Un Periódico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
HOLYOKE ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE
Foto del Mes /Photo of the Month
contents
2 Foto del Mes /Photo of the Month
Amherst Herry M Thomas III Springfield, MA - March 27th 2025
Documenting Local Community Histories: Art, Research, and Social Justice in the Pioneer Valley UMass
Brendaliz Cepeda, Saúl “El Pulpo” Peñaloza, Ramón Geraldo Tapia Rosario, Lydia Early, Heshima Moja, Manuel Frau-Ramos, y Dr. Mari Castañeda. (crédito: Castañeda)
Un podcast sobre la historia del archipiélago de Puerto Rico y el Caribe Conversaciones con expertos sobre el tema y personalidades de interés. Con el historiador público Ramón A. González-Arango López.
¡Nuevo episodio todos los jueves!
¡Comparte y disfrútalo!
Documenting Local Community Histories: Art, Research, and Social Justice in the Pioneer Valley
3 Izamiento de la Bandera de la República Dominicana en Springfield
4 Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one
5 Celebran Día Internacional de la Mujer con Evento Mujeres de la Bomba
6 Academy Regional Youth Poetry Slam Amplifies Multilingual Voices
7 Mark Guglielmo Announces a New Solo Exhibition Honoring His Italian Ancestors at Barn Door Gallery
8 Opinión / Opinion Gaza: Don’t close your eyes
10 Excellence and Elevation: Celebrating Educators and Elevating Voices
11 Literatura / Literature
La causa y el azar
14 Libros / Books
The First & Last King of Haiti
The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe
15 Beyond Disaster: Building Collective Futures in Puerto Rico
16 LOCA
Editor Manuel Frau Ramos manuelfrau@gmail.com 413-320-3826
Assistant Editor Ingrid Estrany-Frau
Art Director Tennessee Media Design
Business Address El Sol Latino P.O Box 572 Amherst, MA 01004-0572
Editorial Policy
El Sol Latino acepta colaboraciones tanto en español como en inglés. Nos comprometemos a examinarlas, pero no necesariamente a publicarlas. Nos reservamos el derecho de editar los textos y hacer correcciones por razones de espacio y/o estilo. Las colaboraciones pueden ser enviadas a nuestra dirección postal o a través de correo electrónico a: info@elsollatino.net.
El Sol Latino welcomes submissions in either English or Spanish. We consider and review all submissions but reserve the right to not publish them. We reserve the right to edit texts and make corrections for reasons of space and/or style. Submissions may be sent to our postal address or via electronic mail to: info@elsollatino.net.
El Sol Latino is published monthly by Coquí Media Group. El Sol Latino es publicado mensualmente por Coquí Media Group, P.O Box 572, Amherst, MA 01004-0572.
/ Front Page
Celebran Día Internacional de
la Mujer con Evento Mujeres de la Bomba por MANUEL-FRAU-RAMOS
El 8 de marzo, en celebración del Día Internacional de la Mujer, se reconoció a un grupo de mujeres que han tenido logros sobresalientes en el mundo empresarial, cultural, político y/o profesional. El evento fue organizado por Bomba de Aquí, organización cultural de danza y música que interpreta y enseña tradiciones afropuertorriqueñas en Massachusetts. Bomba de Aquí está dirigida por Brendaliz Cepeda, bailarina principal y el esposo de ésta, Saúl “El Pulpo” Peñalosa, director musical y reconocido percusionista.
Este año la actividad reunió a una amplia representación de Mujeres de la Bomba, incluyendo representación de Massachusetts, Holyoke, Springfield y Boston, así como delegaciones de Connecticut, Rhode Island, California y de la ciudad de New Orleans en Louisiana.The Venue and Ivy’s Events en Springfield Plaza fue la sede de evento.
Las homenajeadas este año lo fueron: María Pérez - Una de las fundadoras del Desfile del Día de Puerto Rico y fundadora y presidenta de Women on the Vanguard, Inc. Actualmente es miembro del Concejo Municipal de Springfield por el Barrio1. Ingrid Askew - Fundadora y Directora Ejecutiva of Crossing the Waters Institute for Cultural Exchange.
Mónica Vélez Rivera - Co-dueña de Los Jibaritos Sport Clubs en Holyoke y dueña de Monsy’s Day Care en Chicopee. Johannan Maldonado - Propietaria de Moda Mia Boutique y Directora de la oficina de Diversity and Inclusion de Stop and Shop. Lidya Rivera Early - Directora Ejecutiva de Government Relations & Springfield Partnerships UMASS Amherst Henry M. Thomas III Center at Springfield.
Eli Pabón - Fundadora de BOMBAntillana, un colectivo de personas de todas las edades y orígenes que se reúnen para conectarse con ellos mismos, con los demás y con sus antepasados a través de la poderosa forma del arte de Bomba. Tiffany Allecia - Directora
Ejecutiva de Springfield Creative City Collective. Michelle Falcón Fontánez - Narradora galardonada quien además se desempeña en fotografía, cine y teatro.
Waleska Lugo-DeJesús - CEO de Inclusive Strategies, LLC y Directora fundadora del Healing Racism Institute de Springfield. Priscilla Rivera - Artista gráfico y empresaria en la ciudad de Holyoke.
Yadilette Rivera-Colón - PhD, Department Chair of the Undergraduate Science Programs y Profesora Asociada de Biología. Enseña cursos de bioquímica y de biotecnología. Mary Irizarry - Propietaria de The Venue, conocido como‘Ivy’s Events’, localizado en el Springfield Plaza. María del Carmen Rodríguez – Co-fundadora de SoulCare Love, LLC, Sound Healing. Anfitriona y Directora Ejecutiva de un Talk Show.
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Academy Regional Youth Poetry Slam Amplifies Multilingual Voices
NORTHAMPTON, MA | ACADEMY OF MUSIC THEATRE | March 18, 2025- The third annual Academy Regional Youth Poetry Slam returns on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at 7:00 PM at the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton, MA, showcasing the region’s most talented high school poets. Hosted by renowned spoken word artist Lyrical Faith, this is the only youth poetry slam in Western Massachusetts. Audiences can expect an electric and unforgettable evening of creativity, powerful storytelling, and dynamic performances from the next generation of spoken word artists.
touch the viewer’s emotions; it can make them feel heard or seen.”
Thomas has been passionate about the arts since childhood, but as a teenager, poetry spoke the loudest. “It gave me a more expressive outlet for my emotions. I’m excited to participate in the slam because I’ll get to hear how other people approach poetry, and I’ll be able to face my social anxiety in a crowd.”
