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Ni la extrema derecha ni la extrema izquierda, sino un frente unido es nuestro lema. En nuestra lucha procuraremos la cooperación de todas las clases sociales sin clasificaciones “istas”

César Augusto Sandino (via isoldyouandyousoldme-blog)

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Anti US invasion rally in Managua, Republic of Nicaragua, 1983.

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El pueblo debe defenderse, pero no sacrificarse. El pueblo no debe dejarse arrasar ni acribillar, pero tampoco puede humillarse

Salvador Allende (via losmalqueridosdelahumanidad)

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“Un obrero sin trabajo no importa si sea o no sea marxista, no importa si sea o no sea cristiano, no importa si tenga o no tenga ideología política, es un hombre que tiene derecho al trabajo y nosotros tenemos que dárselo”

Salvador Allende

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WEEK 12 Reflection

week 12 Young Lords - Pussy Riot

Since I was a child I have been influenced by politics by my foster family who is involved in politics and take me to political events such as marches, political campaigns  and other activities that instilled in me many of the things that I know now. things that I partly agree with and others that I don't. More than anything from my family I learned to respect the opinion of the opponent, "el opositor" "los de derecha” I remember that they said / Inclusive my mother, someone with whom I have lived for eight years and who "does not like much politics "you have her  ideologies and they are very similar to my familys. says" somos de derecha" There are things that I express better in spanish and sound so much better, so if i say sentences in spanish, thats my explanation. Seria una irionia decir que estoy encontra del capitalismo, ya que vivo en un pais capitalista el cual me beneficia, pero tambien soy fan del socialismo y de muchas de sus ideologias. soooo,  I am in place where I find benefits from both and I can't really say “ i am this or that” or “I am so against this or that” i Believe that everything depends and that we shouldn't be so absolute in the things we believe. Figures like Che Guevara are so familiar to me, “ revolution, socialism, communism, capitalism, etc”  that I grew up hearing and I am no expert in these stuff, but these are things that are so imporatnt to know, so that people have a say and fight for the type of  system they want. Sometimes its a bit confusing to me based on the relationships that many countries have for example, The Pussy Riot, wants President Vladimir Putin out , and in the video we observe the Protest being held are agsint Capitalism, yet I am not sure what kind of  system they want it wasnt well explained, at least thats what i think. in the young lords documentary is well said that they want a socialist system, which is the one that doesnt have  social classes and that production of goods is or can be owned  or regulated by a community as a whole, like i said i dont consider my self an expert and I am a believer that things are mostly driven by a single word yet is more than that.  Its very common to see protest like these in many latin American countries, just recently, Evo Morales, president of Bolivia resigned , and we saw this protests phenomena in many other latin countrie such as Chile, Honduras, Nicaragua in past last two years. I believe its important for the pople to demand the things they want from their Government, regardless their ideologies everyoe should have a voice and should be heard. it is okay to oppose and contradict , we all have different perspectives. One thing that really called my attention when i was watching the young lords doc. was when the young lords didnt know how to work thingd in Puerto Rico, and i believe its hard, i always say that its hard to ask and fight for things in a place one hasnt lived in or shared with  experiences in such land, thats why i myself try not to involve myslef or try to impose my ideologies of what should be done in a situation or place i havce never been in. I can only speak for my own experiences. Also with the Young Lords I get the idea that they are against imperealism (I am) SIEMPRE ME A MOLESTADO LA IDEA DE UN PAIS  EXTRANGERO IMPONIENDO REGLAS EN OTROS PAISES” i am in favor of having good relationships hasta ahi no mas).  I know most of my posts are me just talking about the things i believe but these are the kind of stuff that comes to my mind, my thoughts are so messy i want to talk about so many things its hard for me to keep it organized. Anyways, In both documentaries I see people protesting for what they want and i like it, I like, I wish there wasnt a need to do that and that our needs and our rights didnt depend on a system that favors only some people. Me considero una persona muy humanitaria mas alla de todo de mis ideas y creencias systematicas, antes de ello deberia ponerse las necesidades del pueblo independientemente su partido politico.

Protest held in two different time periods, Both asking for rights, that should be given, without question. 

