Social Impact Authors: How & Why Journalist & Writer Patrick Strickland Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
More than anything, I hope The Marauders, my latest book, helps readers understand a little more about the reality of our southern border — and the reality of borders in general. They are not just places where violence takes place; they generate violence. They are places where conspiracy theories flourish, and conspiracy theories can have real-life consequences for everyday people.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Patrick Strickland.
Patrick Strickland is a journalist and writer from Texas. He’s the news editor at the Dallas Observer, and he’s written for publications including the New York Review of Books, Slate, Politico EU, The Nation magazine, The New Republic, and The Guardian. He has also worked for Al Jazeera English as a senior reporter and for the Dallas Morning News as a local reporter. His first book, Alerta! Alerta! Snapshots of Europe’s Anti-Fascist Struggle, was published in November 2018.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I grew up in North Texas, outside of Dallas, and struggled with poor grades in school until I got to college. I didn’t read much at all when I was young. But a couple of years into my university studies, I started tearing through books: fiction and narrative nonfiction, philosophy and political stuff. Eventually, I decided I wanted to be a writer, and I started out publishing a handful of mostly forgettable short fiction stories in literary magazines. Later, I wanted to travel the world, something I’d never been able to afford, and journalism offered me that opportunity. So, I packed my bags and took off.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to act or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
The first book that really stuck with me was Albert Camus’s The Stranger. I picked it up on a whim, and then I burned through it in a single sitting. That novel hit me so hard because I’d never really considered philosophical questions. After that, I started reading a lot, mostly fiction. That was an important change in my life, partially because it made me a much more empathetic person.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you during your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
One funny incident that happened while I was working on this book was that I missed an important reporting trip because of a totally unpredictable string of bad luck. I woke up at 6:00 a.m. one morning, ready to head to Mexico from Tucson, and on the way, an eighteen-wheeler kicked up a rock that crashed through my front windshield. I was on the side of the highway and decided to keep moving anyway because the cracks were bad but not bad enough to collapse the entire windshield. But as soon as I got back on the highway and started toward the border, another stroke of bad luck hit me: I got a flat tire. I mean, entirely flat thanks to a nail. It was very frustrating at the time, but later I laughed about it — for whatever reason, the universe didn’t want me to get where I was going.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
More than anything, I hope The Marauders, my latest book, helps readers understand a little more about the reality of our southern border — and the reality of borders in general. They are not just places where violence takes place; they generate violence. They are places where conspiracy theories flourish, and conspiracy theories can have real-life consequences for everyday people.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
The most interesting story in my book, in my opinion, is the central storyline. Anti-immigrant groups show up in a small town, armed to the teeth, and ostensibly expect a warm welcome. But what they didn’t know was that that community, Arivaca, had seen two people — including a nine-year-old girl — killed at the hands of militiamen years earlier. The backlash was swift, and community members banded together to send a message. Whether or not their efforts will totally prevail in the end remains to be seen. But that act of unity matters, and it’s a story about normal people trying to push back against the hate that’s so common in this country.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
There wasn’t a single moment so much as a series of moments. During my first two visits to Arivaca, I began to understand the scope of the story. It was much larger than what I originally anticipated, which would have made for a text around the length of a magazine article. But once I started to grasp how long the history was, and how deep the conspiracy theories had dug in, I realized that the story needed a book to do it justice.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
The way I see it, there isn’t any single person. Everyone in the book who stood up and raised their voices did so as a community, and the cause belongs to them. It’s their cause, their story, and their home, and they’ve done all the legwork to offer an alternative to the politics of fear, hate, and misinformation that they’ve found themselves facing.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Many politicians have, in some ways, not taken the threat of white nationalism and anti-immigrant hysteria seriously enough. The same could be said of many people in society at large, who view these problems as fringe issues. But they’ve become so much more mainstream, and my hope is only to raise awareness and tell an important story.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
The notion of individual leaders doesn’t sit with me as well as it once did. I think communities are far more interesting, the way people who may be at odds can come together and work toward something meaningful and important, hash out ways to do the right thing as a unit rather than as an individual. That’s a different kind of leadership, and it’s an important one.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
Firstly, I wish someone would have told me there was going to be a pandemic that shut down the whole world. Impossible, sure, but that would have changed the way I reported on this project early on. I would’ve looked at the timeline much differently. I would’ve planned differently. Either way, thankfully, it all worked out in the end.
Secondly, I wish someone would have told me when I first started out as a journalist how difficult it can be. There were times when, during the process of writing this book, freelancing to make ends meet became so financially unviable that I worked day labor mowing lawns, trimming trees, and doing other types of yard work to get by.
Third, I wish someone would have told me how tough it is to write a book in general. I’d already written one, and I assumed it would be easier the second time around. But it wasn’t easier at all, and in some ways, it was more challenging than the first. I found myself unable to report during parts of the pandemic, and that was a first in my life. I’d spent ten years traveling for my work as a writer and journalist. Then, suddenly, I was stuck in my house. That was a real shock to my system, as, I’m sure, it was for everyone.
Fourth, I wish someone would have told me for sure that Donald Trump was going to lose his reelection bid. Again, an impossibility, but it sure would have helped me gear up for what was to come after that, what with the January 6 Capitol riot and the intimate involvement of militias in that unrest.
Fifth and finally, I wish someone would have told me that you don’t have to work all the time. I spent years working as a reporter from sunup till sundown, and that kind of burning the candle at both ends can take its toll on you. Early on as a journalist, you feel a lot of pressure — much of it imposed by yourself — to report as much as possible. During the massive surge in refugee arrivals to Europe in 2015, for example, I was on a constant grind to get stories out into the world. That kind of work is important, but oftentimes it’s much more meaningful to stick with one story for a long time, even if that has its own unique set of challenges.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded . . . sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.” — George Saunders, in a commencement speech he delivered to Syracuse University graduates in 2013.
That quote sums up my worldview nowadays, and it’s also guiding philosophy as a writer. You can write a quick, snappy, or even ironic story, or you can take the time to really understand the people you’re writing about. The rewards, I think, are much greater when you take the second route.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Actually, I think I’d like to grab a bite with George Saunders. His fiction has been important to me, especially his short stories. The guy always looks for a deeper meaning, a way to understand human beings as complex and intricate. In that way, he’s a real treasure to his readers.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Readers can often find my work in the Dallas Observer, the alt-weekly where I work as a news editor and write frequently. They can also check my website, www.patrickobrienstrickland, where I post a sample of my reportage and writing somewhat regularly.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Journalist & Writer Patrick Strickland Is Helping To Change Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.