Friends Like These

Friends Like These

When I was growing up, my older Mexican-American relatives had an expression: “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” It was my family’s way of making me careful about choosing my friends. Even then, I could see they were right. The smart kids...
Coming Out of the Shadows

Coming Out of the Shadows

When I worked as a community organizer in New Mexico, I once overheard several women talking about a 2012 executive action on immigration. Known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the order made young, undocumented adults eligible for work permits and...
Will the Real ‘Low-Life Scum’ Please Stand Up?

Will the Real ‘Low-Life Scum’ Please Stand Up?

As you may have heard, security guards recently tossed me and my fellow activists out of a Senate hearing where former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was about to testify. It became a hot story when Senator John McCain denounced us as “low-life scum.”...
Say It Ain’t So

Say It Ain’t So

What should sports fans do when our heroes turn out to be frauds? Maybe you grew up watching Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire breaking home run records, as I did, only to find out that they (and just about everyone else in professional baseball) had been using...
A Window into Leelah’s World

A Window into Leelah’s World

When I decided to write a column about Leelah Alcorn, I initially tried to do it without using singular pronouns. The Cincinnati teen killed herself by jumping in front of a tractor trailer late last year. “I feel like a girl trapped in a boy’s body,” she...