Borderlands

The colonial era is usually seen as prim and proper – a time when manners were refined and marriage was sacrosanct. But that period may have been much wilder than previously thought. Liz Elizondo says in colonial Spanish Texas, love affairs didn’t just occasionally happen…they were the norm.

What does it mean to feel like you belong within a community? Jennifer Bickham Mendez studies that question within the Latin American immigrant population in Williamsburg, VA. She says that Latina immigrant mothers in Williamsburg have forged a sense of belonging by developing support networks and pooling resources to overcome institutional barriers.

Before traveling together along the US-Mexico border, Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera and Sergio Chapa were practically strangers. Now – after making the trip three times – they’re the best of best friends. They share their favorite moments, from drinking margaritas in the town where they were invented, to marveling at the beauty of the diverse geography of the borderlands.