Lulu Ekiert, an educator from Holyoke High School, encounters challenges to student confidence every day. “For my multilingual students, they don’t have a lot of opportunities to talk in class about what they are learning. Sometimes general education teachers move on too fast before giving them the support or time they need to put their ideas into words. I hear students using negative self-talk—calling their English ‘broken’ or bringing up negative images of their community, culture—that their Caribbean variety of Spanish is ‘ghetto’ or not ‘proper.’”
Spoken word poetry has long been a powerful platform for expressing personal experiences, emotions, and activism. It has been vital in addressing social justice issues, including racial inequality, gender rights, mental health, and environmental concerns. Executive Director of the Academy of Music Theatre, Debra J’Anthony, notes, “We are excited to bring our community together to witness fresh perspectives on issues affecting the youth of the Valley and to engage in these conversations with members of our community and beyond.”
The ten students participating in this year’s competition include Espin Santiago from Westfield High School, Allyson Klement from Amherst Regional High School, and Elias Vega, Maria Roblez, Thanisha Martinez, Samara Thadison, and Zilaij’a Lewis from Holyoke High School’s Dean Campus, as well as Adrianna SerranoRios from Holyoke High School’s North Campus, Melanie A. Rivas from the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts, and Izaria Thomas from the Springfield Honors Academy. These students were nominated by educators from local public schools, who engage with students daily and address issues affecting student wellness and confidence through programs like creative writing clubs.
Rivas has been writing poetry for four years and is debuting in the Academy Regional Youth Poetry Slam. “Poetry is an art form that can
Through classes that explore heritage combined with projects that encourage creative expression educators like Eikert, can help break these harmful negative ideologies about language. Eiket notes that the positive impacts of this class are still felt by the students Ekiert now works with in high school. “They know their heritage, they know what being multilingual means and can talk about it with authority, which has a positive impact on their confidence. I am excited for students to explore their voice and point of view and put their experiences into words.
“In school, most writing assignments don’t invite critical thinking, joy, or creativity. Poetry is an opportunity for students to flex the dynamic ways in which they actually use language while also exploring themselves and sharing their experiences with a wider audience. Students chose the name ‘Persona’ for our poetry club because it’s a word that has meanings in both English and Spanish and highlights their humanity as young people exploring who they are, the world they live in, and dreaming of where they want to go in life.”
Tickets for this highly anticipated, one-night-only performance are $10.00. They can be purchased now through the Academy box office online at aomtheatre.com, by phone at 413-584-9032 ext.105, or in person at 274 Main Street, Northampton, MA, from Tuesday through Friday between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Additionally, 10 free Card to Culture tickets are available for guests with valid EBT, WIC, or ConnectorCare cards. Free tickets are limited to 4 per cardholder and must be reserved by phone or in person.
Mark Guglielmo Announces a New Solo Exhibition Honoring His Italian Ancestors at Barn Door Gallery
NORTHAMPTON, MA | March 18, 2025 - Award-winning Northampton-based visual artist Mark Guglielmo will mount the first solo exhibition of his new series of life-size collage portraits of his Southern Italian ancestors at Barn Door Gallery, Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley St, Northampton, MA running from April 2–30, 2025.
The Opening Reception will be held on Friday, April 11, from 5-9 pm (coinciding with Arts Night Out), with an Artist Talk that same night at 7:30 pm in the gallery. There will also be a Community Conversation entitled “Italians and Whiteness in the United States” on Saturday, April 19, from 4-5 pm in the gallery featuring Guglielmo, his dear sister Jennifer Guglielmo (Professor of History, Smith College), and a good friend Heshima Moja (Musician, Composer, Sonic Architect).
Gallery hours are Wed-Sat 11 am- 7 pm, closed Sun, Mon, and Tue. The gallery is fully accessible and admission is free.
At the intersection of current events, contemporary art, and social history, Guglielmo’s new body of work uses collage portraiture as a vehicle to examine issues of race, class, migration, and power. Combining thousands of old, black and white, archival, and family photographs, the artist drew inspiration from his childhood growing up in New York and those that came before him.
Themes of memory, identity, family, and belonging permeate the portraits. From a large Italian American family, Guglielmo made this new series to pay homage to his beloved grandparents Grace (pictured in the above portrait) and Angelo, the children of Southern Italian immigrants, who raised 11 children and always held space for him and his siblings. Central figures in his life, he spent every Sunday at their house in Flushing, Queens, surrounded by dozens of extended family and eating the most delicious foods, an all-day affair. Writes Guglielmo, “I’d fill up on crumb buns and mouth-watering baked ziti until my belly ached while gifted storytellers spun outrageous tales, filling the air with drama and intrigue. It was heaven. We never wanted to leave.” With this new body of work, Guglielmo celebrates this quickly disappearing, life-giving culture that became his sustenance as a child while sparking greater awareness and deeper conversations about some of the most salient issues of our time.
This exhibition is supported by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts ValleyCreates program in partnership with MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists and The Puffin Foundation.
Mark Guglielmo (b. 1970, New York City) is a multidisciplinary artist whose paintings incorporate diverse materials such as cut-up paper, cardboard, oil, acrylic, fabric, gold leaf, and corrugated steel. Guglielmo is best known for his layered figurative works that intertwine current events, social history, and the human psyche, to critically explore themes of race, class, migration, and power. Collage is central to his practice and bridges his art and music. He employed similar techniques for years, producing hip-hop, sampling, truncating, and reconfiguring existing materials into new compositions. Through his unique blend of media and technique, Guglielmo addresses some of the most pressing issues of our time, sparking healthy dialogue and contributing to contemporary discourse.
Born and raised in New York, Guglielmo’s fragmented portraits of everyday people based on archival and photographic reference material peel back the layers of social, cultural, and personal history to reveal the raw reality of life. His approach invites viewers into the inner worlds of his subjects to consider the nuances of identity, place, family, culture, and belonging.
Significant projects in his oeuvre include “Portraits of My People” (2021-2025), a collection honoring his
Southern Italian ancestors that reveals the fraught process of racemaking in America, merging family lineage with broader cultural and social questions. Additionally, his series of large-scale photo-collage portraits examining contemporary Cuban identity, entitled “Cuba in Transition” (2015-2017) and created on three trips to the island, expanded his inquiries at the intersection of the personal and collective narrative, international relations, and artistic diplomacy. Critically and publicly acclaimed, it became one of A.P.E. Gallery’s most-attended shows 50 years after opening in Northampton with over 3,500 visitors in one month before traveling to four other venues across the U.S.
