HEART OF THE CITY

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HEART OF THE CITY When I left Buffalo for Florida eleven years ago, I was looking for a new life elsewhere but also hoping for the best of my hometown. I still have family and friends that call Buffalo home, and although I rarely make it back to the “City of Good Neighbors,” Buffalo is always on my mind. This last month, primary elections were held throughout the state of New York, and although the New York City mayoral election dominated national news regarding the Empire State, to my surprise, as I went to bed on that primary day, a little blurb came across my social networking newsfeed regarding the Mayoral primary back home. The unthinkable happened; long-time incumbent Byron Brown had been defeated by a political unknown most folks outside of close circles in Buffalo never heard of. Now I know this publication has supported the campaign of India Walton, and I will be honest that I did not pay much attention to the race. I mean, why should I? Mayor Brown was a deep-seated incumbent who damn near ran unopposed for the last few elections. The more I think about it, however, the more it made sense. When I was last in Buffalo, this past fall, I marveled at how much has changed but, shook my head at how much remained. Buffalo, for all the progress that has been made, in downtown and the waterfront, seemed to have forgotten the people and neighborhoods that make up Buffalo’s rich collection of faces and cultures. If one were to look at the layout of the city of Buffalo, which uses a baroque street layout, one could see how the grid was designed to city main arteries and streets reach the heart of the city’s downtown. City Hall is the heart of the city, which makes the people who live on those arteries the red blood cells that feed life into the city. Unfortunately, when heart is failing, the whole system fails. Driving around the city back in the fall, the further I got from downtown, it became apparent nothing in the neighborhoods really changed. Wherever I went, lower west side, upper west side, areas on the east side and even riverside, the place looked the same as when I left eleven years ago. To this I ask, what has Byron Brown done for the residents?  Buffalo was in dire need of a heart operation, and it looks like the people have spoken and made it happen. Now, I am not saying Ms. Walton is going to cure all the issues the city’s neighborhoods have, in terms of being forgotten and ignored for bigger businesses downtown. There can be complications with any heart procedures. The grass is not always greener on the other side, but it appears that Byron Brown was only watering one spot of the lawn. Let us see if Ms. Walton has a green thumb. I do not know much about her; however, I do wish Ms. Walton the best of luck and hope she surrounds herself with a good team of people who will listen to the lifeblood of the city.  Otherwise, Buffalo will be back where it was these last 16 years, pumping blood into a lifeless heart. Read More From This Writer All Post Business Culture Food Government Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Medical Music Our Community Peace People Sports HEART OF THE CITY July 18, 2021/No Comments POST TITLE (CAPITAL) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus Read More DOCUMENTARY FILM UPDATE AND THE PUERTO RICAN STATUS DEBATE June 18, 2021/No Comments DOCUMENTARY FILM UPDATE AND THE PUERTO RICAN STATUS DEBATE My intentions with this film are to cover different bullet points Read More JUSTICE NOT SERVED May 18, 2021/No Comments JUSTICE NOT SERVED The Derek Chauvin Trial resulted in the surprising guilty verdict of the former Minneapolis Police Officer who Read More Load More End of Content.

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BRIEF HISTORY OF SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO

