I just published an essay in The Mantle’s online roundtable “Pens and Swords” organized by Shaun Randal. The roundtable was a virtual conversation between Tolu Ogunlesi (Lagos, Nigeria), Vicente Garcia Groyon (Manila, Philippines), and myself. We were asked to write in response to a question: “What is the role of a writer in a conflict zone?” I began my piece with a conversation I had with a christian extremist who stood outside Houston’s Planned Parenthood headquarters at last year’s 40-day protests prior to easter.