There’s traveling solo. Then there’s traveling solo, female and Black. All of which is wrapped up in one of the unfortunate truths of growing up Black and southern: “small town” is essentially synonymous with “sundown town.” And West Texas and New Mexico are nothing but thousands of miles of small towns. I hoped for the best, but steeled myself for the worst.

Until these galleries greeted me on the main streets of Madrid and Arroyo Seco, NM.

Madrid boasts a whopping 204 residents, and Arroyo Seco about 1800. There’s no “quietly blending in” for anyone, but especially not me. As small stops en route to more notable cities, Madrid and Arroyo Seco are both entirely reliant upon tourism. And right in the center of town, they’d posted their beliefs in bold-faced lettering, impossible to miss. An easy thing to do, but it meant the world to a Black woman claiming her right to discover every corner of it.

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where i wandered: