Once upon 2013, Junot Diaz published a new book called "This Is
How You Lose Her" and I read it in one day. This alone should tell you
how I feel about the author's work.
This short novel is seperated into a number of vignettes, most of
which are narrated by the familiar voice of Yunior, from the novel "The
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao". All of them center around one single
idea: love. It's true that love can take a million forms, and can act as
the motivation for so many things. Here, in Diaz's work, love motivates
dominicanos to move to the United States, save for a house,
steal, cheat on their fiances, start over, and return to the same person
over and over again...but there's also so much more.
Diaz's fiction runs right to the point: Yunior and the
other speakers are to the point, calling life as it is without so much
as a blink. With a seamless integration of Spanish and English, Diaz
shapes a world that is easy to navigate, and pierces us at the center.
Relationships are forged, fall apart, and as the lovers, brothers,
mothers, and fathers continue their lives, we ask ourselves questions
and remind ourselves of times when we too lost love, fought for it,
found it, and let it change us for the good and the bad.
I think the best part about this novel is the way it ends.
Normally, I hate endings, but Diaz has this profound habit (as I saw in
"The Brief Wondrous...") of taking every statement he could possibly
make throughout the whole work and slapping it on thick right at the
conclusion. Two statements stand out: "The half-life of love is
forever", and "...sometimes, all you get is a start."
The next time that the Travel Channel starts to bore you into a languid haze,
try this entertainment alternative: Los diarios moticicletas,or
"The Motorcycle Diaries", a 2004 film exploring a roadtrip taken by a
young Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna (years before the Cuban
Revolution) and his good friend, Alberto Granado.
Using the written memoirs of Guevara, as he avidly recorded
his life in personal journals, an insightful and dramatic biopic emerges. At
the ripe old age of 23, Guevara left behind his studies of medicine to journey
with fellow student of biochemistry Granado to embark on an eight month journey
through South America aboard a rickety motorcycle, with their end destination
being a leprosy hospital in San Pablo, located in the Amazon rainforest. What
starts as an innocent bit of fun filled with pranks and mishaps quietly twists
into a pivotal experience.
This roadtrip is often credited with inspiring Ernesto Guevara to become more
political, and to greatly motivate his future as a guerrilla leader. As they
traveled through Chile and Peru, the poverty and mistreatment of miners,
indigenous people, and specifically one young Communist couple left a strong
impression on Guevara. By the time of his 24th birthday, celebrated at the
colony with the patients, doctors, and Granado, Guevara affirmed part of his
political identity, remarking that a unified Latin America should be the true
state of the people.
This
movie draws me in again and again. Aside from the subtle, poignant undercurrent
of social injustice experienced by Guevara and Granado as well as the pranks,
setbacks, and revealing moments between the two amigos, the film truly
does take you on a journey through the stunning landscapes of South America, a
sight not too often explored. As I once thought while watching, "Las
montañas, el río, el cielo, el gente...todo está inspirador. "
The mountains, the river, the sky, the people...all is inspiring.
L.A. based band La Santa Cecilia (named for the patron saint of
music) has been making a stir in the music world, known for mixing blues
and jazz with the traditional Latin sounds of their roots. The unique combination of music from multiple cultures
not only makes beautiful music, but brings up a stronger message: that
of combining two cultures to make one. The most recent song of theirs to
garner attention is "Ice El Hielo".
