People

S.A.F.E. center was a place where young girls could come for psychological help without red tape following them. Requirements were that they sign a contract addressing their individual issues and take charge of a theme and salesmanship at scheduled fund-raising events. In less than 6 months we had over a dozen girls.  We were preparing for a Christmas presentation and the young lady next to me was exhausted from all her work. She was to take the lead and we were all overly excited for her breakthrough. On the way to her home, she fell asleep. Out of the corner of my left eye, I could see the black SUV charging towards us and I had to make a quick decision to speed up or slow down to minimize the hit that was inevitably coming. I decided to slow down. BANG!!!  I spin around and around several times and even hit another car. Throughout the spins I had my cell phone  clutched in my fist  trying to reach David. My head hit a few times. I no longer heard or saw what was going on, but I briefly recalled his hand reach for my phone. The young man spoke softly, and I thought he was an Angel. He stopped a passing motorist who happened to be a cop and between them both, carefully dragged us away from the car. We were both unconscious leaning against the tree. Little did they know, they would be shielding us from a huge car explosion. Within minutes people were arriving and throughout it all, this young man never let go of my hand. Months later when I was somewhat healed, I was determined to find him and invite him as an honored guest at our Christmas event. I found his given address on the police report. I found his uncle and shared how this young man had saved my life. They were surprised because he had been sad thinking I had died. The celebration had started and had almost ended when a deafening silence took over the room. I slowly turned around and there in all his valor was the Angel who put his life on the line for us. The young man who still bears scars on his back that he rarely talked about. Once we got pass the flowing tears, and warm embraces, we found out his family lived in Manhattan, less than five (5) blocks from my hometown and the mothers knew each other.  That Christmas, his act of kindness gave me back my life. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics Sports SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN AT THE OLYMPICS 2021 September 17, 2021/No Comments SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN AT THE OLYMPICS 2021 (Puerto Rico first partcipated at the Olympics Games in Read More SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO August 17, 2021/No Comments It has long been known that women have taken a historic back seat in all fields.  The  lack of exposure Read More BRIEF HISTORY OF SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO July 17, 2021/No Comments BRIEF HISTORY OF SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO The Taínos who inhabited Puerto Rico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in Read More Load More End of Content.

It is November 2020, the month to give thanks, especially during these times. For many it is a major struggle to maintain a decent quality of life. The reality is, some are painfully fighting for their lives while our heroic caregivers jeopardize theirs.   Below are some empowering suggestions that we can do for ourselves as well for others. First and foremost, take care of your health and maintain your physical strength. Wear a mask at all functions.  Maintain physical distance of at less 6 feet.  Sanitize most things that you touch.  Drink lots of water.  Ride a bike. This is to be followed by focusing on your mental wellbeing using common sense:  Meditate, pray, chant, listen to music, cut down on conflicts (especially with those you live with). Paint, sew, write. Remember all the happy moments… and dance some SALSA. How do we do this: Attempt to simplify your life especially with less stress. Even though matters are challenging, we all have a purpose, keep that in mind. Read books, magazines, find ways to improve yourself. Count your blessings (at least 100) and accumulate good fortune for your life. Stay in the powerful present. The past is gone, and we do not know about tomorrow. Find some good in everything and everyone, especially family and friends. Even our foes bring us lessons to learn and thereby making us stronger, even more than them. Extend your hand to those less fortunate, someone, some place is doing worse than you. The hardest lesson of all is to focus on the beauty and benefit of simply living a life. In case you may need additional assistance to reach these efforts, below are some national numbers awaiting your call. Where to get immediate help: Call 911. Disaster Distress Helplineexternal icon: 1-800-985-5990 (press 2 for Spanish). National Suicide Prevention Lifelineexternal icon: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for English, 1-888-628-9454 for Spanish, or Lifeline Crisis Chatexternal icon. National Domestic Violence Hotlineexternal icon: 1-800-799-7233 or text LOVEIS to 22522. National Child Abuse Hotlineexternal icon: 1-800-4AChild (1-800-422-4453). National Sexual Assault Hotlineexternal icon: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). The Eldercare Locatorexternal icon: 1-800-677-1116 TTY Instructionsexternal icon. Veteran’s Crisis Lineexternal icon: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or Crisis Chatexternal icon. Find a health care provider or treatment for substance use disorder and mental health: SAMHSA’s National Helplineexternal icon: 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and TTY 1-800-487-4889. Treatment Services Locator Websiteexternal icon. Interactive Map of Selected Federally Qualified Health Centersexternal icon. Advancing together in harmonious unity is the personal triumph of each individual over egoism, because unity cannot be created among those who are self-centered and uncooperative.” (NHR-21, 82). Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics Sports SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN AT THE OLYMPICS 2021 September 17, 2021/No Comments SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN AT THE OLYMPICS 2021 (Puerto Rico first partcipated at the Olympics Games in Read More SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO August 17, 2021/No Comments It has long been known that women have taken a historic back seat in all fields.  The  lack of exposure Read More BRIEF HISTORY OF SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO July 17, 2021/No Comments BRIEF HISTORY OF SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO The Taínos who inhabited Puerto Rico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in Read More Load More End of Content.

The year is 1979, I cannot help but refer to those times when I found solace in the Latina women who welcomed me in Buffalo. It was the same year that there was a ribbing, uproar reaction to a newspaper article (1979) where local writers and editors did not know anything about the Latino population and its many contributions to the city of Buffalo.  It was during that decade that Latinas in Buffalo also experienced the following but advocated and contributed for betterment. Prior to the 1980’s, this was the reality of women rights: A woman could not get a credit card in her name and not her husband’s, 1974. A woman could be fired for being pregnant until the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 1978.  Women could not serve on juries in all 50 states, until 1973.  Women were not admitted into the military, until 1973. The military ban on women being on the front was lifted, 2013.  Women were not accepted in Ivy league schools, 1969.  The court did not recognize office sexual harassment as grounds for any legal action,1977. Spousal rape was not criminalized in all 50 states, until 1993. Women were not able to obtain health insurance at the same monetary rate as men, until 2010.The age of consent for sex for females was set at ten or twelve in most states, except for our neighboring State of Delaware – where it was 7 YEARS OLD. The list could go on with all the disparities on how women were seen and treated, especially the Latina women. The average age of the educated, active women had already experienced these injustices and were willing to take on an extra responsibility for the advancement and betterment of our Latina women. The Hispanic Women League wanted much of this information to be filtered down to their communities, to all the women, regardless of their socio-economic position. To facilitate workshops and dissemination of information, they decided to organize a conference, and tailored directly to the Latino community, especially the Latina woman.  There was a panel of knowledgeable women who coordinated workshops and panel presentations. Human trafficking and domestic violence were not yet topics up for open discussion, even though these topics have and continue to affect our Latina women more than any other demographics. In 1986, the Hispanic Women’s League organized, sponsored, and coordinated the first Hispanic Women’s Conference in Western New York. Just to be clear, it was these Latina women pioneers who took the leadership in Western New York. All the women were not treated as leaders, but they all shared a deep-rooted passion to fight injustice against our people – and they seem to all have had enough. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics Sports SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN AT THE OLYMPICS 2021 September 17, 2021/No Comments SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN AT THE OLYMPICS 2021 (Puerto Rico first partcipated at the Olympics Games in Read More SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO August 17, 2021/No Comments It has long been known that women have taken a historic back seat in all fields.  The  lack of exposure Read More BRIEF HISTORY OF SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO July 17, 2021/No Comments BRIEF HISTORY OF SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO The Taínos who inhabited Puerto Rico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in Read More Load More End of Content.