IN OBSERVATION OF LATINO HERITAGE MONTH

Community, Education /

IN OBSERVATION OF LATINO HERITAGE MONTH In 1979, an article from a Buffalo local paper, claiming that there were no “Hispanic professionals in Buffalo”, set off historic repercussions lasting decades. It has had an impact of immeasurable effect in Western New York. I was yet 30 and changing the diapers of my second child. I was new to Buffalo, having spend the greater part of the last four years in school and raising my family. I knew some of the women by association but none on a personal note. I had caught the jest of murmurs and adamant reactions to this recent slap in the face. There were women from all walks of life but mostly educated, professional women, not new to Buffalo. I casually walked back to join the others and very quickly and without hesitation, one of the women said, “We want you to be president. While I may not have known much about this expected role, I knew this was a moment to remember. Within minutes the other positions were nominated for and we now had the first officers of the Hispanic Professional Women’s League. I was once asked “what were my goals” when I was first elected. I quickly answered “to protect it and make matters officials so we would be respected forever.” Besides a stern response to that Buffalo article, we now consolidated the most powerful force in herstory: educated, talented, professional women who were advocating for all Latinos in Western New York. You see, we were the wives, sisters, aunts, and mothers who had had enough of unacceptable, and biased belittlements through various public medias. Besides the “ridicule” and inappropriate jesting, most of us had to endure, the league continued to grow. The largest portion of the league were bilingual educators. In my first year, I felt like all I did, was nurse my son and the league. Every time we had a meeting it was never a question what to do, it was more like we do not have time to do it all. We decided on promoting Latinx representation across the board, annual dinners, a logo, seek non-profit status, membership fees, and set up scholarship funds. Now 40 years later, despite the many challenges of life many of the women maintain the spirits that has persisted over decades and many of the daughters and grand daughters carry the torch. Now in Hispanic Heritage month, I salute the Hispanic Women’s League and proud to have been your first president and one of the co–founders. We are still making herstory, in Western New York… Editor’s Note: As Puerto Ricans, the Buffalo Latino Village does not observe Hispanic Heritage Month, we honor and observe Latino Heritage Month; however, we do not interfere with our writers’ perspectives on the issue. Read More From This Writer All Post Food Government Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Peace People IN OBSERVATION OF LATINO HERITAGE MONTH September 17, 2019/No Comments POST TITLE (CAPITAL) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus Read More HOW TO BE SUPPORTIVE OF CANCER SURVIVORS August 17, 2019/No Comments HOW TO BE SUPPORTIVE OF CANCER SURVIVORS Many times, we think we mean well, when we say, “OOOOHHH, Yes, my Read More

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INSIDER’S VIEW: CHAN CULTURE/GAMERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO MASS HYSTERIA