For further Barn Door Gallery info: Joie Hernandez, Gallery
Associate Barn Door Gallery @ Northampton Center for the Arts PH: 413-584-7327 gallery@nohoarts.org
Mark Guglielmo info: https://markguglielmo.com | https://nohoarts.org https://instagram.com/markguglielmo
Ellis Island Mother and Child, 2021, Paper, fabric, acrylic, gold leaf, galvanized steel, cardboard on canvas, 48 x 36 inches
Man with Shovel, 2022, Paper, fabric, acrylic, gold leaf, cardboard on canvas , 48 x 36 in
Gaza: Don’t close your eyes
MIGUEL L. ARCE and JOSÉ P. ARCE
We are stating from the outset that of course we condemn the attack initiated by Hamas, that of course we are in solidarity with the Israeli victims—the dead, the hostages and all their families. Of course we support the release of all the hostages, both Israelis and Palestinians. But we ask ourselves, where is the empathy for the Palestinian people? Attention must be paid to the innocent Palestinians who are suffering horrific violence (Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur to the United Nations).
In this particular Guest Opinion, our principal concern is the ongoing humanitarian crisis occurring in occupied Palestine, especially regarding the physical and psychological harm being experienced by the children. Palestinian children in Gaza have been the victims of relentless military attacks by the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF (in other words, the Israeli Army). The children are forced to live without housing, proper sanitation, clean water, and all the necessary medical care. The latest bombardments in Gaza directed by the IDF are a renewal of deadly attacks from the air, land and sea. All the children in Gaza live under constant bombardment and, as suggested above, do not receive needed humanitarian aid. Various sources have described the war in Gaza as a “war on children.” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described Gaza as, “a graveyard for children.” Young boys and girls are being killed and maimed during the essentially indiscriminate bombing taking place. The world community is witnessing infants, youth, and adolescents who are struggling with physical trauma, including lost limbs, lost eyesight, with shrapnel in their bodies leaving permanent physical scars and disabilities. There is, as well, the psychological trauma: horrific flashbacks, persistent nightmares, sleeping difficulties, memory loss, and other manifestations of extreme emotional distress. Since October 7, 2023, this war on the children of Gaza has been unyielding and persistent.
Our guest editorial is too limited to encompass the full history of the “problem of Palestine,” a term coined by the United Nations in 1947. It was during the Jewish state’s creation that more than 700,000 Palestinians were forced to flee their homes in what is now Israel. Almost eight decades on, Palestinians lament the illegal and violent eviction from their land as the “Nakba”, or catastrophe. There is no solution in sight for the millions of stateless Palestinians today, or a foreseeable peace agreement with Israel. Despite the fact that a large segment of the Israelis believes the best way to save and bring the hostages home is for Israel to move into Phase 2 of the peace agreement, which includes the continuing exchange of hostages and with Israel declaring the end of the war.
In Israeli history, there has never been a more right-wing government. The existing government is led by the first sitting prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently being investigated for allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The Prime Minister’s combative leadership has been credibly linked by his critics to his efforts to remain in office while he faces an ongoing corruption trial. As a civilian he would become increasingly vulnerable to any litigation against him.
Open the gates of hell
After Hamas’ attack in Israel (October 7, 2023) and before the IDF’s
incursion into Gaza, the Prime Minister declared he would “Open the gates of hell”. In that vein, Netanyahu—in the last 16 months of the war—is reshaping the geographic borders of Israel in multiple locations. Against any common sense and in contradistinction to “civilized” international rules of engagement, the inhabitants in Gaza, even boys, are labeled a security risk. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 50,000 Palestinians have died and over 110,000 have been injured since the war broke out. The number of victims under the rubble can only be estimated.
Aerial footage of Gaza shows entire neighborhoods flattened, with buildings, businesses, mosques, cultural centers, and homes destroyed. Amidst the rubble of the war’s destruction, the Palestinians are forced to live in tents and other types of improvised shelter along the roadsides. According to the United Nations Human Rights High Commission (April 2024), the hostilities in the Gaza Strip include Israel’s destruction of all the physical infrastructure. Between 1.7 to 1.9 civilians in their makeshift shelters have been exposed to the harsh conditions during the winter months. Consequently, overcrowding has led to the spread of disease, such as Hepatitis A. Further, women and girls are not given access to appropriate hygiene products.
Rules to spare the scarcity of life
International humanitarian aid and nongovernmental organizations have had limited success in providing resources. The provision of aid has been controlled and curtailed by the Israeli authorities. Civil society organizations and individual human rights defenders, as well as writers and academics have been killed, injured or detained or displaced by the fighting. By one estimate, 200 journalist have been killed since October 2023. A multitude of donors suspended funding for longstanding and well-established human rights and humanitarian organizations, following accusations conflating their human rights work with “terrorism”. Hospitals and schools have been leveled to the ground. So, it is the ad hoc humanitarian aids groups that are left behind to find bodies and bury them.
Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits the intentional destruction of populations. However in this war, Palestinians are not seen as people. Policy decisions in the chain of command see the residents of Gaza as a security threat that must be eliminated at all costs. From 2023 through 2025, there has been a willful blindness to the victims who are children and women. Over 2,000,000 Palestinians are being dehumanized without the right to live off the little that remains in Gaza. The military occupation is moving ahead in pursuit of further division of Palestine as well as the creation of unlawful settlements.
On January 19, 2025 the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement consisting of three phases was struck. Phase 2 was to be the withdrawal of troops from Gaza. The breakdown of ceasefire talks currently allows for the real political objective, to continue the war. Maintaining a permanent military presence in Gaza allows for additional “areas of security” through the transfer of large tracks of land to the control of Israel. In fact, the settler’s movement campaign did not hide its plan to resettle Gaza. The “settlers” and their settlements will be linked to police, politicians, and the IDF. “Outposts” will provide infrastructure and transportation systems. They will create havoc for the Palestinians who have no chance to transverse the area that had been theirs prior to the assault. This
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Gaza: Don’t close your eyes
military assault has not been limited to Gaza. Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Syrian Golan Heights are also witnessing ground and air assaults forcing people to get out of neighborhoods and to leave their homes. The current number of Palestinians, militants and civilians, killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces is at its highest in nearly two decades (Middle East Eye, December 2022).
