From prom to deportation
By Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN
(CNN) – Even three years after the fact, Fredi Alcazar Dominguez still trembles thinking about his deportation.
[3:35] "They put you on a bus to the border and then at the border they just leave you at your own risk."
Alcazar Dominguez spent five days in Mexico before crossing the border illegally back into the United States. Then and now he has found himself in a kind of limbo.
The 23-year-old was brought to this country illegally by his parents when he was just eight years old. Deported just shy of his high school graduation, he doesn't qualify for the deferred action enacted by President Barack Obama last year.
Hear the full story on CNN's Soundwaves blogOn 25th anniversary, a quilt displays an American tragedy
By Moni Basu, CNN
Atlanta (CNN) - Gert McMullin scurries about a cluttered storage space, keeping track of the thousands of pieces of folded fabric plucked off metal shelves and packed into blue cardboard containers for their journey to the nation's capital.
The cloth panels are part of a quilt that has been her life these 25 years, since she began piecing together an American tragedy.
In the early days, McMullin, 57, sewed her mailing address into the panels she made in memory of friends who died. She thought they would be returned to her once America defeated AIDS.
She did not anticipate that a quarter century later, the AIDS Memorial Quilt, now 48,000 panels-strong, would still be growing.
The AIDS Quilt, and hoping for 'The Last One'
A new panel comes in almost every day to The Names Project Foundation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization that serves as the quilt's custodian.
On this bittersweet anniversary, the quilt will again be displayed in Washington, as it first was in 1987.
It's now believed to be the largest piece of folk art in the world. At a one-minute glance per panel, it would take a full 33 days to view the quilt in its entirety.
Moms discuss 'My 12-year-old son knows he could be Trayvon'
By Gavin Godfrey and Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN Radio
(CNN) - Christy Oglesby’s column, “My 12 year-old-son knows he could be Trayvon Martin,” stirred a lot of conversation when it published last month. It drew more than 8,000 recommendations on Facebook and 1,400 comments on the In America blog.
While her son is fearless the way only 12-year-old boys can be, she wrote that she warns him not to run, not to speak too loudly, not to fight back. Because he is black, she worries he will always be a victim and a target.
“His race gives me much more to fear than his fearlessness,” she said.
But we felt like there needed to be even more dialogue about it. We invited Oglesby and her friend, Sandra Bemis, to our studio. Oglesby’s son, Drew, and Bemis’ son, Slater, are best friends; their photo was atop Oglesby's column. We wanted to have a conversation about how their mothers were raised and how they’ve talked to their kids about race since Trayvon Martin’s death.
About In America
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
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