Search
The Missouri Review

Nonfiction | January 17, 2025

Ahmed is Home

J. Malcolm Garcia

One afternoon, a photo on Instagram caught my attention. It showed a woman sitting on a bench. She wore dark sunglasses, a blue plaid shirt and blue jeans, and creased, black boots. A multicolored bandanna covered her head, and strands of long gray hair fell to her shoulders. She was holding a bottle of water and staring off to her left. Her lined face suggested that she had covered many miles and had seen enough of life for it to make an impression. According to the caption, her name was Karen Parker, a sixty-one-year-old retired social worker who offered first aid, food, and water to asylum seekers. 

Karen lived in Boulevard, California, next door to Jacumba Hot Springs, California. I contacted the photographer and asked for her contact information, but he didn’t know it. I then wrote to the Boulevard postmaster, enclosed a letter and a stamped envelope, and asked that it be forwarded it to her. Fewer than four hundred people live in Boulevard, and I assumed the postmaster would know her, but I received no response. On a hunch, I called a church in Jacumba and asked the pastor about Karen. He knew her, gave me her phone number, and I called.  

Her soft voice surprised me. I introduced myself and she said, Hello, Malcolm, as if we’d known each other for years. She wasn’t surprised the Boulevard postmaster hadn’t delivered my note. She had alienated more than a few people who opposed her work with asylum seekers. 

If you are a student, faculty member, or staff member at an institution whose library subscribes to Project Muse, you can read this piece and the full archives of the Missouri Review for free. Check this list to see if your library is a Project Muse subscriber.

SEE THE ISSUE

7.3 Cover

ISSUE

spring 1984

7.3 (Spring 1984)

Featuring work by Russell Banks, Bruce Beasley, George Bogin, Christopher Buckley, Dino Campana, Rene Char, Fred Chappell, Reed Way Dasenbrock, Glover Davis, Robb Forman Dew, Katherine Estill, Kathy Fagan, Carol Frost, Margo Glantz, Daniel Halpern, Laura Hendrie, Katherine Kane, Hank Lazer, Michael Milburn, Ricardo Pau-Llosa, Omar Pound, Pattiann Rogers, Philippe Soupault… as well as an interview with Charles Simic and a special feature on Tennessee Williams.
7.1 Cover

ISSUE

fall 1983

7.1 (Fall 1983)

Featuring work by Michael Alley, Christine Balk, Walter Bargen, Robin Behn, Ricardo Castillo, Peter Cooley, Jon Davis, Christine Deavel, Jeff Friedman, Matthew Graham, Stephen Haven, Art Homer, Mark Jarman, Robert L. Jones, Kendra Kopelke, Thomas McAfee, Walter McDonald, James McKean, Michael Mott, Johnathan Penner, Michael Pfeifer, Paula Rankin, David Ray, Nickell Romjuee, Sennis Saleh, Sharon Sheehe Start, Dan Stryk, James Tate, Byll Travis, Damian Whalen, Daniel Woodrell, Carolyne Wright… as well as interviews with Stephen Dunn and Jack Conroy and a special feature on the American literary magazine.
6.2 Cover

ISSUE

winter 1983

6.2 (Winter 1983)

Featuring work by Jorge Amado, Marvin Bell, Jeanne Bernhard, Michael Blumenthal, Don Bogen, Sidney Burris, Francois Camoin, Deborah Digges, Jack Hand, Jack Heflin, Lois Lindblad, Patrick Madden, Thomas McAfee, James McCorkle, Colleen J. McElroy, Martha McFerren, Kent Nelson, David St. John, Gregory Orr, Michael Pettit, David Ray, Peggy Shumaker, Ben Siegel, Jim Simmerman, Volodia Teitelboim, William Trowbridge, James Ulmer, Michael Waters, Gloria Whelan, Wendy Wieber… and an interview with Harry Crews.

SUGGESTED CONTENT

Secret Link