The massacre is being live streamed
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has called for a complete ceasefire. Notably, the United States is the only United Nations member of the Security Council that vetoed or abstained on three ceasefire resolutions for Gaza (Kelemen, 2024) despite that only one in ten people have clean drinking water (PBS News Hour, 3/18/2025). A third of young children are suffering from acute malnutrition (Democracy Now, U.S. News and World report 3/18/2025). One million are living without the basics to survive (Vatican News, March 17, 2025). Dr. Iman Farajallah, who was present for the first and second intifadas beginning in 1987, described the violence she witnessed as, “so vicious, so scary, so harmful that there are no words” (Journal of Medical Sciences, 2024).
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the primary voice and watch guard of human rights in the United Nations. The CRC, an international treaty, identifies the political, economic, social, and cultural rights of all children. The United States is the only United Nations member country that has not ratified it and, therefore, not bound by its provisions. With the United States’ backing under two presidential administrations, the Israeli government has failed to adhere to the CRC. Israel’s denial of children’s rights in Gaza is evident by their inaction to protect innocent children from violence; for example, not providing healthcare, food, safety, clean water, clothing, safe homes, and access to education, to name a select few violations of CRC (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990). The United Nations Relief for Palestinian Refugees, UNICEF Church Missionary Society, the American Friends Service Committee, Save the Children, Doctors with Borders (who have no choice but to carry out amputations on children without anesthesia) are working to stop the war. Their representatives have been killed trying to help the Palestinians.
Stop the war
The High Commission at the United Nation has called on all parties in the conflict to: a. implement an immediate ceasefire; and, b. ensure full respect for international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law. The
Commission has been seeking from Israel a six-month update report on the human rights situation in Gaza, prioritizing the realization of the human rights of Palestinians. The Commission is seeking for Israel to immediately lift the various forms of blockade, closure and siege of Gaza. Furthermore, Israel is to allow and ensure humanitarian workers necessary access, safety and freedom of movement to deliver aid to those in need (United Nations, Human Rights, Office of the High Commission November 2024).
United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, an Italian international lawyer and academic, is an independent expert who has been appointed by the Human Rights Council to follow and report on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Unlike the majority in the West, she considers the implications of international law, systems of oppression, historical accuracy, or power dynamics in asymmetrical warfare. She has been frustrated at the United Nations inaction after 42,000 (now 50,000) were killed but that the United Nations could not even empathize with the victims who are being dehumanized and erased under the eyes of the global community.
There is no summarizing the senseless violence against innocent Palestinians and the dehumanization of precious children and their families. How do we make sense of the destruction of a vibrant Palestinian community that shares deep historical roots with the Jewish people? It is estimated that Hamas has fewer than 20 thousand fighters, mainly residing in the Gaza Strip; but from that same number of 20,000 they are also a presence “. . . in the West Bank; Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon; and other regional locations, such as Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey” (“Hamas – foreign terrorist organization –” September 2024, DNI.gov). With so few Hamas fighters, spread so thin—albeit extremely dangerous—how do the number of deaths of innocent Palestinians square with what is being called a justified and effective war of the IDF against the terrorist in Gaza? We do not believe it does. “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this” (Omar El Akkad, in his book titled the same).
Opinión / Opinion
Excellence and Elevation: Celebrating Educators and Elevating Voices
by Dr. SONIA E. DINNALL Superintendent of Springfield Public Schools
In Springfield Public Schools, we believe that excellence in education is not just a goal—it is a standard that our educators uphold every day. This year, we proudly celebrate 21 outstanding educators who have been named recipients of the 2024 Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Award. These honorees are being recognized not just for their exceptional skills in the classroom but for the impact they have on students, families, and colleagues alike.
Versión en español
Excelencia y elevación: Celebrando Educadores
y Elevando Voces
En las Escuelas Públicas de Springfield, creemos que la excelencia en la educación no es sólo una meta - es un estándar que nuestros educadores mantienen todos los días. Este año, celebramos con orgullo a 21 educadores sobresalientes que han sido nombrados receptores del Premio a la Excelencia en la Enseñanza 2024 de Pioneer Valley. Estos galardonados son reconocidos no sólo por sus excepcionales habilidades en el aula, sino por el impacto que tienen en los estudiantes, familias y colegas por igual.
Public Schools
Dr. SONIA E. DINNALL, Springfield
Each year, this award serves as a reminder that behind every lesson taught, there is an educator who is shaping lives. These recipients represent the thousands of dedicated professionals who work tirelessly across our district, often without fanfare, but always with unwavering commitment. Their passion fuels the belief that every student has the power to succeed.
To our awardees—congratulations! Your work is proof that education is about more than just instruction; it is about inspiration. Whether you are nurturing a love for reading in a first-grader, guiding middle schoolers through life’s transitions, or preparing high school students for bright futures beyond graduation, you are making a difference. As we celebrate you, we also recognize the many educators who continue to do extraordinary work every day. Springfield is stronger because of you.
Our commitment to excellence doesn’t stop at recognition—it extends to elevation. That’s why I am thrilled to introduce Believe It, Be It, our district’s newly reimagined podcast. This platform will shine a light on the transformative work happening in Springfield Public Schools.
Each episode of Believe It, Be It will highlight one of the district’s four strategic priorities.
• Early Literacy: Read to Believe – ensuring that every child gains a strong foundation in reading
• Middle School Transformation: Joyful Journeys – reimagining middle school experiences to foster engagement and success
• College and Career Readiness: Your Future, Your Choice –expanding opportunities for students to discover and pursue their passions
• Post-Secondary Success: Beyond Graduation – ensuring our graduates stay connected and thrive in their next chapters
This podcast is more than just a conversation—it’s a movement. It will feature educators, students, and district staff, all working together to create meaningful change. It is my hope that through these stories, we not only inform but also inspire.
The inaugural episode, now available on the district’s website and major streaming platforms, offers an inside look at these priorities and the vision behind them. We are educating to empower, and I invite you to listen, learn, and believe in what’s possible
Cada año, este premio sirve como recordatorio de que detrás de cada lección impartida, hay un educador que está moldeando vidas. Estos galardonados representan a los miles de profesionales dedicados que trabajan incansablemente en todo nuestro distrito, a menudo sin fanfarria, pero siempre con un compromiso inquebrantable. Su pasión alimenta la creencia de que cada estudiante tiene el poder de triunfar.
Enhorabuena a nuestros galardonados. Vuestro trabajo es la prueba de que la educación es algo más que instrucción: es inspiración. Tanto si estáis fomentando el amor por la lectura en un niño de primer grado, como si estáis guiando a los alumnos de secundaria a través de las transiciones de la vida o preparando a los estudiantes de bachillerato para un futuro brillante más allá de la graduación, estáis marcando la diferencia. Mientras le celebramos, también reconocemos a los muchos educadores que continúan haciendo un trabajo extraordinario cada día.
