A note from Alfredo Corchado

Dallas New's Border-Mexico correspondent [Dallas New's Border-Mexico correspondent]  Dear Reader, As a kid, I dreamed of writing songs, and after watching Warren Beatty in the movie Shampoo, I pondered the idea of becoming a hairdresser. But nothing had a bigger impact on me than the day I met a reporter when I was just 13 years old.  I’m Alfredo Corchado, the Mexico Border correspondent for The Dallas Morning News. I’m also an immigrant who arrived in this country at the age of 6, the eldest of nine children. My family came through a neighborhood known as Chihuahuita in El Paso, the Ellis Island of the Southwest. Alongside my parents, I came of age in the fields of California’s San Joaquin Valley. In California, you had to be at least 15 to work the fields. But we needed money for school supplies, clothing. Never tell anyone you’re 13, my mother would remind me. One day, a television crew showed up. The reporters made a beeline to me. Much to my surprise, I found myself answering every question, beginning with the most obvious one: How old are you? Thirteen, I said. And just like that, they found what they were looking for: an underage kid toiling in the sun. I was impressed, and a bit overwhelmed by the fact that anyone was curious enough to ask me anything. Someone actually wanted to give me a voice. I was inspired by this thing called journalism. Eventually, I was lured along my path by an internship at the El Paso Herald-Post and, later, by an editor at The Wall Street Journal in Philadelphia who saw a changing America and the need for a more diverse newsroom. He recruited me, a bilingual and bicultural reporter, to tell the story of millions of people on both sides of the border. That opportunity led me to my dream job at [The Dallas Morning News]([, based in Mexico City](. Here, I landed the initial interview with Mexico’s first real opposition leader in decades — the future President of Mexico, Vicente Fox — and bore witness as drug traffickers tore at the heart of a nation. As teens, my brother Mario and I worked several paper routes in El Paso, back when we had evening newspapers. He imagined he was Roger Staubach as he threw the paper from the back of a station wagon. I dreamed of telling stories and serving as a bridge of understanding between two countries. I can’t think of a more important time than today to do just that. I hope you agree — and will consider subscribing to this newspaper. Your support allows us to tell binational stories and hold leaders in two countries accountable. Thank you, Alfredo Corchado Border-Mexico correspondent [Subscribe Today](   Share this email: [Manage]( your preferences | [Opt out]( using TrueRemove™ Got this as a forward? [Sign up]( to receive our future emails. View this email [online](. [1954 Commerce Street Dallas, TX | 75201 US](#) [This email was sent to {EMAIL}. To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.]({EMAIL}) [powered by emma](