This song, as you may have seen, expresses the hope and heartache of Latin workers and their families who immigrate illegally in the U.S. in order to find trabaja and provide a better life for those they love. "Ice", as in shown in the title, is el hielo in Spanish. "I.C.E.", however, refers to the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The scenes portrayed in this music video are not propaganda, or some exaggerated artist statement. They are the types of real to life events that have happened, happen today, and will continue to occur unless reform is initiated.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (hereby referred to as I.C.E.), hosts a number of necessary and worthy functions in the United States. National security threats, illegal trafficking of narcotics and humans, fraud, cyber crime, money laundering, and deportation of criminals are just a number of the offenses that I.C.E. seeks to prevent, control, and admonish according to the law. But perhaps the most widely talked about function is border and worksite enforcement. This encompasses searching out, apprehending, detaining, and deporting illegal aliens in the United States, whether actively crossing the border, or working under the radar in the U.S, as well as targeting those who aid in illegal border crossings and those who knowingly employ and/or abuse these workers. Most of the border and worksite enforcement cases dealt with by I.C.E. concern Latin Americans. Many are left with no choice but to try to enter the United States illegally to be with their families, or to find work. Those who are able to abide secretly are left to the devices of numerous injustices. Migrant workers, hospitality staff, construction workers, and more hardworking people face discrimination, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, exhibitionism, coercion, and threats of deportation at the hands of employers who take advantage of their employees' lack of resources and control. The fear of reprisals and the dread of being sent back or exposed leaves these men and women few choices to make this situation less hellish. Those lucky enough to avoid these situations are always at risk for being discovered, a price they are willing to pay to be with their families. It is a difficult risk to assume, but the unfairly and unnecessarily lengthy, expensive, bureaucratic, emotional, and overall difficult process of becoming a citizen is sometimes simply not an option in the real world. Those who are caught and/or prosecuted may remain in detention centers for an indefinite amount of time, even when their only crime is wanting a better life. Whatever your opinion of immigration reform is, reality remains as such: as the emotional, physical, and financial expense of all involved, innocent people who simply want to enter and live in the U.S. are attacked, abused, and prosecuted. These men and women, because we need to remember that these aliens are in fact men and women, deserve an easier path to citizenship, one that respects family unity, freedom for unnecessary detention, and does not abuse these people. It is what any human deserves, as someone willing to enter the supposed "land of opportunity".
This past Christmas Eve, Puerto Rican teachers
received a nasty surprise: they found that their pension plan was being
overhauled, the law passing by a thin margin. This update to the plan was
deemed necessary by creditors and some legislators, as well as Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, since the pensions already
have a deficit of ten billion dollars, and will run out of funding by
2020.
This source of income is all that Puerto Rico's 42,000 current
teachers will have to live on once they reach retirement, and is what the
current 38,000 beneficiaries have now. Puerto Rico, though a commonwealth of
the United States, receives no social security.
This legislation was pushed so that the country's
bonds would not fall into junk status. A series of steps was outlined,
involving the increase in employee contribution from 9 to 10%, a retirement age
limit of 62 for teaches already in the workforce. These cuts are being placed
in a time when raised taxes, staff cuts, and reforms for other pensions have
been enacted in order to try and save an economy in or near recession for about
8 years.
Since January 14th, teachers around Puerto Rico have been
on strike, demanding that the reforms be halted. Schools closed and teachers,
parents, family, and friends have been in protest. They wonder, "Why
weren't the teachers consulted?", "Why did these changes happen so
fast?", "Was there proper due process of law?", and perhaps more
importantly, "Why is our future specifically the source of attack?"
These are all viable questions to ask. While legislators in
Puerto Rico remain some of the top paid workers in the country, the financial
security of teachers, people in charge of a crucial task of any nation, is in
jeopardy. The reform has been halted, and plans to hear the demands of
the protesters seems to be in the works. Granted, Puerto Rico is in
debt, and financial reform is needed...but perhaps some creative problem
solving could be in order. If you ask me, some of these events seem to mirror
our own problems in the U.S...
While I wish the teachers, as well as the entire island of Puerto
Rico, success in their endeavors to receive fair compensation for their hard
work, I have a few questions of my own to discuss. First of all, while perhaps
this is not the most fracturing of breaking news, why is it that Puerto Rican
news, as well as news in all of Latin America, seems rather under
reported? It's no secret that (most) media sources are consistently biased, and
choose what news to report, if it can even be considered news. I did some quick
research into this. I pulled up the websites for ABC news, NBS news, NPR, and
Fox News. What I found wasn't very hopeful. After some website searching, Fox News
and NPR had a Latin American news section. NPR's webpage was filled with mostly
socio-political pieces (organic markets, Haitian aftermath, etc.), and Fox News
seemed to have this motley collection of drug related stories, scandals
involving famous Latino's, U.S./Mexico relations, and the like. I had to
specifically search on Google for the reports about el paro de maestros.
