This Land Is Not Your Land

What does the U.S.-Mexico border really look like? Josh Begley, resident data artist for The Intercept, wasn’t sure, so he downloaded satellite photos from Google Maps for the entire international boundary. Using the resulting 200,000 images, he created a six-minute film that traces the border from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, covering 1,954 miles. The southwest border is one of the most politicized spaces in the United States, a terrain that has been reduced to an ugly political metaphor. Begley’s film reminds us that the geography of the borderlands is both vast and beautiful. The conflict over the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota continues to unfold as Native American activists from across the country protest the destruction of sites sacred to the Lakota nation. On October 22, hundreds of peaceful marchers were attacked by police. Before she was arrested, Jihan Hafiz captured the scene on video, in footage that carries unsettling echoes of 19th-century massacres as unarmed protesters run for the hills. Roger Hodge National Editor The Intercept

Visualizing the U.S.-Mexico Border Josh Begley What would it mean to try to see the entire southwest border at once?   Video: Police Viciously Attacked Peaceful Protesters at the Dakota Access Pipeline Jihan Hafiz As protesters marched toward the pipeline construction site near Standing Rock, they were attacked by police who used pepper spray and beat them with batons.