A Dreamer reflects on life in Joe Arpaio’s Arizona

No Images? Click here     Today we’re in Tucson! Hi from Arizona! While here, Hayley Miller met Deanna Lewis, 55. Deanna made history in 1984 when she became the city's first female firefighter. She has since founded a nonprofit and currently works as an LGBTQ coordinator for the University of Arizona. She said firefighting left an "indelible mark on her soul." "At 21, I was really naive," Deanna said. "I had no idea that women couldn't be a firefighter. I was raised that you can do whatever you want." "Some of my longest friendships are from the fire department," she said. "I've never experienced that kind of bonding and camaraderie in any other occupation. ... [Giving back to the community] is embedded in my DNA. It's just like my heartbeat." Deanna, a Navy veteran and self-described queer woman of color, said she "absolutely loves" living in her hometown of Tucson and has no plans to ever move. "When I wake up in the morning and I just look at our skies — the hues of the colors on the clouds — [it gives] me goosebumps," Deanna said. "It will just be illuminated like, I'll say, the light of heaven. ... How can you not just appreciate that moment, regardless of what's happening?"   What a coal plant shutdown means for Native Americans in Arizona The main owners of the Navajo Generating Station announced in June that the plant will be shut down after 40 years of operation. It'll take years to complete the planned decommissioning, but community leaders expect the impact will be severe. Hundreds of NGS employees will face a choice: Relocate in order to keep a high-paying job, or look for new work in an area with few jobs and hardly any infrastructure to support economic growth. HuffPost partnered with the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting to look into the consequences.  READ MORE    . The work is not over for Dreamers who lived in Joe Arpaio’s state Contributor Salvador Macias writes: With the strike of a pen, I was plucked from the shadows. When President Barack Obama announced his administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, I felt I no longer had to fear deportation to a land I did not know. … It meant I could finally learn to drive! I’d held off, because I thought doing so would jeopardize my status in this country. I finally was able to work (and I promise you, there was no one in the nation happier to get a minimum-wage check than I was). My status allowed me to graduate and eventually pursue my dream of going to law school. ... And while many hoped DACA would remain, I always understood it was merely a Band-Aid; I always understood that true security can only come through Congress. This justification for rescinding DACA hasn’t lessened the sting and the looming cloud that threatens the lives of so many in our communities. HIS STORY The 15 most Instagrammable spots in Albuquerque We can’t get enough of this gorgeous city and its excellent coffee shops, outdoor adventures and beautiful colors. MORE PHOTOS Next stop: New Mexico We’ll be in Albuquerque on Monday! If you’re in the area, come find the Listen To America bus at the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy. You can also follow our trip with this map. *** Also: How well do you know America? Find out with this week’s quiz.    . Join us virtually on the bus! Ride along with our editor-in-chief, Lydia Polgreen, as she dispatches news from the road via Facebook Messenger. Learn more about what it really means to be an American by signing up for our morning news brief.  Did a friend send you this? Subscribe here. For more politics news, check out our HuffPost Politics email. ©2017 HuffPost | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from HuffPost Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe  . - - Preferences  |  Unsubscribe