People /

INSIDER’S VIEW: CHAN CULTURE/GAMERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO MASS HYSTERIA It is human nature to seek culpability in times of tragedy, however, as the Turkish proverb says, “He who gets up in anger, sits back with loss.” In recent news, I was quite surprised to see the topic that had been discussed during the 1990s and which was basically concluded in 2008 but being fetched back up again in 2019. Namely, do video games cause violent behavior? Now, however, there is a specific internet subculture thrown into the mix. While the topic of video games causing violence is debunked many times, something new has been introduced into the mix. In the past few years, a specific website/s has been thrown around: 4chan or 8chan. You might have heard of these websites as “being associated with the mass shooters in recent and past incidents.” We will discuss to see if they are indeed the ones to blame, or is it just another attempt, especially by media and politicians, to shift the blame to protect or line up their pockets.  For those not familiar with 4chan, it is a website that emerged during the early 2000s, and is characterized by its loose moderation “a site where anyone can speak anonymously.” In time, more control was instituted when literal crimes were being committed on some of their boards. However, the idea that anyone can say whatever they want and start discussing in their threads and share images, turned into a cesspool — the meme treasure trove of the internet. 4chan had always been the counterculture; when being right-wing was hip, they were extreme left, and when being left became hip, they became extreme right, and to the level where to some people, Hitler is revered, the holocaust is denied, and quasi facts and very strong propaganda is spread; it is perhaps the largest social experiment of our time in anarchy. As for 8chan, it was created as a response to what they have seen as tyrannical censorship, and consequently, a lot of 4chan users migrated to 8chan. 8chan’s selling point was that every board would be moderated by their group of people not affiliated with any organization unless the people who registered the board elected to. This of course ended up being completely ‘wild west’ of actual discourse, and on multiple occasions, some of the boards had to be shut down due to criminal activity.  Having said that, it is also a place where I have seen the funniest internet cultural artifacts being born, the said criminals being brought to justice, not by an external authority, but by 8chan members themselves, not to mention the freest, and at times, quite influential movements in the making. In conclusion, these places should be allowed to exist in moderation, if not, they will continue to exist in underground systems, and we would not be able to monitor them. If we are to control and eliminate these deplorable ideologies, we must do so in the form of debate first and foremost not censorship, not violence. After all, ideas are supposed to be bulletproof, but nothing is fact-proof. Read More From This Writer All Post Books Business Culture Education Entertainment Food Government Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Medical Military & Veterans Our Community Peace People Sports Who We Are INSIDER’S VIEW: CHAN CULTURE/GAMERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO MASS HYSTERIA September 13, 2019/No CommentsRead More INDOCTRINATION (Part II) August 13, 2019/No Comments INDOCTRINATION (Part II) Last month we talked about “what is Indoctrination” and how to detect it as well as some Read More INDOCTRINATION July 13, 2019/No Comments INDOCTRINATION As a follow-up on our political concepts, this week I would like to talk about a word we rarely Read More Load More End of Content.

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A MESSAGE TO POETS AND WRITERS READY TO PUBLISH

Community /

Dear Emerging Poets and Writers: I’m writing this piece of information directed at poets/writers who are ready or interested in getting their work published. In answer to the question, ’how do I find a publisher for my book?’ This information should be able to help you in your decision process. Many literary organizations will help you with your interest in getting published in your local community. Don’t take shortcuts. Do your research and locate these literary groups. They exist locally, state, and nationally. Examples, Poets & Writers, Poets Society, Poetry Foundation, and Just Buffalo. You may have to pay a membership fee, but it is worth it, it’s a good investment, take advantage and enroll in their seminars, and workshops, and attend their programs when they invite, and feature establish poets or writers. This is all part of the journey to being a published poet or writer. For those with a complete manuscript, these groups will help you to identify legitimate publishers. Sometimes, you need to pay a small fee ($10 to $50) to have your work reviewed and consider for publishing.  Don’t take shortcuts, otherwise, you are going to find yourself spending a lot of money to print a book that is not going anywhere. Now, if you have good skills in editing, marketing, promotion, etc., you might want to consider publishing the book yourself (it’s called “self-publishing”) using Amazon, and other online semi-publishers will print your book as is, and only charge you to purchase your book at a low rate while selling to customers a said price that you agreed to. Make sure to do the proper research before going this route, and don’t take any shortcuts. Remember that even great writers or poets have to depend on an editor to make them look good in the revision and formation of the book (front and back cover), but their legitimate publisher assumes the complete cost, not the writer. The publisher even invests money in marketing and promotion. Do your research, it is right under your nose. Again, do not take shortcuts, and don’t pay hundreds or thousands to book printers that disguise themselves as legitimate publishers. Do your research. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books Business Community Education Entertainment Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics LATINO COLLEGE STUDENTS FACE INEQUALITY AND CULTURAL ISOLATION AT THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK at BUFFALO March 25, 2023/No Comments LACK OF COLLEGE SERVICES FOR LATINO STUDENTS: This is in response to a story by UB Spectrum reporter, Kayla Estrada, Read More “GETTING VERY LITTLE FOR THE WHOLE,  BUT GETTING A LOT FOR THE FEW” WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2023 January 25, 2023/No Comments While I might appear to be biased and selective, I strongly feel the four people in the photo are the Read More The Isaías González-Soto Branch Library (formerly Niagara Branch) is a member of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library System December 25, 2022/No Comments When the Hispanic Heritage Council (HHC) moved to rename the Niagara Branch Library several years ago, with the support of Read More Load More End of Content.

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