In which I spend a week in Manhattan’s immigration court, one of the busiest in the country.

Illustration by Sam Ward for Al Jazeera America

Illustration by Sam Ward for Al Jazeera America

The World asked me to head back to my hometown to do some reporting on the demonstrations and violence that followed Freddie Gray’s death.

Here’s one on Grace Lyo, a Korean-American shop owner whose store was burned down, and the neighbors who want to help her rebuild.

Another on the growing connections between African Americans and Latinos in Baltimore.

And a short piece on growing up in white Baltimore.

Baltimore_Houses

Out in Richmond Hills, Queens, a Guyanese native repairs an instrument central to Indian spirituality. My story about Mindra Sahadeo, the harmonium king of Queens, for The World

Also check out Sonny Singh’s article about Sahadeo for Open City.

Mindra Sahadeo in his Richmond Hills home, playing one of the Madhura harmoniums he designed with a friend in Calcutta.

Mindra Sahadeo in his Richmond Hills home, playing one of the Madhura harmoniums he designed with a friend in Calcutta.

Step into a shipping container in a Lower East Side gallery; meet your new penpal in Iran.

Inside the Portal Between NYC and Tehran, an art installation with AV links between the two cities.

Inside the Portal Between NYC and Tehran, an art installation with AV links between the two cities.

 

A story for The World about the calls flooding immigration lawyers’ offices in the wake of Obama’s executive actions.

Gisela Chavez-Garcia is an immigration lawyer in New York City. She says the president's immigration plan raises a lot of questions among her clients, but she reminds them that a new president in 2016 could reverse the new changes.

Gisela Chavez-Garcia is an immigration lawyer in New York City. She says the president’s immigration plan raises a lot of questions among her clients, but she reminds them that a new president in 2016 could reverse the new changes.

A few days before Obama announced his executive actions on immigration, Angela Navarro, an undocumented woman from Honduras, moved with her husband and two children into a North Philadelphia church. She was hoping ICE wouldn’t follow her there. Here’s my story for Al Jazeera America.

Angela Navarro and her daughter officially enter sanctuary at West Kensington Ministry in North Philadelphia on Tuesday. Photo by Michael Bryant for Al Jazeera America.

Angela Navarro and her daughter officially enter sanctuary at West Kensington Ministry in North Philadelphia on Tuesday. Photo by Michael Bryant for Al Jazeera America.

Narendra Modi, India’s newly-elected Prime Minster, rolled through New York this weekend, part statesman, part rockstar. To some he’s a cause for concern. Here’s my story for The World about his appearance at Madison Square Garden, and the local community’s response to it.

#ModiInAmerica

There were some new faces at the head of the massive People’s Climate March on Sunday–among them groups of immigrants. Here’s my story for The World.SystemChange

A filmmaker, an English prof, and a military analyst look for the message and the craft in ISIS propaganda videos. My story for The World.

Logo of Al Hayat, ISIS's media organization.

Logo of Al Hayat, ISIS’s media organization.

Two dispatches from my brief stint at The World‘s sports desk*. One on Nine Man, an alternative take on volleyball that grew up in Chinatowns in New York and elsewhere.

Serving

And one on a group of runners who come from around the world to run around one block in Queens for a month-and-a-half.

Prasat*There is, to the best of my knowledge, no sports desk at The World.