Two Walls ~ Flora Stolzenburg

The night we arrived in Douglas we were taken to the US side of the border. Immediately we were met with a tall metal wall with four spiraled lines of razor wire across the upper half. Behind us was a vehicle barrier also covered in razor wire. The only things around were a gravel road that extended along the wall and the Border Patrol car parked to the side watching us.The feelings I had were of disgust and incredulity at the human effort to make such a harmful and divisive thing. We formed a circle and talked through the fence with the Young Adult Volunteers on the other side. We were asked what the wall meant to us. Various words came up: hatred, division, death, harm, anger. This wall was here to separate people, keep people out, and cause them bodily harm if they attempted to climb over it.

The next morning, now in Agua Prieta, Mexico, we were again taken to the border—but this experience was very different. Right up along the wall were houses, stores, and a busy road many people took every day to cross. On this stretch of the wall—the same area as the night before—were dozens of beautiful murals. Some depicted birds, flowers, butterflies. Two hands holding each other. A portion of the wall was covered in handprints. Names were written and a cross stood that read “TODOS SOMOS MIGRANTES”—we are all migrants. We were told people commonly go on walks and runs in this area, and there were benches and workout equipment right up against the fence.

For me, this juxtaposition was surprising. Somehow my brain couldn’t understand such normal human parts of daily life right next to this horrible creation. This time, we were told what else the border can mean. It can be a place of encounter, where a person’s hopes lie. Some murals depicted the wall opening up and people walking through, or butterflies soaring above it. For so many, the border is a place of dreaming of a better life, a safer existence, or more opportunities.

These multiple meanings can exist at the same time. For many, the border is a part of their daily life because they live right next to it. For others, it is grief, where their loved ones were lost. For many people in the U.S., it is an embarrassment, knowing no matter how much we are against it, we all fund it. It is a place of dreaming and a place of death. It is a place of encounter and division. It is where many children cross on their walk to school. These meanings are all true for different people. There are always perspectives that aren’t talked about. I would have never seen the murals on the Mexican side of the border on the news here in the U.S. I am reminded of the importance of talking with others—hearing their views, perspectives and stories. Back in Madison, with ICE presence so close by, it has become ever more crucial to continue seeking out knowledge and to listen to my peers and members of my community.

Flora Stolzenburg (she/her) is a junior studying Spanish and art.

Photo: A mural of butterflies in flight, seen from the Mexico side of the border wall.