Talia Rodriguez, new West District representative for Buffalo Board of Education
Talia Rodriguez, new West District representative for Buffalo Board of Education Read More »
OUR FIRST LANGUAGE
BEFORE words were ever written, humanity had already learned how to communicate. Long before books or alphabets, messages traveled through lines, shapes, and colors. Art was our first language, a way to express what was felt, feared, or dreamed. It was, and still is, the voice of the people. In Puerto Rico, this visual story began with our Taíno ancestors, who carved their presence into the stones, caves, and rivers of the island. The Taíno petroglyphs, etched with precision and purpose, are evidence of a civilization that understood the deep connection between art, nature, and spirituality. Each spiral, human or animal figure, and mask-like face holds a message. They speak of water, the sun, the gods, the cycle of life, and the sacred relationship between human beings and the earth. These carvings were not mere decorations; they were visual prayers, records of knowledge, and bridges of communication between generations. Through them, the Taínos shared stories, wamings, and gratitude. Their art was purposeful, alive with meaning, history, and spirit. Over time, this symbolic language did not disappear, it evolved. It moved from stone to clay, from clay to wood, and eventually into the hands of Puerto Rican artisans who, to this day, continue to speak that same ancient language through their craft. Every carved saint, every colorful vejigante mask, every piece of handmade jewelry or pottery carries the echo of those first messages inscribed in stone. Through artisanal craft, we continue to communicate our shared history. The vibrant colors, natural textures, and recurring symbols like spirals, suns and human figures are part of an ancestral language that still lives within us. When an artisan creates, they are in conversation with those who came before. transforming ancient signs into new expressions that speak to the present. As an artist, I feel that every creation is a silent dialogue with my roots. In each piece I craft, there is a conversation between past and present, between the earth and the hands that shape it. Art does not merely decorate it communicates, teaches, and heals. It is the most ancient and a profoundly way to remember who we are. Today, in a world full of technology and fast words, art remains our deepest language. It connects us beyond borders, beyond generations. In every brushstroke, in every carving, in every drumbeat or dancer’s movement, we continue to speak that first language inherited from our ancestors the language ofart. Because art needs no translation. It only asks to be seen, felt, and heard by the soul. 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 Photography Politics Sports Technology OUR FIRST LANGUAGE November 27, 2025/ BEFORE words were ever written, humanity had already learned how to communicate. Long before books or alphabets, messages traveled through… Read More KEEPING PUERTO RICANCULTURE ALIVE IN THEDIASPORA August 7, 2025/ ART WITH SOUL:CRAFTSMANSHIP THAT DEFINES USBy Dianiz Roman Rodriguez Being Puerto Rican in the diaspora does not mean being disconnected… Read More
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INSPIRATION LIKE YOUSAFZAI
“Yousafzai”, the international movement most commonly refers to Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. The name also refers to the Yusufzai, one of the largest Pashtun 2 tribes, who are native to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan. Today I speak to the activism and bravery of Malala Yousafzai. She was born 12 July 1997, is a Pakistani female education activist. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, receiving the prize in 2014 at age 17. Yousafzai is a human rights advocate for the education of women and children in her native district, Swat, where the Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former prime minister Shahid Khagan Abbasi, she has become Pakistan’s “most prominent citizen.” Malala came by her activism honestly as she is the daughter of education activist Ziauddin Yousafzai. In early 2009, when she was 11, she wrote a blog under her pseudonym Gul Makai for the BBC Urdu to detail her life during the Taliban’s occupation of Swat. The following summer, journalist Adam B. Ellick made a NY Times documentary about her life as the Pakistan Armed Forces launched Operation Rah-e-Rast against the militants in Swat. She rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and was nominated for the Intemational Children’s Peace Prize by activist Desmond Tutu. On October 9, 2012, while riding a bus in Pakistan’s Swat District, Malala Yousafzai and two other girls were shot by a Taliban gunman in an assassination attempt targeting her for her outspoken activism. Malala was struck in the head and remained unconscious and in critical condition at the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology. Her health gradually improved, allowing her to be transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The attack sparked a global wave of support and solidarity. By January 2013, Deutsche Welle, a German broadcaster based in Bonn, reported that Yousafzai may have become the most famous teenager in the world. Weeks after the attempted murder, a group of 50 leading Muslim clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwā against those who tried to kill her. A fatwa is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a qualified Islamic Jurist in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. Govermments, human rights organizations and feminist groups subsequently condemned the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. After her recovery, Yousafzai became a more prominent activist for the right to education. Malala Yousafzai has gone on to become an acclaimed author, producer of film and televi sion, and the recipient of many awards and recognitions to include the Nobel Peace Prize. Let us all take note of her many accomplishments and gamer inspiration for our own lives. 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 Photography Politics Sports Technology INSPIRATION LIKE YOUSAFZAI November 27, 2025/ “Yousafzai”, the international movement most commonly refers to Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel… Read More DID YOU KNOWAMELIA EARHART? August 5, 2025/ By Virginia Mclntyre She never reached her fortieth birthday, but in her brief life, Amelia Earhart became a recordbreaking female… Read More Positive Outcomes are Worth Remembering September 2, 2024/ Optimism makes hope possible. It’s the essential attitude by which you can turn those proverbial lemons into lemonade. Optimism is… Read More Load More End of Content.
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