There are few roads that parallel the U.S./Mexican border for very long. Interstates tend to veer away, and those wishing to follow the 1,969-mile boundary must often risk axle-destroying four-wheel-drive roads that cut through the Southwestern plains. Yet Charles Thompson took those roads, rattling along heavily rutted trails, fingers crossed that his rented Chevy Cruze […]
Continue Reading →When the Border Crossed Me
My border odyssey began in 1985 on a farm near Pittsboro, North Carolina. On a hot summer afternoon I walked out of my farm field to meet five men from Mexico. They drove into my driveway in an old beat up blue Impala, got out in the bloodied knee-length white coats and black rubber boots […]
Continue Reading →Border Odyssey: Meeting the People Patrolling and Living Near the U.S.-Mexico Border
https://soundcloud.com/houstonmatters/07205-border-odysseywav In 2010, Duke University professor Charles Thompson followed the U.S.-Mexico border, which spans nearly two-thousand miles. They followed a path from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Pacific Ocean, exploring small towns and larger communities on both sides of the border. Thompson spoke with residents living within these border communities to get a better […]
Continue Reading →Making Whiskey in the Backcountry
Whiskey making, while rare in southern England, was highly developed in both Scotland and Ireland by the time of the Ulster emigration. We can credit the Ulster immigrants for helping introduce the tradition to America. Through their influence, whiskey making became commonplace everywhere in the new colony, particularly on the frontier. Frenchman Marquis de Chastelleaux […]
Continue Reading →Visions for Sustainable Agriculture in Cuba and the United States: Changing Minds and Models through Exchange
In this photo essay and accompanying text, Charles D. Thompson, Jr. meets Cuban farmers, explores sustainable agricultural initiatives in the island nation, and suggests the possibilities for mutually beneficial exchanges with farmers’ organizations in the US South.
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