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Posts
Showing posts from July, 2004
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the boricua vote here and there Commentary By Clarisel Gonzalez, puertoricosun.com San Juan - Two years ago, a Mexican-American friend visited me from Texas and asked me what was up with "the commonwealth" status. "What's that all about?" he asked. Well, I explained to him that Puerto Ricans are US citizens and have to follow federal laws. But we don't have a right to vote for president or pay federal income taxes. The way we are now I joked is like shacking up with a lover with limited benefits rather than getting married with all the benefits. "Hey," he responded, "I prefer the lover then." "Who wants to pay federal income taxes?" he asked. If he were a Puerto Rican living here, he'd probably be for remaining a US commonwealth every time just because we don't have to pay federal income taxes. "Voting for president is overrated," he joked. If my friend were here, he probably would have been among the thousands
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the story of a springfield latina
BOSTON, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of a speech by Eimy Santiago at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, July 28, 2004:
Buenas noches! Mi nombre es Eimy Santiago. Tengo 21 anos. Y te quiero contar una historia de como John Kerry ayudo mejorar mi vida.
Good evening! My name is Eimy Santiago. I am 21 years old. And I want to tell you about how John Kerry helped save my life. From this stage to my street in Springfield, Massachusetts, it's only a 90-minute drive. But it is a world away. Growing up, I didn't always make the right choices. When I was 14, I ran away from home and into a world of trouble. I fell into a bad crowd. I sold and used illicit drugs. I was trapped in an abusive relationship. Then, I got pregnant and dropped out of high school. A lot of people gave up on me. For a while, I even gave up on myself.
That's when a program called Youthbuild changed my life. And Youthbuild has ha
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our music
Featured Site:
Check out
http://www.musicofpuertorico.com/
An educational resource published by the Music of Puerto Rico Foundation , a non-profit corporation to help enhance an appreciation of Puerto Rican music and to instill a sense of pride in Puerto Ricans for their music.
The foundation's complete mission statement.
..a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring Puerto Rican music...from the soft rhythm of the Puerto Rican danza , to the traditional folk music, and plenas , to hot salsa , and the latest in reggaeton .
Check it out.
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community news blurbs
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA KIDS COUNT PUERTO RICO PROJECT TO RELEASE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE DATA BOOK ON CHILDREN IN PUERTO RICO
San Juan -- The National Council of La Raza KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Project will release the 2004 KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Data Book, which presents data on the major population, health, and socioeconomic characteristics of the child population, for the island as a whole, at a news conference Aug. 2 in Guaynabo.
The report presents a mixed picture of the status of children and youth in Puerto Rico. In terms of positive trends, the 2004 KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Data Book shows that the number of low birth weight babies and the rate of infant and child mortality declined from 1990 to 2000. In addition, the number of births to teenagers, while still high and concentrated in specific municipalities, has also dropped, both for adolescents 15 to 17 years old and for girls under 15 years old.
But the book also highlights several worrisome
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In honor of 9/11 Victims
SCORCHED EARTH
By Fernando A. Zapater
It keeps creeping upon me
As an invisible tower of hatred
You perceive it through your senses
Where you feel the fire burn unto your soul
I despise you suicide victims
For you are the perpetrators
Of your own invincible weaknesses
How can I avenge your threat of killing me?
Life is a destiny, it is also a tyranny
With being alive, and all its serendipity
When things happened and the culprit vanished
Where do I unleash my anger?
