The South’s economic reliance on military bases has left a toxic legacy throughout the region. Originally published in Creative Loafing and The Weekly Planet. ON A SUMMER DAY THREE YEARS AGO, Elijah Robinson was digging in the yard of his brand-new patio home in Columbia, S.C., when an unexpected sensation washed over him. Even though he was covered in […]
A Taste for Tolerance
Years of struggle taught Charlotte, North Carolina, and other American cities that diversity is a growth industry. Originally published in AARP The Magazine. Charlotte TV station WBTV looks back at the student sit-ins in Charlotte. REGINALD HAWKINS COULD FEEL HIS HEART RACING as he and three friends made their way through Douglas Municipal Airport in Charlotte, North […]
Soldiers of Good Fortune
They fly helicopters, guard military bases, and provide reconnaissance. They’re private military companies—and they’re replacing U.S. soldiers in the war on terrorism. Originally published in Mother Jones. AT A REMOTE TACTICAL training camp, in a swamp 25 miles from the world’s largest naval base, six U.S. sailors are gearing up for their part in President Bush’s war […]
Return to Loves Creek
Originally published in Indy Week. IT’S A WARM FRIDAY AFTERNOON, and I’m driving down Silk Hope Road through Alamance and Chatham counties. It’s a familiar route that I used to take several times a week, when I was reporting on the life of Siler City’s Loves Creek Hispanic Baptist Mission. For eight months in 1999 I threw […]
Wild Cats in Carolina
Is the Carnivore Preservation Trust creating a genetic future for threatened species—or genetic junk? Originally published in Discover. LORI WIDENER OPENS THE GATE of the 12-foot-high fence that surrounds the Carnivore Preservation Trust outside Pittsboro, North Carolina, and walks toward the home of her favorite resident, Scooter. “Where’s my boy?” she coos, peering into an enormous walk-in […]
Silence in the Fields
The U.S. government is allowing farmers to fill thousands of jobs with foreign ‘guestworkers.’ The conditions are hardly hospitable—and those who speak out can be sent straight back home. Originally published in Mother Jones. THE GREYHOUND PULLS UP TO A TWO-STORY METAL WAREHOUSE in the tiny town of Vass, North Carolina. Efrain Madrigal gets off the bus. […]
Generation Bush
Republicans are counting on America’s youth for a November victory — and they found a few in North Carolina. Originally published in IndyWeek. Sunday AT THIS MOMENT, JOSHUA WORKMAN might be the most sought-after North Carolinian anywhere in the country. Hair spiked and gelled, sporting a pierced tongue and a nipple ring, he has been fielding […]
Hispanic Diaspora
Drawn by jobs, Latino immigrants are moving to small towns like Siler City, North Carolina, bringing with them new diversity—and new tensions. Originally published in Mother Jones. THE DAY OF THE RALLY, Ruth Tapia awakes with a feeling of disgust. It’s a drizzly, overcast morning in February, and all is quiet on the street outside her small, […]
Walking Home
In the Triangle’s Hispanic heart, a Baptist mission learns the joys and trials of building a community. Photos by M.J. Sharp. Originally published as a two-part series in Indy Week. (Click here for Part 2.) Part 1: Soul and Skin SOMETIME THIS SPRING, when the weather gets warm, the members of Loves Creek Hispanic Baptist […]
Academic Apprentices: Still an Ideal?
With hundreds of Ph.D.s competing for every available faculty position, the apprentice model that sustained generations of silversmiths and printers seems to fall apart at the university level. Originally published in Duke Magazine. THE APPRENTICE IS ONE OF AMERICA’S most enduring icons. Whether it’s Paul Revere silversmithing at his father’s shop or fifteen-year-old Horace Greeley knocking on […]
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