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Before Night Falls Part 2

Miguel Arenas. 

Week 10. Oct 28 - 30

One of the biggest differences I see between part one and two of the book is that the chapters of the second part are longer and the contexts are different, so we see a Reinaldo on the outskirts and I like to think that the second part takes part more in new york and that is why the difference in the amount of writing. Coming to the United States has made it easier for Reinaldo to write and that is why the chapters get longer. 

I think I mentioned it in the previous post, I find it very difficult to think that someone must force to know who he is to be able to save his life. It must be a torment because it is like killing yourself in order to live. which sounds ironic but this way this society works many times. I mean, that I am a person classified as heterosexual sometimes I feel tormented by other things that I think are not well seen by the people around me. Small things like your taste in dressing and not being able to express it for fear that they will think about you and with such small ones it is a bit overwhelming for me so I can't imagine hiding your sexual preferences to save your life.

Even though Reynaldo escaped I dont think he enjoyed as much as he would like to because homosexuality was also a problem in North America. but unlike Cuba, The united states was more open to his writing 

 It must be a nightmare to be condemned for being yourself, the book explains how the gay people, drag queens etc, were condemned and tortured in Cuba's prisons. Thank God when Reinaldo was neutrally captured his sentence was not for being "gay" but for a prison break. Anyways, it's hard for me to know whether the book is sad and then it gets better, it's definitely t the ending of him dying from HIV and then committing suicide. All the suffering and risks he took I mean he deserves the right to end his own life whenever he feels like it. 

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Si la patria es pequeña, uno grande la sueña

Rubén Darío, Nicaragua (1867-1916)

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A Margarita Debayle. Rubén Darío

Margarita, está linda la mar, y el viento lleva esencia sutil de azahar; yo siento en el alma una alondra cantar; tu acento. Margarita, te voy a contar un cuento. Este era un rey que tenía un palacio de diamantes, una tienda hecha del día y un rebaño de elefantes. Un kiosko de malaquita, un gran manto de tisú, y una gentil princesita, tan bonita, Margarita, tan bonita como tú. Una tarde la princesa vio una estrella aparecer; la princesa era traviesa y la quiso ir a coger. La quería para hacerla decorar un prendedor, con un verso y una perla, una pluma y una flor. Las princesas primorosas se parecen mucho a ti. Cortan lirios, cortan rosas, cortan astros. Son así. Pues se fue la niña bella, bajo el cielo y sobre el mar, a cortar la blanca estrella que la hacía suspirar. Y siguió camino arriba, por la luna y más allá; mas lo malo es que ella iba sin permiso del papá. Cuando estuvo ya de vuelta de los parques del Señor, se miraba toda envuelta en un dulce resplandor. Y el rey dijo: “¿Qué te has hecho? Te he buscado y no te hallé; y ¿qué tienes en el pecho, que encendido se te ve?” La princesa no mentía, y así, dijo la verdad: “Fui a cortar la estrella mía a la azul inmensidad.” Y el rey clama: “¿No te he dicho que el azul no hay que tocar? ¡Qué locura! ¡Qué capricho! El Señor se va a enojar.” Y dice ella: “No hubo intento: yo me fui no sé por qué; por las olas y en el viento fui a la estrella y la corté.” Y el papá dice enojado: “Un castigo has de tener: vuelve al cielo, y lo robado vas ahora a devolver.” La princesa se entristece por su dulce flor de luz, cuando entonces aparece sonriendo el buen Jesús. Y así dice: “En mis campiñas esa rosa le ofrecí: son mis flores de las niñas que al soñar piensan en mí.” Viste el rey ropas brillantes, y luego hace desfilar cuatrocientos elefantes a la orilla de la mar. La princesa está bella, pues ya tiene el prendedor, en que lucen, con la estrella, verso, perla, pluma y flor. Margarita, está linda la mar, y el viento lleva esencia sutil de azahar: tu aliento Ya que lejos de mí vas a estar guarda, niña, un gentil pensamiento al que un día te quiso contar un cuento.

