Of borders and crossroads

Gloria Anzaldúa ends her poem To live in the Borderlands means you… with the following suggestion:

To survive the Borderlands
you must live sin fronteras
be a crossroads.

Mute Magazine: Desert Crossroads (Rising Resistance to Corporate Globalisation and Deadly Borders)
Reporting on recent antiborder actions in the towns, desert wastelands and graveyards along the US/Mexico border.

Judi Werthein: Brinco (via)

“The project is a uniquely designed sneaker, trademarked Brinco. The design of the shoe is inspired by information and materials that are relevant to, and could provide assistance to, those illegally crossing the border. Underscoring the tensions sparked by the global spread and mobility of the maquiladora, the sneaker will be manufactured in China. In counterpoint to its potential for utilitarian use by Mexican migrants, the sneaker will be sold as a one-of-a-kind art object and will be available in the United States during inSite_05 in Blends, a high end sneaker store located in Down Town San Diego.”

Brinco photo gallery

BBC News: State-of-the-art shoes aid migrants

SignOnSanDiego: Rugged routes, deadly risks: Migrants push east to avoid fortified border, with tragic results

Border Towns by Roberto Durán

Border towns and brown frowns
and the signs say
get back wet back
souls are searched at night by silver flashlights
gringos and greasers play cat and mouse
and I still wonder why
do apple pies lie?
the signs say live the american way
visit but don’t stay
be a friendly neighbor hire good cheap labor
as rows and rows of illegal star war aliens
are aligned and maligned
as the morning shouts fill the morning chill and still
they will not
no way José go away

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