1 Comment / Sports /

BRIEF HISTORY OF SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO The Taínos who inhabited Puerto Rico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, played a series of games which were both ceremonial and diversional, such as races, contests involving body strength and fishing. However, the two most important of these sports were the simulated warrior fights (similar to the gladiators) and ball playing. The ball game was played in a field, which they called “Batey”. Two teams played against each other. The objective of the game was to keep the ball in constant motion. According to Fray Bartolomé de las Casas the game was played in the following manner: “One team served the ball and the other team returned it. In 1975, archaeologists from the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, announced the discovery of the ruins of a “Batey” in an area called Tibes, on the outskirts of the city of Ponce. A total of 9 ball fields were discovered dating back to AD 25 in the area which is now known as “Centro Ceremonial Indigena de Tibes”. The site is now a tourist attraction and is open to the public. Artifacts found on the site are on display and can be seen in a museum on the site and in the Ponce Museum of Art.  SPANISH COLONIZATION:  The first Spaniards to inhabit the island were soldiers (Conquistadores), later they were followed by farmers, miners and their families. The most common sports were horse racing, cockfighting and dominoes. One of the most popular sports was “Boliche”.  “Boliche” was similar to bowling. Another popular sport was bullfighting, which was limited to the larger cities of Ponce and San Juan. AMERICAN (UNITED STATES) COLONIZATION: In the late 19th century “new” sports were introduced in Puerto Rico, after Puerto Rico became an American territory when the United States defeated Spain in the Spanish–American War. Baseball, which was invented in the United States, was introduced to the island by a group of Puerto Ricans and Cubans who learned the sport in the United States. Puerto Ricans were also introduced to the sports of boxing and basketball by the occupying military forces. Fast forward to present day times and we have outstanding athletics who break records on professional teams and/or at the Olympics: Baseball: 2015, 10th in the world, Women’s Team Basketball: 2018, FIBA, Women’s Basketball World Cup Boxing: 2019, Ms. Serrano, International Boxing Hall of Fame Martial Arts: 2021, Amanda Serrano Wrestling: 2019, Amanda Serrano This writer will keep you informed on the continual history of sports in Puerto Rico. Read More From This Writer All Post Culture Food Government Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Medical Peace People Sports BRIEF HISTORY OF SPORTS IN PUERTO RICO July 17, 2021/No Comments POST TITLE (CAPITAL) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus Read More DID YOU KNOW PUERTO RICO HAS A WOMEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM? June 17, 2021/No Comments “Las Boricuas (The Boricuas)” DID YOU KNOW PUERTO RICO HAS A WOMEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM? Women’s Association Football, known as women’s Read More HERSTORY: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN IN THE MILITARY Part II May 17, 2021/No Comments HERSTORY: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN IN THE MILITARY Part II “Make sure we do not forget the Latina presence in the Read More Load More End of Content.

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CRIME, PUNISHMENT, AND JUST-U.S. (Part 1 of 2)

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CRIME, PUNISHMENT, AND JUST-U.S. (Part 1 of 2) How ironic! While preparing to celebrate Independence Day, America owns the world’s highest prison rate (2.12 million incarcerated with 21% of them unsentenced), has “permanently” striped 5 million citizens of their voting rights. This  created private/for profit prison opportunities, offers select companies’ contracts for inmate daily essentials (e.g. toothpaste, underwear, cloths, shoes, cheap labor), and even manipulates both the census count and its fund allocations (N.Y.C. inmates are counted residents of the particular town the prison is in). But, with a 500% crime increase over 40 years, incarceration is not an effective means of achieving public safety. “The broad effects which can be obtained by punishment in man are the increase of fear, the sharpening of the sense for cunning, and the mastery of achieving the unmet desire (Nietzsche); therefore, punishment can tame/break a man, but does not make him better (hearted).” So “Laws and institutions are like clocks that must be occasionally cleaned, rewound, and reset to fit true time (Beecher)” and the nature of a crime. Emerson hints “crime and punishment grow out of one stem. Punishment is the fruit that, unsuspected, ripens with the flower that conceals the pleasure, or urgency, of the crime.” Gibran adds “the murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder nor the robbed not blameless in being robbed.  The righteous are not innocent of the deeds of the wicked and the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon … to then speak of he who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger and an intruder upon your world.” Right? Wrong! “The weak and the wicked cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.” And though “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, bad people will find a way around the laws (Plato).” Point! “Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all (Aristotle).” But “any punishment that does not correct but merely rouses rebellion in whoever has to endure it is a greater wrong making those who impose it more guilty in the eyes of humanity than the victim on whom the punishment is inflicted.” So, let us put it all into perspective and move on to a conclusion in next month’s issue. Read More From This Writer All Post Food Government Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Peace People CRIME, PUNISHMENT, AND JUST-U.S. (Part 1 of 2) July 16, 2021/No Comments POST TITLE (CAPITAL) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus Read More HOUSING TERMITES June 16, 2021/No Comments HOUSING TERMITES The apple does not fall far from the tree, just as  Feudalism had kings, nobles, vassals, and lords, Read More RECKLESS AND IRRESPONSIBLE May 16, 2021/No Comments RECKLESS AND IRRESPONSIBLE Local epidemics and global pandemics are not new. Causing mass hysteria and death, viral threats test human Read More Load More End of Content.

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