Relationships are something else. Those that are in one want to get out of it and those that aren’t in one want one. At this present time I know about 5 different people with relationship issues. The majority of them have found themselves single because either they or their significant other “doesn’t know what they want” right now. Oh, how I hate that explanation. In fact, … Continue reading I Love You But…
I love music primarily because I am defined by words and music gives words a different kind of life. All morning I have been listening to the song Ordinary People by John Legend. Listening to this song has made me think about the nature of relationships and love as a whole. In relationships, we often forget that no one is perfect, although we like to make ourselves believe as much. Putting … Continue reading Ordinary People: Lost in music & love
I have always lived by that statement; mostly because every situation, whether good or bad, serves as a teacher in the school of life. I’m sure that most of us have done things in our past, which in hindsight, probably wish we could go back and change. However, it is the collection of all our experiences that make us who we are. It is also … Continue reading Never Regrets, Just Lessons Learned!
Growing up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn I have always felt connected to my heritage. In my house there was always El Gran Combo playing on the stereo, spanish novelas on the TV, late nights spent preparing pasteles for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and time spent with an abuelita who only spoke spanish despite living here for over 40 years. I am Afro-Latina! The product of a Black … Continue reading Afro-Latino American Crossroads: A Cultural Art Exhibit to feed your soul
On days like today, I remember you. Tragedy does not remain localized. It manifests outward, from the epicenter, heart and guts exposed; Exploding out of chests, like limbs decapitated by land mines, Earthquakes ravage, hurricanes savage and if you’re at the wrong place at the wrong time Fall victim to anger that shoots first and asks questions last. Pressurized water bursts through rotten aluminum pipes … Continue reading When the Earth Trembles
I am hardly ever shocked by stories that I see on the news or read in the newspaper or online. The reality is that we live in a world that is marred by self interest, crime, and heartache. It isn’t often that we hear or see good stories on the news and the story that I am going to share with you below not only broke my heart … Continue reading Rape Victim, 14, Dies After Public Flogging in Bangladesh
Perhaps not to be is to be without your being, without your going, that cuts noon light like a blue flower, without your passing later through fog and stones, without the torch you lift in your hand that others may not see as golden, that perhaps no one believed blossomed the glowing origin of the rose, without, in the end, your being, your coming … Continue reading “Perhaps not to be is to be without your being…”
Photo credit: Matthews/AP Deputy Mayor for Education Dennis M. Walcott (c.) and New York Schools Chancellor Cathie Black. More than 3,100 New York City public school students struggled to come to terms yesterday with the Panel for Educational Policy’s decision to close or phase out 10 NYC schools. The schools which include four in Manhattan, four in the Bronx, and two in Brooklyn are all being … Continue reading As Bloomberg continues to close NYC schools what does that mean for our youth?
By Pablo Neruda I want you to know one thing. You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if I touch near the fire the impalpable ash or the wrinkled body of the log, everything carries me to you, as if everything that exists, aromas, light, metals, were little boats … Continue reading If You Ever Forget Me…
New York Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan at a a press conference in New York on Jan. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Chiaroscuro Foundation, Diane Bondareff) A recent study by the New York City Department of Health released statistics that 39% of pregnancies in the city end in abortion. According to the report, in 2009 there were 225, 667 pregnancies in the City. Of those, 126,774 resulted in … Continue reading Abortion Rates for Latinos are 2nd Highest in NYC
nancy arroyo ruffin 