Today’s feature highlights the work of 2021 Mesa Alum journalist Jeanne Carstensen. Her book A Greek Tragedy: One Day, a Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis, was published by Simon & Schuster on March 25, 2025. Please consider donating to Mesa Refuge today so that we can continue to support journalists and writers like Jeanne. Click our link in bio to donate today.
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On October 28, 2015, a boat meant for only a few dozen passengers capsized off the coast of the Greek island of Lesvos. Hundreds of refugees, forced in desperation onto the overloaded boat manned by armed smugglers, were tossed into a roiling sea. The resulting loss of life, the largest in a single day during the crisis in the Aegean, shocked the world.
Now, after nearly a decade of research, interviews, and investigation, reporter Jeanne Carstensen has captured every detail of the dramatic twenty-four hours. This includes the recollections of the refugees’ lives before they left their homes and a full account of the courageous rescue efforts of the Greek islanders and volunteers rushing to help, even as their government and the EU failed to act. In this remarkable narrative feat, Carstensen brilliantly showcases the extraordinary heroism of ordinary people in extreme circumstances.
In a world where forced migration is on the rise, A Greek Tragedy challenges us to confront our collective humanity. It’s an unforgettable testament of our times and a compassionate depiction of the lengths to which a person will go to save another human being.
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Mesa Refuge is committed to bringing important truths to the surface, through supporting journalists and writers like Jeanne. Jeanne reminds us that: “Words are how we bear witness to the world, its beauty and its injustice. Especially now, when the powerful want to co-opt the truth and spread hopelessness and despair, we can do our part to push back against every lie.”
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7 days ago
Today we honor the work of 2022 Mesa Alum @vanessapriyadaniel Her book Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning, was published by Random House on March 4, 2025. Please consider donating to Mesa Refuge today so that we can continue to support writers like Vanessa. Click our link in bio to donate today.
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Unrig the Game equips us to support effective women of color leaders so we can all win. A former community and union organizer who started one of the largest foundations to resource women of color-led organizing, Vanessa draws on candid interviews with forty-five prominent women of color movement leaders, along with her own experience at the helm of an organization, to offer an on-the-ground perspective of the obstacles leaders face, how they navigate them, and how allies can show up. She highlights the unique strengths and “superpowers” these leaders bring to the fight for social change, while debunking the myth that identity alone makes a transformative leader.
For women of color leaders, this book is a balm, a sister circle, and a master class. For everyone, it is an essential tool to realize the world we all deserve.
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Mesa Refuge offers protected time and space for writers to produce such important books as Unrig the Game. Vanessa says: “As a mom of two, who is often writing in the bits and snatches of time while at my kid's swim meet, in the grocery store line, or while walking the dog, uninterrupted time to write at Mesa was absolutely golden.
Quietude is so rare in this society—the silence to have a long thought, to plumb the depths of your ideas—and it is precious.
I loved the natural beauty that surrounds Mesa, the wonderful writers who I shared the space with, the hospitality of Kamala and the Mesa team, and the magic of learning that so many people I deeply admire had once stayed at Mesa."
Photo 2: Vanessa with Mesa alum @labamby
Photo 3: Vanessa with Mesa alum @aijenp
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2 weeks ago