Darkness of night was afraid of my tongue of fire
The sun was scared of the burning hatred of my desires
Tell me earth where do I unleash my anger
The one that burns my life with hateful anxieties
For every time I fall, I push you down as I get up
I’m only a human that stumbled once upon,
One more time
Mother earth where do I unleash my anger
Brother sun, sister moon, tell me siblings where I do
Tell me mother I wish not to scorch your face
Please tell me soon, my next
Poetry: The Absconded Rose
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THE ABSCONDED ROSE
By FERNANDO A. ZAPATER
THE ANGELS SENT ME THIS ROSE
BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO PLEASE ME
BUT A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE
WHEN IT HAS NO MEANING
BUT THE ANGELS SENT ME THIS ROSE
SO IT DOES HAVE A MEANING
THERE IS AN ANGEL SOMEWHERE
FLUTTERING HER WINGS LOVINGLY
AS SHE WATCHES OVER ME
I SENSE HER PRESENCE
FLUTTERING HER WINGS LOVINGLY
WATCHING HER ROSE BLOOMING
WHEN THE ROSE PETALS OPENED
I FELT THE BLOWING KISS
HER PERFUME SURROUNDED THE AREA
AND SUNSHINE CAME FORTH BRIGHT
THERE'S A SUDDEN BURST OF LIGHT
MY HEART JUMPED INTO IT
THEN I DISCOVERED MYSELF
IN THE HEART OF THE ROSE ABSCONDED.
c FERNANDO A. ZAPATER
Zapater contributes his poetry to puertoricosun.com. He is from Ponce.
Drop of Love
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Poetry
DROP OF LOVE
By FERNANDO A. ZAPATER
DROP OF LOVE
THAT NIBBLES DOWN YOUR BREAST
YOU ARE THE MOTHER WHO FEEDS
THE INFANT BABY WITH HER MILK
ALLOW US TO WORSHIP THOU
YOU ARE TO BECOME ANOTHER
ANOTHER ONE AMONGST MANY
A MOTHER WHO FEEDS HER CHILD
WITH HER LOVE, BREAST AND HONESTY
WHEN A FEATHER CARESSED YOU
IT CAME FROM VERY HIGH ABOVE
SUCH TENDER LOVE POSSESSED
THE GLORY OF YOUR MOTHERHOOD
BUT YOUR DROP OF LOVE WOMAN
MOTHER WOMAN GIRL CHILD YOU
WAS WHITE AND GLISTENING GOLD
SURRENDERED IN LOVE WE TRUST
YOUR DROP OF LOVE WOMAN
YOUR MOST SWEETEST SELF
COMES FROM CLOSE TO YOUR HEART
YOUR LOVE JUST POURS ITSELF.
Fernando A. Zapater contributes his poetry to puertoricosun.com. He is from Ponce, P.R.
Boricua: Let's Have More Pride
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Commentary
Boricua: Let's Have More Pride
By Clarisel Gonzalez
puertoricosun.com
San Juan -- I watched the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City on TV last month and listened to Puerto Ricans talk about how much they love their parade, their culture, their history, their flag. "Que Viva Puerto Rico" was the sentiment of the day as it is every year in one of the country's largest cultural parades.
Despite all the celebrations of Puerto Rican pride stateside, this little island is badly hurting with Puerto Rican on Puerto Rican crime.
Drugs, gang violence, domestic violence, child and sexual abuse and murder are very real cancers here. They are destroying Puerto Rican families.
Puerto Rico, with its beautiful palm trees and beaches and historic buildings, is far from a tropical paradise with all this violence. As I write this, there have been 427 homicides on the island to date, 27 more than last year during the same period. Sadly but surel
Latino/a Literature: A Resource For Standardized Testing
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Latino/a Literature: A Resource For Standardized Testing
By Manuel Hernandez
Latino/a Literature is a resource for young adults and standardized testing in America. Voices of concerns were depicted in a widely televised special on November 30, 2003 on Fox television. The prime time segment dedicated a series on education to vividly document stories of children with problems with standardized testing. America is looking for answers and embarking on a journey of redefining its solutions. A resource for the teaching of literature in the United States of America may be Latino/a literature.
Studies indicate that there is a strong relationship between reading and writing. Two scholars in the area (Noyce and Christie, 1989) state that the mind assimilates information to explain the missing link between skills and reading/writing. Therefore it is up to educators to provide and include additional material and instruction to help students fill in the missing links. Closing the gap on sta