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two 1974 Nicaraguan stamps from a series on wild flowers

[id: two postage stamps, both with images of flowers on them. the left stamp depicts two hibiscus flowers while the right stamp depicts a bundle of woodroses. end id]

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Granada - Nicaragua (by Carlos Adampol Galindo) 

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Ometepe - Nicaragua

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When Brooklyn meets Latin America

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Love mi Latinidad that’s why I am a  Hardcore Nicaraguan ante todo.

When I came to the United States at the age of twelve I never imagined that New York was so diverse and that there was a great Latin American presence. I thought they were all "blanquitos." At that time, when I did not know a bit of English, I felt very relieved to know that there were many people who spoke Spanish, a little different from mine but still understood me. I liked to know that there were Latin stores and restaurants but like many people who are not Latin these meals, such as Mexican or Colombian, were something new for me. The first time I tried a flan was in a Colombian restaurant, everything was new and I began to "know the stereotypes that we Latin people supposedly possess and did not feel fully identified.

 I feel that during the time that I have lived in New York I have changed the way in which I speak Spanish, I remember that it felt so strange for me to say "tu" and not "vos", which I was used to saying since I was little. I learned many words in Spanish that I did not know, that is, jargon and “Modismos” from other countries, I have learned much more from other Latin American countries but personally I do not feel identified and very attached to the idea that many people have about Latin Americans in the United States. Many people think that us, Latin Americans love spicy food, at least that’s what I get from many of my non-latin friends. The thirth is that Nicaraguans don't eat a lot of on species, in fact, the spiciest would be a chilero or encurtido which is made out on vinegar and vegetables. Another example is that many have this idea of latin@ people being “party people,” and for me that was so weird to hear because in my family we aren’t like that and many Nicaraguans families that I know aren’t like that, at least not to the extreme to have such a stereotype entitled to a whole group of people. Quinceaneras and birthday parties are celebrated differently, to me was so interesting to know how people from Mexico celebrate quinceanos and I had many friends that asked why didn't I make a fiesta of something because I made a small cena and that was it and many were expecting me to throw la casa por la Ventana. Many of my friends think I’m a “fake Latina” and we joke around, they ask me why don't you go to parties, why don't you have a chain with your name on it? And all those stereotypical things Latino people are supposed to do or be.

 To this day, I still don't like how many people see Latinos, and even if they ignore many Latin American countries, usually Latinos are only from Mexico Puerto Rico (which belongs to the United States) or the Dominican Republic and ignore the fact that there are from 20 Latin American countries. I was so surprised when people asked me where is Nicaragua or where in Mexico it was located ... I could not believe that there were no Nicaraguan restaurants in New York, in fact, there are not many Nicaraguans here and it is rare because the closest to Nicaragua are other Central American countries such as El Salvador, but this is still not the same. It is difficult for me to feel identified because I feel that apart from being good workers and having "beautiful women" many people do not see other positive things we have and each country is different and that what unites them more than anything else is language. From what I have observed over the years, many people think that Latino people are not intelligent and that being white in a Hispanic family makes you superior or that we only serve to work and that we come in countries that are in ruins which is not true at all, as in the whole world people go through situations that make them leave their country, and I am a believer that being born in a country does not mean that you should be tied to it and never leave it. One is free to live where one pleases. I have been taught in my country and in my family to take so much pride in my nation and show it off with love. I do not understand how there are people who are ashamed to say where they come from, I had friends who lied when asked where they were from. I would never be able to do it, I love my country and I make it clear to the people I know and they know it because I feel it shows. I imagine that many people have reasons why they do that to deny their country. I understand but, I can not imagine. I grew up with that saying of “El que no quiere a su patria no quiere a su madre.” 

For this assignment, I went to the "La Quinta Avenida" in Brooklyn where there are many places of Latin American food mostly Mexican. I went with my friend Marwa and we tried some Mexican dishes, desserts, drinks, and candies " and I said to Marwa that at one point all of those things were new to me as well, because even though Latin countries have similar ingredients and products the way dishes are made are different in different countries. On course that for me the environment is familiar, I understand the Spanish posters of the streets and I can easily communicate with the people around there, but besides there are so many differences within Latin Amerian countries and I wish more people knew that. It's funny because we went to a Mexican grocery and Marwa was asking “what is this” and I had no idea, I said to her I know a few things but most of these products I didn't know about them before coming to this country.

