Category: Personal Essays
-
The Changing Role of Haitian-American Women
Haitian Women, in Haiti, are terribly oppressed, both economically and psychologically. I know this first hand having grown up with five women in Haiti and by often observing their delicate task of navigating in a sea of sharks: the male oppressors who limit them to being subservient and objectified. But, as Bob Dylan sings, “The…
-
Free Will Versus Destiny
The following series of essays have been written while teaching ESL (English as a second Language) classes to adult students from all corners of the world (this writing exercise began last month, and continues to be a part of my classes). Each morning, the first class – that began this project – was required to…
-
Soliloquy to America
“There are two ways of spreading the light, / To be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”—Edith Wharton I’d like to shed some “light” on a few things I’ve had on my mind for quite a long time. I am first and foremost a poet. A poet speaks through the mouth of truth…
-
Gun Control At Home & Abroad
There has been a lot of attention given to gun violence since the day Adam Lanza armed himself with hundreds of bullets and took the lives of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. This tragic story has gotten the attention of corporate media, the nation, and from a President who hails from…
-
To Ariel Aluzariaro
We never met. But I saw you. Your grandmother, my friend Jennifer, showed me your picture on her phone. Later, when she showed me the picture again, I smiled and let her know that she didn’t need proof—I’d seen the photo. She got embarrassed, in the manner of a grandmother who was so foolishly, big-heartedly…
-
Argo and the Roots of U.S.-Iran Tensions
News in November 1979 that U.S. diplomats had been taken hostage in Tehran shocked the United States. Students stormed the U.S. embassy, blindfolding 52 Americans and threatening them at gunpoint. The hostages, held captive for 444 days, immediately became the nation’s top news story and dogged President Jimmy Carter’s unsuccessful re-election campaign. Argo traces the…
-
Malia Lazu: Executive Director, Future Boston Alliance
Age: 35 Location: Originally from Honolulu HI and now in Roxbury. How Martin Luther King Jr. Inspired You: I think the strategy of his movement allowed America to have a conversation about race. He was really able to, because of his love of reconciliation and wanting to wrestle with loving your enemy, he was able…
-
Ten Minutes for Human Rights
Oppression, violence, war. These forces surround and blight all. But amidst the loss and suffering caused to people and communities from these afflictions, a dream of peace is a beacon that can illuminate the darkest of nights. And, as the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. timelessly continues to demonstrate with grace and reason, it…
-
In Rememberance of the Trees
For fourteen days we went about our lives without heat or electricity in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. Family, friends, and our trusted Grundig radio kept us informed about the nightmares unfolding outside the fragile doors of our world. The reports that we heard about loss of life, homes, and hope were heartbreaking and difficult…
-
Being Homeless
I am a woman experiencing homelessness in a women’s shelter in Waltham called Bristol Lodge. Being homeless and living with many women is not what I would wish on my worst enemy. I dislike living with a group of women because stealing and fighting are always present. Many of the women do not know how…