Molly Hennessy-Fiske

National reporter

The Washington Post •

An 80-mile horseback ride connects Black families with their Texas roots

An 80-mile horseback ride connects Black families with their Texas rootsBy Molly Hennessy-FiskeMarch 22, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. EDTJust now8 minHEMPSTEAD, Texas — Among the dozen trail rides making their annual journey to celebrate the start of Houston’s rodeo this month, Prairie View is unique. The first all-Black trail ride, Prairie View was named after Texas’s first historically Black public university. Its 80-mile, week-long trek takes riders from a rural pasture across farm roads and suburban h...
The Washington Post •

They say they’re monitoring ICE arrests. Feds say they’re breaking the law.

MINNEAPOLIS — While patrolling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement with other volunteers, two days after an officer from the federal agency fatally shot a woman in her car in this city, Sagal Ali repeated a mantra: “We will not obstruct their path. We are not escalating.”A text chat alerted her group while driving on Friday that ICE was near Soma Grill and Deli. They drove over to find officers circling the restaurant, masked, in an unmarked SUV. Blowing whistles from open car windows to not...
The Washington Post •

After Helene and Milton, residents of Casey Key question its future

CASEY KEY, Fla. — Trudging back to his flooded home for the second time in as many weeks, dragging a rolling trash can loaded with a generator and other supplies through sand-mired streets, Jason Bain surveyed the remains of his family’s coastal oasis.Doors and roofs had been ripped off homes and the quaint blue-and-white Gulf Surf Motor Inn, which like other buildings on the key was now buried in sand, its “No Vacancy” sign rendered obsolete. Back-to-back hurricanes had ripped the door, roof an...
The Washington Post •

‘Detransitioners’ wield influence in shaping conservative transgender laws

AUSTIN — At 25, college student Prisha Mosley doesn’t consider herself conservative. She was raised “a leftist my whole life, and quite radical at times.” She has face piercings, dyes her hair bright red, supports same-sex marriage, abortion rights and gun control, and rejects gender stereotypes.

AUSTIN — At 25, college student Prisha Mosley doesn’t consider herself conservative. She was raised “a leftist my whole life, and quite radical at times.” She has face piercings, dyes her hair bright r...
The Washington Post •

He was vulnerable and sheltered with friends. He was no match for Ian.

Lumley, 65 and disabled, spoke with a stutter and walked with a cane, his legs and right arm progressively paralyzed by Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was short and stocky, with long gray hair and a bushy Santa-style beard. In this small island town of about 7,000, Lumley had been a common sight at Lighthouse Resort Inn & Suites Tiki Bar and other hangouts. He was also an increasingly easy target for thieves, who spotted him riding his three-wheel bicycle and beat him up a few times in recent years, s...