Nuestro compromiso con la excelencia no se detiene en el reconocimiento, sino que se extiende a la elevación.Es por eso que estoy encantado de presentar Believe It, Be It, el nuevo podcast de nuestro distrito.Esta plataforma iluminará el trabajo transformador que se está llevando a cabo en las Escuelas Públicas de Springfield. Cada episodio de Believe It, Be It destacará una de las cuatro prioridades estratégicas del distrito.
• Alfabetización temprana:Leer para creer - garantizar que todos los niños adquieran una base sólida en la lectura
• Transformación de la escuela media:Joyful Journeys - reimaginar las experiencias de la escuela media para fomentar el compromiso y el éxito
• Preparación universitaria y profesional:Tu futuro, tu elección - ampliar las oportunidades para que los estudiantes descubran y persigan sus pasiones
• Éxito postsecundario: Más allá de la graduación: garantizar que nuestros graduados permanezcan conectados y prosperen en sus próximos capítulos.
Este podcast es algo más que una conversación: es un movimiento. Contará con educadores, estudiantes y personal del distrito, todos trabajando juntos para crear un cambio significativo. Espero que a través de estas historias no sólo informemos, sino que también inspiremos.
El episodio inaugural, ya disponible en el sitio web del distrito y en las principales plataformas de streaming, ofrece una mirada al interior de estas prioridades y la visión que hay detrás de ellas. Estamos educando para empoderar, y les invito a escuchar, aprender y creer en lo que es posible.
Literatura / Literature
La causa y el azar
por JOSÉ EDGARDO CRUZ FIGUEROA
El azar solo existe en el desconocimiento. ¿Qué dices? El azar solo existe en el desconocimiento. No, no, no, ¿que qué es lo que quieres decir? Pues que todo tiene una causa sin la cual lo que sucede no puede suceder y si nos parece que algo es producto del azar o de la voluntad es porque no sabemos cuál es su antecedente. Quien dice que Dios es la causa que no tiene causa no lo dice porque tiene pruebas de que es así; lo dice porque desconoce la causa de Dios. El azar puede existir en el desconocimiento pero ¿desconocimiento de qué?
Juan Esteban miró a Arturo como si acabara de nacer. Ese es un debate muy antiguo, por fin dijo, en el que no me quiero meter. Pero pienso que lo que sucede es lo que sucede y si tiene una causa eso no significa que es inevitable. O sea que incluso las cosas que están determinadas podrían ocurrir de otro modo, en otro momento, en otro lugar, con personas diferentes. Piensa en tu experiencia con Sofía Morelli. ¿Crees que estuvo determinada o que ocurrió al azar?
Lo que ocurrió con ella, ¿pudo ocurrir de otro modo?
Cuando hizo su pronunciamiento sobre el azar Arturo no estaba pensando en Sofía. Pensar en ella era lo último que necesitaba. Pero la pregunta de Juan Esteban le obligó a considerar lo que había pasado, cómo se habían conocido, el rumbo que habían tomado con destino a una parte y el destino al que llegaron situado en otra parte, una que ambos vislumbraron queriendo evitarla hasta que con pesar se vieron en ella un mediodía de nubes hacía tanto. Recordó lo que había sugerido Leibniz en el siglo 18 de que el mundo estaba
organizado de acuerdo a un plan prestablecido y que visto como un todo era el mejor plan de los planes posibles. Conocer a Sofía, ¿había sido parte de ese plan? Si había sido así, le chocaba concebirlo como el mejor plan. Se alegró de haber nacido en el siglo 20 aunque todavía muchos pensaban como Liebniz sin saber quién era. Notó la ironía de su pronunciamiento pues llegaba a la misma conclusión que el filósofo expresada de otro modo. Excepto que no pensaba que lo que sucede ocurre porque es inevitable. Lo que una causa causa puede ser causado por otra causa causando así algo diferente. Juan Esteban siguió mirándolo como un bobo a pesar de que en esto último coincidían.
Si vas a seguir escribiendo sobre Sofía, no vengas aquí a leerme nada, le había advertido su amiga Ileana durante su última visita a Puerto Rico. La verdad es que Arturo no quería pensar más en Sofía. Su recuerdo le dolía y estaba harto. Recordaba su aventura con ella y decía con sorna: ¡tremendo plan! Si Liebniz tenía razón, ¡mal rayo lo parta!, aunque culparlo era como matar al mensajero que no es responsable del mensaje desagradable que te trae. Como quiera hizo un ejercicio mental breve en el que la experiencia con ella sugería, como proponía Juan Esteban con sus preguntas, que la determinación era contingente: aquella vez en que le invitó al café que inició su romance, si él hubiese dicho que no, el giro que las cosas tomaron pudo haber sido diferente. Punto. Bueno, punto no, pues imaginar un desenlace alterno no confirma su factibilidad. Cuando hablaba con Juan Esteban, en Nueva York hacía un frío de madre. Ya tenía fechas para su viaje a Puerto Rico y no podía
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esperar. Llegó, como siempre, pasada la medianoche, esta vez porque el avión se había retrasado. La pantalla en el gate decía retraso de una hora pero el avión estaba allí. La línea área no ofreció explicaciones y nadie tampoco preguntó por qué si el avión estaba en la puerta de salida había un retraso. Arturo quiso preguntar pero no lo hizo para no ser impertinente. Una cosa es tener derecho a la información y otra muy distinta es hacerlo valer. Uno siempre teme que exigir algo, por más suave que lo haga, va a resultar en incomodo o, en el peor de los casos, malascrianzas o represalias. Es la ley de las reacciones anticipadas, que algunos dicen que sirve de freno al ejercicio arbitrario del poder, pero que también puede resultar en la opresión del que no reclama. Todo por no molestar. Ya Arturo había tenido una experiencia negativa en un café en Santurce con eso de reclamar. Entró al sitio y se sentó en la barra. Nadie le hizo caso. Luego llegó un tipo y la barista le dio la bienvenida y tomó su orden. Arturo la miró como diciendo ¿ah, qué está pasando? Entonces entró otro señor y lo mismo: Buen día, ¿qué desea? Mientras le tomaba la orden Arturo exclamó: ¿Aquí no le sirven a la gente con sombrero? La barista lo miró estupefacta pero en tono lastimero dijo: es que aquí se toman las órdenes en la caja. ¿Desea algo? Pensó de nuevo en las preguntas de Juan Esteban y modificó su conclusión sobre la causalidad. Dos causas distintas––pararse frente a la caja o sentarse en la barra––producían el mismo efecto: que le sirvieran un café, aunque solo si protestaba desde la barra.
