A grandfather reflects on immigration, so-called "illegals," and human connection through a story inspired by a real encounter at a street-corner vigil.
The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane organized the rally in an attempt to urge citizens to “call on the Obama administration to exert diplomatic pressure on Israel to bring about an immediate cease-fire and to initiate an investigation of Israel's misuse of U.S. weapons against Palestinians in this and previous attacks.”
Local supporters on the Isreali side also rallied, protesting the rockets fired by Hamas militants at Israel.
Spokane photographer Bethany Mahan captured the event.
Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of FāVS.News, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Associate Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.