 I love learning about Latin culture because it's so diverse, and there are so many things that I didn't know about and I am glad I do. I am open to everything that takes part in Latin America I just dislike the fact that we are put in a category and we are seen as just one thing when in fact we are more than that and I believe that’s why every country is unique with its own essence, traditions, people and of course, food. 

“El amor a mi patria lo he puesto sobre todos los amores y tu debes convencerte que para ser feliz conmigo, es menester que el sol de la libertad brille en nuestras frentes.”  - Gral. Agusto C. Sandino

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Week  9. Reinaldo Arenas

Before night falls Part 1

I read some sections of the book "before the night falls" written by the Cuban poet, Reinaldo Arenas who escaped to the United States because of the problems he faced in Cuba due to his sexual preferences.

Chapter: A student 

In this chapter, Reinaldo Arenas tells us about his experience as a student, with a scholarship obtained during the beginning of the Castro regime. He, like his grandfather, was an anti-communist but in order not to lose his scholarship and not to have a bad time at school he has been forced to be part of the revolutionary force group. I know that the book does not focus so much on a regime but on the life of Reinaldo as a homosexual person in Cuba, but personally, I enjoy reading about the regimes and the revolution and respect for everyone who doesn't like it, but I think the situation in Cuba greatly influenced this book, but I also think that communist or not the country at that time, some times ago homosexuality was a great problem even in countries as advanced as the United States. and it is not a problem of capitalism, nor of communism, it is a problem of humanity, of one, of not being able to accept others as they are, because many of us live full of prejudices and anything that does not follow the "norm" cannot be. 

Many people who know me at the beginning often think that anti-homosexuality issues or anything that has to do with homosexuality offends me since I have a brother who is "gay" or homosexual person. And well, the truth that I have never been offended, in our home he was never different because of his sexual preferences, our mother never put a title on him, like "oh he's gay and they are not", It was more like if I like boys, then, he can  like them too if thats what he wants. I am aware that not many people think in the same way and have not been educated in the way I have been educated, and I understand and respect it. Even in my family, there are people who don't see my brother the way I see him and it's okay, we all think differently. and I am not saying that I am right or they are. The truth is that it does not matter who is, but it is the form of people of some people who make the lives of gay people so to speak, (I find it difficult to use titles in people as if they were inferior, I have never liked that )

It is very sad to know what many people face for having a different taste than the one imposed by society. But I feel is something that can never change, we might progress but there will always be people that will oppose someone else views, looks, tastes, and so on. I don't know if I would like to, but I can't imagine how this man felt when he repressed who he is for so long, and feel that there is something that does not fit with him, based on what others think. I find it incredible that he took the nights to express himself through writing and poetry. It was necessary that he do so because apart from writing what happened during that time, today he is the voice of many people who went through the same situation. and it is necessary to think that these things continue to happen today, but now we are freer and we have more freedom to express who we are, there are many people who are repressed by what society is going to think about them.

In itself, the Latino community has progressed to accept the LGBTIQ community, we have made great progress but there are still many things we must work on. our community has a confusing and a little misconception of how a woman or a man should look, act or like We are not the only one, but is the one I can speak for since, I grew up surrounded by this community, my community. 

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Week 7 . Oct. 7.

response to pictures by Luis E, Velez and Graciela Iturbide.

