now we are six

Today marks six years of blogging at Texas in Africa. When I started this blog in August 2005 with the goal of keeping in touch with family and friends while conducting dissertation fieldwork in North Kivu, I never would have dreamed where it would end up. Today, Texas in Africa is a thriving community of smart people who bring a wide variety of perspectives to the discussion from points all over the world. For all of you, I am incredibly grateful.



You've probably noticed some changes around here in the last few months, particularly with respect to the pace of posting. As the pressures of the tenure track mount and my responsibilities as an assistant professor grow more significant, I've given up trying to post every day. Taking that pressure off of myself has helped incredibly, and I think the quality of posts has gone up as I've been more focused and truly interested in writing each one. This is a middle way between quitting blogging altogether and maintaining a now-impossible-for-me pace. Thanks for sticking with me.



Of course, there have been a lot of other exciting changes in the last couple of years as well; some of my posts are picked up by the CSM's Africa Monitor and the Guardian's Global Development blog. I'm also occasionally contributing to the Atlantic.com and in a few other places on occasion. Thank-you to the wonderful crop of editors who make me seem a far better writer than I am, and for the incredible opportunity to engage with even more people from around the world.



On a totally unrelated note, this weekend, I came across a big story here in Georgia, where a new law prohibits undocumented immigrants from attending the state's best public universities. These students, the vast majority of whom were brought to the US as small children, are excluded from the opportunities a high-quality public education can provide through no fault of their own. In response to this law, a group of University of Georgia professors have started an informal university that our state's best undocumented students can attend. They have an Amazon.com wishlist of textbooks and supplies to which anyone can donate, and the products are shipped directly to the school. I think this is a fantastic response to an unjust, discriminatory law. If you feel the same way, I hope you'll join me in purchasing a couple of books to help these students out. If you don't feel the same way, I encourage you to donate to a charity more in line with your views. Thanks for sticking around, and here's to another year of Texas in Africa.