I grew up during the time when the Women's Liberation Movement was all the rage. Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Maya Angelou were the voices I heard growing up.
In sharp contrast was my very conservative religious upbringing, and then add the Latin twist and you have a recipe for major confusion.
Before my mother died, she showed me her genealogical chart. It showed a rich history of ancestry on her mother’s side.
It was a history full of conquistadors and native Indian origin, leading all the way back to the Aztec emperors. We are related to Doña Isabel Moctezuma and Don Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano...
Dance changed my life. It changed the direction of where I was going and what I had been focused on.
I was going through a very painful divorce when my Grandmother died. She was my Abuela “ Yellow Hair,” our name we had for her as children to distinguish her from our Abuela “Black Hair."
Radiant stars fill her eyes with their
luminosity.
She has many charms;
He has no heart.
Ella y Yo by Jose Gautier Benitez
As a child, I didn’t see very good examples of loving male/female relationships. My father was very distant with my mother and by the time I was old en...
Our souls knew it beyond the islands, and beyond the sun,
Your dream and my dream ignited,
Tune of my Island.
Poem of the "Eternal Appointment," by Julia de Burgos
I recently went to a sound healing. It was my second time. I walked into a yoga type studio with my pillow, blanket, and mat. Before me, was an incredible arra...
“Those who fail to 'become the river' keep the momentum going that carries others to the completion of a goal.
- Martin Espada
My father was an enigma to me, a rubik’s cube. Every time I thought I solved the riddle, it changed.
He died several years ago. I was the only one of my siblings to attend his funeral. In some...
"How deep is your love?" I remember hearing that song as a kid in the 1970’s, blasting through the streets of New York City. It was summer of 1978 and "Saturday Night Fever" was the shiz. I also remember hearing Yvonne Elliman singing the first few verses of "If I Can't Have You,"
A year ago yesterday, I wrote my first blog and opened up my heart, soul, and life to the universe.
I published my first book, Song of the Boricua. I went on a year long journey of putting myself out there and sharing my dream of being a writer with the world.
What a journey it’s been. I’ve grown as a person, as a writer, a...
Twenty years ago I was in a crisis. My life was falling apart. I had postpartum depression; I was in a failing marriage, and I had a newborn baby girl I could barely take care of.
Everyday I suffered from major anxiety. I felt overwhelmed with the responsibilities of being a young mom of three children, helping my then...