Something tells me that there's more to the picture that just these kinds of
stories...
I continued to ask myself questions. Why is it that there is such little
reporting about Latin America? Why does the U.S. not concern ourselves with
countries in our own hemisphere? Why hasn't the U.S. tried to open up
communication with Puerto Rico about independence...about anything? Personally,
without looking much into this, I see a VERY large lack of communication
happening here. I'm concerned, frankly.
These, and more questions, will be discussed throughout the existence of this
blog, I do believe.
If you were to randomly and without cause be asked to name the
movers and shakers of social change hailing from the Spanish speaking
world, your mind would probably go right into high school/liberal arts
college mode, naming off Che Guevara, Simón Bolívar, César Chávez, etc.
The names, or musicians, that may not come to your mind are René Pérez
Joglar and Eduardo Cabra Martínez, better known as Residente y
Visitante, and even more well known as Calle 13.
These half brothers, hailing from la isla de
Puerto Rico, started ripping our rhymes in about 2005, and have been
growing bigger by the month ever since. While some of their hip hop
sound may be linked in with reggaeton, Calle 13 has got a beat all its
own. Mixing electronica, traditional latin rhythms, y más moves them past the reggaeton scene, distancing themselves from the crowd. Residente's letras are
inventive and showcase a sharp sense of sarcasm and humor, while also
having the ability to reach intense heights of passion, both sharp and
cutting, and proudly soulful. Frequent collaborations along with the
backing vocals of the duo's stepsister Ileana Cabra Joglar, aka PG-13,
complete la banda. S
Aside from the mastery of their music (the band
has won a highly impressive number of both U.S. Grammys and Latin Grammys) , Calle 13 is
significant for its message. While some artists take a backseat to
speaking out, Calle 13 has made it their art, becoming over time more
politically and socially conscious. Their song "Querido F.B.I." was a
direct hit at the U.S. bureau after the 2004 killing of Filiberto Ojeda
Rios, a 72 year old Puerto Rican activist who called for the island's
independence. Other songs, like Calma Pueblo, La Perla,Gringo Latin Funk,Latinoamérica, Pa'l Norte, y Tango del Pecado
give stunning
portraits of truths of Latin America and of all people, really. For
instance, watch the music video for "Prepárame La Cena", and you'll see
for yourself the message translated.
Most recently, Calle 13 has taken the world by storm with their last single, "Multi_Viral", a song about how the media changes and uses information for its own agenda, featuring a voice over by Julian Assange. Yeah...that Julian Assange. René Pérez Joglar, in an interview with NPR,
explained how the song shows that "the media controls
everything....it's important to have the right information. You have to
look for that. Otherwise you'll find yourself in a war that you think is
a good idea, but it's not for a good reason. The lyrics of the song are
explosively democratic, with lines like "Nuestras ideas son libres y están libres despiertas/Porque pensamos con las puertas abiertas" (Our ideas are free and they are awake/because we are thinking with open doors), "Si la prensa no habla /Nosotros damos los detalles/Pitando las paredes/Con aerosol en las calles" (If the press doesn't talk, we give the details, painting the walls with spray paint in the streets", and "Con solo una persona que la lea/Ya empieza a cambiar el mundo" (With each person who reads, already the world begins to change).
I think we can agree that those words hit their message home and back.
While the many events of the world continue to unfold and create confusion and beauty, problemas, y respuestas, one thing is for sure: Calle 13 is here to stay. Fans worldwide have been tuning into the mensajes
of this duo, and each song only increases their listeners. Their next
album, to be released in March, will be produced independently, and may
even be given out freely. This group is breaking ground and busting
walls, upsetting ideas and promoting free thinking wherever and whenever
they are heard.
Once upon 2013, Junot Diaz published a new book called "This Is
How You Lose Her" and I read it in one day. This alone should tell you
how I feel about the author's work.
