People

Column, People

FRUITS OF MY LABOR PART ONE

Peace, EVERYONE! I was unfortunately not able to submit this article last month. But I trust you will enjoy my spotlight on this Uncrowned Queen!  On December 19th, 2023, I had the misfortune of getting into a car accident. While I’m having difficulty doing everything on my own and even remembering all the details of what happened that evening, I have been in awe of the help I’m receiving from family and friends alike. So, I’m shining the light on one of my GREATEST accomplishments, AAliyah Mya, my daughter, and eldest child. During the couple of days, I was in the hospital after the accident she came to visit and also brought my closest friends to come see me.  She also brought food and snacks because the hospital kept missing me and not providing me with food that I could eat. She delivered these with her sense of humor intact!  In the weeks after she has proven to be the best part of me. She’s been stepping in to help with her younger brother, Asheem. She’s managed to take him, to, and sometimes from, his two homeschooling co-ops, Taekwondo Classes, Guitar Rehearsals, and Hybrid Ninja Homeschool classes. The coordination of getting Asheem to and from all his activities has seemed a bit daunting but when I can’t get anyone else, she has come through in Big Ways. For much of this time, AAliyah was also working the overnight shift so I knew she was sacrificing much-needed sleep. She even used her paid time leave to make sure that we were with our family for the holidays. While visiting them I had to go back to the hospital there and she volunteered to take me as opposed to any of my other family members. The challenges that we’ve faced as a family, especially a homeschooling family, have made my children grow into beings of their own. They are leveling up when I am feeling so down about not being able to do all I have been doing as a single parent.  As I write this, I think of all the people I know. I think of all the friends that don’t have the greatest relationships with their parents/children. I think of how fortunate I am to have raised a daughter that not ONLY I can rely on, but her little brother can rely on. As well as, witnessing her help over sixty (60) adults build their entrepreneurship skills in her former job as a program coordinator at BNMC’s IC Success Program. The friendships that she’s developed with many of them, knowing that they can still rely on her expertise. And beyond that, she launched her own business, Pup Soda, and ran it for two years. She’s not done yet! This business is a way to raise MONEY and AWARENESS for the development of an innovative Indoor Dog Complex.  I want you all to help me honor AAliyah for what she’s doing for our family and community. Sometimes we, as parents, think we’re not getting through to our children. Sometimes we feel like we do too much for them. Other times, we think we haven’t done enough. And I know that can also be our children’s thoughts as well. Sometimes they know they are falling short of our expectations and sometimes they are going above and beyond.  Please give her a boost on her business pages @Pup Soda on FB, IG, and LinkedIn, and watch her Go & Grow! She earned her Spotlight in this column! I’m so blessed. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Column Community Community News Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Media Military & Veterans Music Peace People Politics Sports FRUITS OF MY LABOR PART ONE February 5, 2024/No Comments Peace, EVERYONE! I was unfortunately not able to submit this article last month. But I trust you will enjoy my… Read More The Good Friend – El Buen Amigo: SANTIAGO MASFERRER December 18, 2023/3 Comments For the final issue of the year, I wanted to spotlight an individual who has a business that we all… Read More AGELESS NINJA November 1, 2023/1 Comment Many of you may know, watched, or have heard of the show American Ninja Warrior. For those who have never… Read More Load More End of Content.

Column, People

NATIONALITY HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING ELSE FOR US PUERTO RICANS, IT DOES FOR ME!

It has to. It cannot be relegated to superficial pride. We cannot afford it. Because we are a Nation in every sense of the word, yet we are not a sovereign state. We are a people under the thumb of an empire, whose military presence still has a foothold on our land. The physical, emotional, and environmental remnants and damage are visible in Culebra and Vieques.  A nation whose Diaspora continues to exponentially grow because of the unbearable conditions native Boricuas are subjected to and expected to live under.  No food sustainability, and no local agriculture industry that could feed the archipelago.  Making us fully dependent on imports.  A nation with an almost exclusively service economy, with an educational system in near collapse, a healthcare system in crisis. A government in financial ruin with an oversight board driving austerity measures against common Puerto Ricans to fill the pockets of vulture capitalist firms.  There’s so much more we need to know, so much more we need awareness and education on.  That is the reason for this post.  A call to all of us to think, to dig, to read, to get involved.   To dig deeper into what it means to be Puerto Rican. And to have that at the forefront everywhere we go.  To question how we show up in spaces with this knowledge. Making sure that at the center of our journey, we remember those who came before us, sat, and had these conversations, and witnessed the brutality of colonialism firsthand.  We are living through a period in history where Puerto Ricans are being displaced and stripped of all they know and love on the island in a quiet but violent way. We are part of this history, what will we tell our grandchildren about our role in it? Read More From Buffalo Latino Village All Post Art Books & Poems Business Column Community Community News Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Media Military & Veterans Music Peace People Politics Sports New Book by Puerto Rican Writer Alberto O. Cappas January 29, 2024/No Comments GET YOUR COPY TODAY! The poetic Book about colonialism in upstate, NY is here: “Back to the Twilight Zone: A… Read More Phyllis Thompson, Evolving Memories Opening Reception: Friday, January 26, 2024 from 5:00–8:00 PM January 22, 2024/3 Comments Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Buffalo Arts Studio presents Phyllis Thompson’s new exhibition, Evolving Memories, a survey of… Read More Justice Sandra Day O’Connor January 1, 2024/3 Comments Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, passed away on December 1, 2023,… Read More Load More End of Content.

Column, People

Happy 150th Birthday to ARTURO ALFONSO SCHOMBURG

This is a portrait I painted of Arturo Alfonso Schomberg, a proud Afro-Puerto Rican who contributed to the struggle against white supremacy by becoming a documentarian and archivist of Black history. The portrait is 24” X 30”, acrylic paint on canvas. It was inspired by my deepest respect for the life and legacy of this revolutionary Afro-Puerto Rican. https://carlitoboricua.blog/2019/01/23/salute-to-the-memory-of-arturo-alfonso-schomburg-on-the-anniversary-of-his-birth-january-24-1874-june-8-1913/ About Arturo Alfonso Schomburg: Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 10, 1938), was a historian, writer, collector, and activist. He also wrote many books. Schomburg was a Puerto Rican of African and German descent. He moved to the United States in 1891, where he researched and raised awareness of the contributions that Afro-Latin Americans and African Americans have made to society. He was an important intellectual figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Over the years, he collected literature, art, slave narratives, and other materials of African history, which were purchased to become the basis of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, named in his honor, at the New York Public Library (NYPL) branch in Harlem. Read More From Buffalo Latino Village All Post Art Books & Poems Business Column Community Community News Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Media Military & Veterans Music Peace People Politics Sports New Book by Puerto Rican Writer Alberto O. Cappas January 29, 2024/No Comments GET YOUR COPY TODAY! The poetic Book about colonialism in upstate, NY is here: “Back to the Twilight Zone: A… Read More Phyllis Thompson, Evolving Memories Opening Reception: Friday, January 26, 2024 from 5:00–8:00 PM January 22, 2024/3 Comments Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Buffalo Arts Studio presents Phyllis Thompson’s new exhibition, Evolving Memories, a survey of… Read More Justice Sandra Day O’Connor January 1, 2024/3 Comments Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, passed away on December 1, 2023,… Read More Load More End of Content.

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