New at Zócalo

  • Poetry

    by Tila Neguse

     

    After and for Wanda Coleman

     

    i wanna talk about wanda, wanda can i talk about you
    wanda can i talk to you, wanda, girl, mam, sistuh, mama
    how should i …

  • Essay

    How Weddings and Hospitals Forge Familia

    We Show Up for the People We Love—In Times of Joy or Sorrow, Often With Tortillas

    by Natalia Molina |

    Hija, you have to go. You’re going to miss the wedding,” said my mom, weak but urgent. My husband and I would be hosting my niece’s wedding in our home that …

  • Connecting California

    California’s Greatest Scourge? Camping

    Bipartisan Leaders Are Bravely Going to War Against Unhoused People in Tents and Students in Sleeping Bags

    by Joe Mathews |

    Lock up your tents, California!

    Toss out your old camping gear!

    Hide your pillows and blankets where the cops will never find them!

    Because the people who run California have finally seen clearly …

  • Essay

    The Radical Act of Gardening Silicon Valley

    Communities Are Nourishing Themselves—And a Movement to Transform Our Food System—By Planting in Unlikely Soil

    by Gabriel R. Valle |

    Days start early in the garden. As the sun rises over the Santa Clara Valley’s Diablo Range, we’ve already gathered and prepared seed beds for planting. The smell …

  • Essay

    Can Knitting Help Teach Science?

    A Cell Biologist Reflects on the Connections Between Stitches and STEM

    by Megan Chong |

    When I was about 8 years old, my grandmother took me to a local fabric store to pick out a pattern for a dress we could sew together. Piecing together …

  • Connecting California

    My Late Uncle Jim’s Life of Tomorrows

    He Found Meaning and Wisdom in Looking Ahead

    by Joe Mathews |

    When I think of my Uncle Jim, I often remember him as Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

    Jim Mathews, who died earlier this summer at age 77, loved to perform in community theater …