For me, the photos published in the Luis Velez account represent the diversity that exists in the United States, especially in New York City, where residents and tourists have the possibility, I would say, to see and meet people from around the world, who have different ideologies, cultures, religions, etc. I have always found it fascinating to live in New York, a person can find everything, even I see people from countries that we did not even know existed, I think that when someone asks me where I am from and I answer "NICARAGUA" many people he responds with "where is that" at the beginning I used to be surprised how something so familiar to me was something totally strange for some people. Being exposed has so much diversity, I think it has helped me to be a better person, because now I understand that there are millions of ways to see things. I feel that living in New York has made me a more understandable, open-minded person who likes to learn from others. It makes me laugh and I always say it to my best friend, who cooks the most delicious Arab food I have ever tasted, that I feel fortunate to be where I am because unlike other people I have the opportunity to eat things that I never know I had imagined that there were new and very delicious flavors. Seeing so much diversity makes me want to travel the world but luckily, New York makes an effort to move around the world when I go out and go to Chinatown or Little Italy, even where I live, is an area where Many Russian people live, I have learned new words from many languages and tried delicious foods. Also, one learns to see things differently when exposed to diversity. I learn from new cultures, which fascinates me. When I visit my country, I always tell my other friends about how amazing it is to live in New York. I think that New York would not be New York without the diversity it has. sometimes when I find myself discussing some controversial issue with someone who has not been exposed to diversity I feel that they are in one way or another limited to think in the way they think, and I understand it, instead I feel that knowing people from different cultures I tend to think of more possibilities and ways of understanding things. Today I think an Instagram account will attract more people than a blog with photos. Graciela Iturbide's photos catch my attention, I really think they are very sad photos, full of nostalgia, completely different from the photographs of Luis Velez. I have a hard time interpreting photos like Iturbide's. they put on my white head I just feel that they transmit sadness to me, as loneliness, something that feels in the colorful New York but that is covered with an effective facade, full of diversity.

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Week 6 - 7. Sep./Oct.

Valeria Luiselli (who happens to share the same birthday as me) is an Italian Mexican writer who in her book "sidewalks" through essays tells us about her experiences in different parts of the world, either walking in the center of the formless city of Mexico or looking for a gravestone in the cemetery from Venice.

When I first started reading this book, I wasn't quite sure of what the book was about and how it could be somewhat related to the Latin culture in New York, but as I began to get into the reading more closely, I started to understand and give meaning to the things that she was saying. There were many instances that I felt that she was talking about how a person creates different personalities based and all the places that person has visited,  I wouldn't know what exact quote, word or phrase made me think of that but there was a moment  where the writer was describing her trip to India through a book that she found on her shelve. she was saying how she was surprised by some of the things she had highlighted in that book back then in India and how she believes as I interpreted it, were only to be felt in India. What I understood from most of his book is that people when we emigrate, we welcome a new perspective, personality or person in us. For example, when the writer is in an apartment in “Manhattoes”, she emphasizes the differences between public and private and as in, perhaps, the United States she lives it in a very different way from how she lived in her years living in Mexico, and like that private life that we think we have in our apartments does not exist since there may always be someone watching us from a window on the other side of the building.

Going back to privacy and public spaces talked about in the book, I put more thought into it as I was taking a break from the homework and I started looking through the window while I was eating cereal and I was just looking at all the apartments across my apartment and i knew based on the whether the lights were on and off if someone was using the bathroom and also I was able to tell what the people in front of my apartment were watching on tv and came to the realization that maybe Valeria Luiselli is right about privacy, other countries, for example, the ways that households are set up is more to say private, your neighbor would hardly know whether you're showering or not, at least that's what came to my mind when I thought of the structure of my home here in new york city and my home back in Nicaragua.

In other moments the writer talks about the request, nostalgia and melancholy and I thought that it is that feeling of nostalgia and loneliness that many people feel to be away from home, in this case, the immigrants from New York, but many people repress and they become immune to such feeling, or they want to ignore it since they have no choice but to stay away from home because in many occasions it is the best for them and their families.

As I was looking through my window I also thought why is it that I interpret these readings the way that I do, could it be that I feel some sort of connections with these writers, because just as Luiselli, I often read books and write or highlight parts I liked or write things I felt while reading them and after I a while I read these books again and wonder by I wrote those things.  could it be that I just as Luiselli feel so impatient while being in an airplane and have the need to be looking at the map knowing that the little plane won't move faster as no matter how hard I try looking at it?. 

can it be that just as those people back then who were in war and were feeling this sentiment of nostalgia the same sentiment I feel when I don't know where I belong, because I live in a place where I was not born in, yet its a place I am allowed to call home, but then again its a place where I did not spend most of my childhood. Or can it be because when I go back to the place where I was born people look at me as a foreigner? 

Whatever the case may be, I hope that’s what the author of this book whats to transmit, cause just like she feels lost in some of those cities she visited, I feel lost in her book, but then I find myself reconnecting to her words and trying to give meaning to it based on my experiences.