Al protestar, Arturo creía que estaba reclamando su derecho a ser atendido y resultó que no lo habían ignorado por discrimen o negligencia sino que era él quien estaba mal por no seguir un procedimiento para ordenar que ignoraba. Había hecho el reclamo con un comentario mordaz y se sentía abochornado. Para compensar, aunque su sentido de culpa por increpar a la muchacha de modo cortante era ambiguo, dejó una propina de 30 porciento.
A veces es mejor dejar que las cosas se resuelvan por sí mismas sin decir nada pues lo que va a pasar pasará, aunque solo si el efecto está determinado por una causa que es matizada por el contexto en que ocurre. En el café de Santurce dos causas diferentes surtían el mismo efecto pues ahí lo único que servían era café. El azar había jugado también un papel pues la barista podía haberle salido parejera. Pero esa posibilidad aleatoria confirmaba su pronunciamiento inicial. Su reacción parecía indeterminada solo porque Arturo desconocía su causa. Podía haber sido por miedo a perder un cliente o porque era bien educada.
Otra situación le demostró que lo que sucede sucede porque tiene que suceder. Bueno decir “demostró” es un poco fuerte. ¿Analizó la situación usando un razonamiento deductivo exhaustivo que establecía una certidumbre lógica? ¿O lo hizo elaborando un argumento empírico o razonamiento inductivo que establecía una expectativa razonable? Cuando se hizo esas preguntas, Juan Esteban no estaba presente para mirarlo raro. Estaba solo, pensando si su mundo era el mejor que podía imaginar. La situación envolvía una concatenación de eventos que por culminar en la consecución de un deseo que creía imposible, podían verse como confirmación de que la satisfacción del deseo estaba prescrita, que tenía que pasar independientemente de la voluntad. O sea que su razonamiento fue inductivo, como el que había inaugurado Aristóteles al recopilar todas las constituciones de su época para determinar cuáles eran los
ingredientes de la mejor, aunque a diferencia de él su proceso se basaba en un hecho singular.
Lo que pasó fue que Arturo le dijo a su amiga Ileana que la noche del jueves antes de regresar a Nueva York sería la última vez que la vería hasta su próxima visita en diciembre. Esa noche, fueron a una exhibición de libros negros en el Viejo San Juan. Se trataba de un proyecto que aspiraba a enfatizar y exaltar la afrodescendencia en Puerto Rico. Es necesario tiznar este país, decían los auspiciadores del proyecto, aunque en realidad el país llevaba siglos tiznado. Era una de esas imprecisiones del lenguaje que le hacen a uno decir, “hay que hacer esto”, cuando en efecto de lo que se trata no es de “hacer” sino de “reconocer”. Una cosa y la otra caminan de la mano, por supuesto. Aparte de eso, el proyecto era encomiable pero a la vez un poquito risible pues cuando hablaban de la afrodescendencia en Puerto Rico los auspiciadores parecían creer que habían descubierto a América.
Sucede que después de ver la exhibición, Arturo necesitaba un pon para Carolina pues al llegar a San Juan su hermana había tenido una emergencia y se había ido con el carro. Después del evento tenía que arreglárselas. Y ahí estaba Ileana, como siempre, dispuesta a darle una mano. Llegaron a Carolina y Arturo recordó que su hermana tenía la llave de la casa. Pues vamos a buscarla, dijo Ileana de buena gana. Cuando su hermana lo recibió, le dijo: llévate el carro pues si te llevas solo la llave ¿cómo lo prendo yo mañana? La lógica era fatula pues lo que había que hacer era sacar la llave de la casa del llavero cosa que ella se quedara con la llave del carro. Pero Julieta, cuya misión de jubilada era no hacer nada, cerró el argumento contundentemente al decir: no, no, llévate el carro porque así mañana no tengo que salir a buscarte.
La mañana del viernes, Arturo desayunó café con galletas pues en la casa no había pan. Mientras desayunaba, leía una colección de cuentos. De repente le dio con enviarle un mensaje a su esposa y se levantó para buscar su teléfono. Lo buscó en el cuarto, en la sala, en la cocina, en el baño, en el zafacón, en la nevera, en los bolsillos del pantalón y la guayabera que había vestido la noche anterior. Lo buscó en las medias y en los zapatos; con cada desacierto su alarma crecía un poquito más. Pensó en Pulp Fiction y en Christopher Walken revelando dónde guardó el reloj de su compañero de combate, pero no rebuscó esa parte de su cuerpo pues el teléfono era muy grande para metérselo ahí.
Dicen que el terror es una sensación extrema, intensa y abrumadora de miedo pero también puede ser lo que se siente cuando uno no encuentra su celular por ninguna parte: desorientación, incertidumbre, incredulidad. El de Arturo tenía un papelito pegado con tape que decía: if found email... y su dirección de correo electrónico. Chequeó su cuenta y nada. Era muy temprano para que quien lo hubiese encontrado le avisara. Estoy jodío, pensó. Entonces reconstruyó sus pasos: recordaba claramente haberle sacado una foto a Ileana justo antes de montarse en su carro. Así que ahí tenía que estar. Fue a casa de su hermana para llamar a Ileana. Ella le dijo: engancha y llámate y lo busco por el sonido. Excepto que el teléfono estaba en vibráfono. No obstante, Ileana lo encontró. En el silencio del asiento de atrás la vibración sonaba duro. ¡Qué felicidad! ¡Qué suerte! No lo había perdido, lo había malpuesto nada más. Cantó en
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La causa y el azar
La causa y el azar continued
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silencio la canción de Serrat, Aquellas pequeñas cosas, aunque no tenía nada que ver pues en la canción cosas simples te hacen llorar y él estaba contento. Respiró con alivio al saber que no había perdido la cabeza, que no estaba senil, que no se había vuelto loco. Salgo ahora para allá a buscarlo, dijo Arturo, con alegría. Pues ya vez, respondió Ileana, tenías que dejar el teléfono botao para que te viera hoy, una vez más antes de irte. Eso tenía que pasar. Quiso decirle: suenas como el profesor Pangloss pero no dijo nada. “Tenías que dejar” era una deducción lógica, no una afirmación de causalidad, era determinación pero construída post hoc, ergo propter hoc.
