A quote in this issue from Grammy-winning producer and Roma native Edgar Barrera aptly sums up the pull the Rio Grande Valley has on its residents: “There’s glue in the cement here.” Senior editor Danielle Lopez, who grew up in McAllen, can attest to this phenomenon. Though she’s lived in Austin for more than a decade now, she returns to the Valley every couple of months to visit family and friends and get a dose of that RGV magic. “There’s this idea of when you’re Valley, you’re Valley,” she says. “There’s pride to the identity.”
That pride and deep sense of community is a through line in this special RGV edition, marking the first time we’ve devoted an entire issue to the region that is often underrepresented in the media. For the past year, Lopez has been conceptualizing and refining the issue, relying on her family, friends, and peers in the RGV to vet story ideas, photo locations, and recommendations.
Enjoying this article?We sought out contributors who are from the Valley or know it well. Last year’s Texas State Poet Laureate and Edinburg native ire’ne lara silva kicks off our feature section with an original poem, while La Feria resident Rubén Degollado pens this month’s Open Road essay as well as an ode to the botana platter in our Fuel section. Former Texas Highways intern and Edinburg native Daynara Gutierrez wrote about the RGV’s first alpaca ranch. And photographers Daniela Loera and Brenda Bazán from Brownsville, and JoMando Cruz from Harlingen, crisscrossed the region to capture its beauty.
It perhaps goes without saying that this issue was made with a lot of love, thought, and care. Lopez stresses it isn’t meant to encompass all the Valley has to offer—an impossible task. For those who haven’t visited before, consider this your starter guide to the Rio Grande Valley. We know once you visit, you’ll be back for more.
Emily Roberts Stone
Editor in Chief
