Yes, Let’s Celebrate. Cinco de Mayo Rooted in Civil War Anti-Racism!
Why is Cinco de Mayo celebrated and where is it celebrated most? Yes, it’s a great time for a Margarita or swig of Corona, but let’s know the reason we raise our cup on Cinco de Mayo. (Bonus: Shelley’s Margarita recipe below!) Facts: Cinco de Mayo, first celebrated on May 5, 1862, was the response […]
Culpability
This is my last month in Durham, North Carolina. I’m preparing to move west to Taos, NM on May 6, 2021, if all goes forward as planned. Last week, I walked to Maplewood Cemetery and around the historic tobacco town filled with renovated warehouses, factories and storefronts. Each step is a reminiscence of my 21 […]
Afro-Mexicans on Oaxaca’s Costa Chica, Museum of Afro-Mestizo Culture
Mexico is a true melting pot. Her people are a fusion of ethnicities, races, and cultures originating from Asia, Europe, and Africa mingling with America’s First Peoples. The Spanish brought slaves from the Philippines and China, while Portuguese traders imported forced labor from Africa to work Mexico’s sugar cane fields and cattle ranches when indigenous […]
Is Cinco de Mayo Mexican Independence Day? NO!
Why is Cinco de Mayo celebrated and where is it celebrated most? More than a great time for a Margarita or a swig of Corona, Cinco de Mayo was the response by Mexican-Americans — mostly Californians — to the French invasion of Mexico, The Battle of Puebla, and fear that the North would lose the […]
Durham, North Carolina, Journal One: Taking Down the Statues
It’s been a week since Charlottesville, Virginia, demonstrations and death. This was home for two years when I worked for the University of Virginia almost two decades ago. Charlottesville has always been this idyllic center of the universe where Mr. Jefferson’s Lawn spoke volumes of intellectual and cultural elitism, privilege and responsibility to nationhood. Here, […]
Chocolate: What’s Not to Love About It?
Click here for Kathleen’s Chocolate story http://wp.me/pTTp9-1gU My fellow writer, expat food aficionado and socially/politically/environmentally conscious advocate for responsible living has just written an important article. I encourage you to read it. The slave trade in Africa, a centuries old practice, endures because of the world’s love for chocolate. Kathleen Dobek writes about the […]