, she doesn’t blame them. “You can’t be in a place where your life is not guaranteed,” she says. “You have to…
Tag: Profiles
From Little Brother to Grandfather: A Photographer’s Journey
BY LUCIA ZERNER A Newar father and son kneel in front of their life’s work, a sea of clay bricks drying in the cool Kathmandu Valley air. From the photo, it’s as if their gaze looks directly at us. The…
‘Organizational Interest Comes First’: One Intelligence Officer’s Experience with Interservice Rivalry
BY JENNIFER KELTZ Just because two officers are fighting for the same cause does not mean that they will work together. As a boy in New York, John Gentry never pictured that he would one day spend over twenty years…
An American Muslim Finds his Place in the Marine Corps… and Afghanistan
BY JOHN PATRICK DEES An American Muslim Finds his Place in the Marine Corps… and Afghanistan At 0500 hours sharp the drill instructors barged into the Quonset hut. The entire structure shuddered from the impact of the door on…
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BY MINQI SONG Wes Lam never thought of himself as a stranger in the U.S. Army. A son of Chinese immigrants, Wes served in the army from 1999 to 2009, including one year in Iraq right after the 2003 Invasion. …
A Bridge Between Two Lives
BY MARJORIE TOLSDORF Bahram watched as his mother and sisters wept, soaking the white cloth that covered his uncle’s body with tears. He could hear his mother moaning her brother-in-law’s name over and over, morphing into a single monotonous tone.…
He Sought Refuge in the Kitchen. Now, He Does Not Want to Leave.
BY SARAH SAKHA “I’ll be in the red bandana.” His note had been short, but bold. I spotted Ruslan as soon as I walked into the coffee shop, with his bright red bandana, thick-rimmed crimson glasses, a gray hooded jacket,…
Kidnapped by a Libyan Militia: One prominent gay rights blogger recounts his detention by a conservative militia.
BY SEAN HANSEN “Are you a mule, or not?!” His kidnappers shouted, using a derogatory slang word for a gay person in Libyan Arabic. Abdough Ilbosiphi cowered in the back of a blacked-out Toyota, as it drove away from his…
Mexico’s Latest Poet-Diplomat
By Mónica Adame I met Gaspar Orozco during my first event as public relations coordinator for the Mexican Consul General in New York almost three years ago. Our boss, the head of the Consulate, invited Mexican artists living in the…
Roma On Her Own Terms
BY REBECCA WEXLER NEW YORK—With the exception of the delicate gold rings on nearly all of her fingers, Petra Gelbart does not look stereotypically Roma. Her fair skin and small hazel eyes suggest her father’s Czech and Eastern European roots…