Arturo sonrió y se rascó la barbilla. No estaba en las de argumentar, en las de decir, nada más que por llevarle la contraria, que todo lo que había pasado era aleatorio. Reconocía, como los optimistas del siglo 18, que los placeres de la civilización suelen ser precedidos por una cantidad inmensa de sufrimiento, pero no creía que el sufrimiento fuese la causa de la felicidad. No obstante, ya le había dicho en Nueva York a Juan Esteban que todo lo que sucede tiene una causa y que el azar era producto de la ignorancia. La experiencia con la barista se lo confirmaba; no era una prueba matemática pero no le importaba. Al pensar así, ¿nulificaba su instinto creativo, le ponía freno a su afán reformista, negaba la posibilidad del progreso, como pensaban los que criticaban la idea de que todo tiene una causa conforme a un plan prestablecido? Solo si pensar lo contrario estimulaba la iniciativa, el deseo de cambio, la esperanza de que todo puede ser mejor, lo cual no era cierto. De otra parte, la experiencia con Sofía le había curado––con causa––del deseo de volverse a enamorar; ahí sí que estaba atascado porque enamorarse había sido la peor de las situaciones posibles y en el futuro quería evitarla. Pensó en la gente que quería tiznar a Puerto Rico y se repitió la pregunta que Liebniz se había hecho para escribir su Théodicée Ensayó una respuesta oblicua al cantar en silencio canciones de Cortijo con Ismael Rivera. Rememoró el primer especial del Banco Popular, dedicado a Rafael Hernández, que había salido antes de que algunos de los auspiciadores nacieran, y sonrió pensando en la enorme popularidad de Canario, de Davilita, de la familia Cepeda, de Juan Boria y Sylvia del Villard, de Tito Henriquez y Ruth Fernández; de Luigi Texidor, Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez, Roberto Rohena y Cheo Feliciano. Pedro Flores y Tite Curet Alonso, dos compositores insignes de Puerto Rico, reconocidos en el mundo entero, eran negros, se dijo, entonando en contrapunto “Obsesión” y “Las caras lindas”. Me caso en ná, concluyó, el país lleva mucho tiempo reconociendo su tizne. Eso no es aleatorio. Pero tampoco es producto de una sola causa: diferentes causas pueden producir el mismo resultado en su generalidad, con variantes a través del tiempo en su especificidad. Malebranche había dicho algo parecido cuando propuso que Dios obra a través de leyes generales que permiten que el mal se cuele por las rendijas de sus aplicaciones particulares. En el caso de Puerto Rico, Dios no tocaba ningún pito pero en esa creencia Arturo era la excepción a la regla. Creía que lo que ahora era afrodescendencia antes era negritud, un movimiento que había viajado de París en los años de 1930 hasta el Caribe y del que Puerto Rico formó parte. Lo que se presentaba como nuevo llevaba años, un mismo perro con diferente collar. Pero es como decía William Blake: no se sabe cuánto es suficiente hasta que uno tiene más que suficiente; y así mismo era con eso de reconocer lo negro. No era
que no se hubiese reconocido sino que no se había reconocido lo suficiente y sería suficiente cuando estuviésemos hartos de reconocerlo (o cuando no hubiesen mecenas apoyando el reconocimiento).
En fin, así es la cosa y ¿quién puede negar que así es porque tiene que ser así? Que tuviera que ser así no demostraba que era inevitable. No sabía qué factores explicaban la conducta de la barista frente a su exabrupto ni tampoco cuál era la causa del proyecto de los libros negros, del afán ese de “tiznar el país”. Cabía especular si en la ausencia de esos factores, los que fuesen, el resultado habría sido el mismo, como en el caso de la barista que le sirvió el café aunque no lo ordenó desde la caja. Eso cuadraba con la idea de un plan premeditado. De otra parte, la experiencia con Sofía Morelli sugería una hipótesis alterna, pero no podía comprobarla. Ella era el pasado que no vuelve, ni como tragedia ni como farsa pues ya había sido ambas. Era una ruptura en la continuidad del tiempo y el espacio, un efecto que para Arturo ya no tenía causa. Tampoco le interesaba comprobar la hipótesis pues no quería ser como había dicho Voltaire que eran los que se preocupaban por esas cosas: esclavos que juegan con sus cadenas. Ya con este cuento había jugado bastante. Entonces le dijo a Ileana que tenía razón y salió corriendo para su casa.
JOSÉ EDGARDO CRUZ FIGUEROA (cruzjose5319@gmail.com) es natural de San Juan y criado en El Fanguito y Barrio Obrero en Santurce, Puerto Rico. Es profesor emérito de ciencias políticas en la Universidad del Estado de Nueva York en Albany.
Latinx Journalism Matters
JOSÉ EDGARDO CRUZ FIGUEROA
Libros / Books
The First & Last King of Haiti - The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe
by MARLENE L. DAUT • NEW YORK, NY | KNOPF
| January 7, 2025 | 656
Slave, revolutionary, king, Henry Christophe was, in his time, popular and famous the world over. Born to an enslaved mother on the Caribbean island of Grenada, Christophe first fought to overthrow the British in North America, before helping his fellow enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was then called, to end slavery. Yet in an incredible twist of fate, Christophe began fighting with Napoleon’s forces against the formerly enslaved men and women he had once fought alongside. Later, reuniting with those he had abandoned, he offered to lead them and made himself their king. But it all came to a sudden and tragic end when Christophe—after nine years of his rule as King Henry I—shot himself in the heart, some say with a silver bullet. But why did Christophe turn his back on Toussaint Louverture and the very revolution with which his name is so indelibly associated? How did it come to pass that Christophe found himself accused of participating in the plot to assassinate Haiti’s first ruler, Dessalines? And what caused Haiti to eventually split into two countries, one ruled by Christophe in the north and the other led by President Pétion in the south?
Drawing from a trove of previously overlooked sources to paint a captivating history of his life and the awe-inspiring kingdom he built, Marlene L. Daut offers a fresh perspective on a figure long overshadowed by caricature and cliché. Peeling back the layers of myth and misconception reveals a man driven by both noble ideals and profound flaws, as unforgettable as he is enigmatic. More than just a biography, The First and Last King of Haiti is a masterful exploration of power, ambition, and the human spirit. From his pivotal role in the Haitian Revolution to his coronation as king and eventual demise, this book is testament to the enduring allure of those who dare to defy the odds and shape the course of nations.
