September/October 2006 Contributors
More than 20 years ago, (“Exodus“) illegally entered the United States with a group of Mexicans, walking 45 miles of desert in one night. At the time, “no one seemed to be paying much attention to the migration and the deaths that occurred,” he says. “I was baffled.” Since then, as illegal immigration has come to the forefront of domestic politics, Bowden has authored 21 books, many with border-related themes. For his Mother Jones feature, he drove a total of 7,000 miles, discovering along the way that there are really just two kinds of people: those who think the migration must be stopped, and those who think nothing can stop the migration. “Like global warming, illegal immigration has now become a force beyond the reach of American power and will and imagination,” he says. “I live 60 miles from the border and now realize I have spent my life watching a slow-motion car wreck. I have made a living writing about the border in magazines and books. But I finally understand that facts are the first casualty in any American discussion of the border.” Bowden is a correspondent for GQ. (“Exodus“) grew up in Juárez, Mexico, where he began his working life as a technician in the maquiladora industry. In 1991 he left the grind for photojournalism. The 1995 group exhibition he organized, “Nada Que Ver—Nothing to See,” inspired the award-winning book Juárez: The Laboratory of Our Future. Cardona received the Cultural Freedom Fellowship, awarded by the Lannan Foundation of Santa Fe, in 2004.
(“Just Try Voting Here“) is the author of Conned: How Millions Went to Prison, Lost the Vote, and Helped Send George W. Bush to the White House. For (“Revolt of the Elders“), author of four eclectic books, writing about the Pombo-McCloskey face-off was a treat. “I remembered McCloskey from my college days,” he says. “His ‘Wednesday Group’ took up topics like whether Reagan might be gay!”
and (“A War Foretold“) are both former Mother Jonesers: Dickinson an editor until joining Rolling Stone in 2005, and Stein an editorial fellow. Contributing writer (“A Is for Afro“) is at work on a memoir about growing up on Chicago’s South Side. (“Sweet Subpoena“), formerly of the Village Voice, is Mother Jones‘ Washington correspondent. (“The Man Who Has
Been to America“) is a National Geographic Adventure contributing editor. (“Prime Suspect“) teaches journalism at New York University. Attending foreclosure auctions in relatively affordable Cleveland, she says it was hard to resist the home-buying mania. ‘s illustrations (Features) have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Esquire, among other publications.
