To look at Gordon’s back is to see a map of a country forged in brutality. He was an enslaved person and, in March of 1863, he managed to escape from the plantation where he was imprisoned. After a harrowing forty mile journey, he reached Baton Rouge and the safety of the Union Army.  Two moments of note occurred during his examination. The first was when he said this: Ten days from to-day I left the plantation. Overseer Artayou Carrier whipped me. I was two months in bed sore from the whipping. My master come after I was whipped; he discharged the overseer. My master was not present. I don’t... Read More

The sky is massive in West Texas. It seems to go on forever, stretching out as far as the eye can see, and eventually meeting the dusty landscape in a far off horizon. When you’re under that sky, there’s a sense of insignificance, a feeling that you matter about as much as the scrub brush. Maybe that’s why the Texan identity has always been so outsized. It’s a way for the citizens to try and measure up to that vast sky, to prove to themselves and the universe that what they do has meaning. Maybe that’s why the bonds of family seem to be a little bit stronger, there’s a pride of familial... Read More