Editorial Reviews
“A fascinating, in-depth, and meticulously researched biography of Haiti’s revolutionary-turned-king.”—EDWIDGE DANTICAT, author of Breath, Eyes, Memory
“Daut shows us, often for the first time, the various personal, cultural, political, and financial forces that created the controversial future king in all his complexity, as well as the specific contours of his leadership—and his failures. From a place of heartfelt agony, she deploys magnificent archival detective work to catalog the horrors of enslavement and the slave-based economy from which sprang the world-historic Haitian revolution, progenitor of the modern era.”—
AMY WILENTZ, author of The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier
“Daut’s monumental work conclusively demystifies one of the most misunderstood, romanticized, and demonized figures of the Haitian Revolution in order to set him free once more. This is an important, signal work from one of Haiti’s leading historians.” —MYRIAM J. A. CHANCY, author of Harvesting Haiti: Reflections on Unnatural Disasters
“A tour de force. Daut brings King Henry Christophe vividly back to life in this deeply researched and rivetingly told biography. In a work overflowing with new archival discoveries and insights, she carries us
pages
expertly through a moment of revolutionary political thought and cultural transformation that reshaped our world and its possibilities. Everyone should know this history.” —LAURENT DUBOIS, author of Haiti: The Aftershocks of History
About the Author
MARLENE L. DAUT has a B.A. in English and French from Loyola Marymount University, and she earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Notre Dame in 2009. She is Professor of French and African American Studies at Yale University. Before joining the faculty of Yale, Daut taught at the University of Virginia, Claremont Graduate University, and the University of Miami. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the National Humanities Center, the Ford Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). She has also written for The New York Times, The Nation, Essence, Harper’s Bazaar, The Conversation, Public Books, and the LA Review of Books.
Beyond Disaster: Building Collective Futures in Puerto Rico
by MELISSA L ROSARIO •EVANSTON, IL | NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
How do we map the pathways to liberation where we have been taught to see only trauma, suffering, and lack? Melissa L. Rosario offers an alternative view of Puerto Rico, America’s oldest colony, removing readers from the framework of crisis to consider the deeper legacies of its current impasse. Beyond Disaster: Building Collective Futures in Puerto Rico is an intimate portrait, weaving insights from the author’s own life, research, and organizing work as a scholar in the diaspora who rematriated. Rosario bridges the genres of social history and memoir to unsettle the meaning of resistance and freedom, underscoring the deep wounds of colonialism while still uplifting the profound possibilities of embodied alternatives.
Beyond Disaster critiques the framework of debt and crisis by examining the psychological, emotional, and spiritual effects of colonialism. Rosario highlights key examples of organizing efforts to defend land and education against total enclosure, protecting life amid loss. This book offers a series of microhistories, vignettes, and prose poetry to foreground the daily practices necessary to anchor the ecological and political landscapes of our collective future.
Reviews
“Viscerally and analytically compelling, Beyond Disaster is as committed to content as it is to surrendering to form. Melissa Rosario takes on the indomitable task of decolonizing and reinventing studies
of Puerto Rico by writing freely and courageously to name and recognize emotions and to practice gestures of care that will not reduce this writing simply to text. She boldly and rightfully asks us to think beyond conventional readings and understandings of crisis, debt, and violence and confront the metaphysics of colonialism.”—Gina Athena Ulysse, author of Why Haiti Needs New Narratives: A Post-Quake Chronicle
“Beyond Disaster merges academic, ethnographic and journalistic approaches while staying attuned to cultivating afro-indigenous queer connections to land, grounded in embodied, spiritual commitment to social change in times of global climate crisis. This sense of urgency is met here with a contagious strategic optimism, stitched together with so much heart.” —Maritza Stanchich, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras
About the Author
MELISSA L. ROSARIO holds a PhD in cultural anthropology and Latinx studies. She is the founder of the Center for Embodied Pedagogy and Action in Puerto Rico.
Libros / Books
LOCA by ALEJANDRO HEREDIA • NEW YORK, NY | SIMON & SCHUSTER | February 11, 2025 | 352 pages
If Junot Diaz’s critically acclaimed collection Drown and Janet Mock’s Emmy-winning series Pose produced offspring, Alejandro Heredia’s Loca would be their firstborn.
It’s 1999, and best friends Sal and Charo are striving to hold on to their dreams in a New York determined to grind them down. Sal is a book-loving science nerd trying to grow beyond his dead-end job in a new city, but he’s held back by tragic memories from his past in Santo Domingo. Free-spirited Charo is surprised to find herself a mother at twenty-five, partnered with a controlling man, working at the same supermarket for years, her world shrunk to the very domesticity she thought she’d escaped in her old country. When Sal finds love at a gay club one night, both his and Charo’s worlds unexpectedly open up to a vibrant social circle that pushes them to reckon with what they owe to their own selves, pasts, futures, and, always, each other.
Loca follows one daring year in the lives of young people living at the edge of their own patience and desires. With expansive grace, it reveals both the grueling conditions that force people to migrate and the possibility of friendship as home when family, nations, and identity groups fall short.
Editorial Reviews
“In this remarkable debut, Alejandro Heredia traces young lives from the streets of Santo Domingo to the streets of the Bronx, capturing the heartbreak of queer youth, a woman’s rebellion against the confines of motherhood, and, above all, the pain and power of friendship that extends across seas, and borders, and the struggle of working people to survive in America. It is the most generously written novel I have read in a very long time, and that generosity is a beautiful thing.”
ADAM HASLETT, Pulitzer Prize and National Award Book Award finalist for Imagine Me Gone and You Are Not A Stranger Here
“Heredia writes to all the locas who, torn between depression and desire, dare to keep moving, chase dreams, and face their failures nonetheless.” —Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming and Anita de Monte Laughs Last
“In a novel that is as tender as it is brilliant, Heredia writes with ferocity and warmth.” —Elizabeth Acevedo, author of Family Lore
“A queer book, yes, a Dominican book, too, a Spanglish book, sure, and as such a quintessentially American novel, a beautiful one.”
Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind and Entitlement
“Loca asks, how do we find each other and love each other, see each other, save each other, and this novel answers, again and again, like this.”—Alexander Chee, author of Queen of the Night and How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
“Eloquent and vibrant. Alejandro Heredia is a deeply gifted writer.”
Claire Messud, author of This Strange Eventful History About the Author
ALEJANDRO HEREDIA is a writer from the Bronx. He has received fellowships from LAMBDA Literary, Dominican Studies Institute, UNLV’s Black Mountain Institute, and elsewhere. He received an MFA in fiction from Hunter College. Loca is his debut novel.
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