Laconismos
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Sanitized History
The Trump administration has embarked on a campaign to rewrite American history. The aim is a whitewashed version of the past that glorifies American exceptionalism while discarding well-established facts, critical thinking, and intellectual honesty. This isn’t just rhetoric—it is an assault on the nation’s capacity to reflect, learn, and grow.
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Prior Restraint
The federal government’s decision to shut down DEI initiatives under the guise of legality and so-called divisiveness argument is nothing more than prior restraint—a well-known and heavily frowned-upon form of censorship. And as history has shown us, prior restraint is not just a direct violation of the First Amendment, but one of the biggest threats…
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Merit and fairness
The new U.S. government administration ordered the dismantling of all federal DEI programs under the argument that such programs are discriminatory and undermine fairness. The government claims they want to implement a purely merit-based system. This view misunderstands the role of access and achievement programs and the structural inequities they aim to address and favors…
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President Elect
“Madam President” should have been a better title for this post. Not today, not yet. Donald Trump is now the President-Elect of the United States and will soon take office as the 47th President. Unlike in 2016, I’m neither shocked nor surprised. Although I hoped and voted for a different outcome, this feels like just…
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A garbage joke
“There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico”. For those of us with Puerto Rican roots, who cherish both the island and the country we now call home, these words cut deep. They sting, but they also clarify something profoundly troubling. This…
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Buen viaje
Gracias Tió Cristóbal por haberme regalado mi primer cuatro; por siempre tener un catre listo cuando te visitábamos de niños; por dejarme usar tu TransAm para llevar a pasear “la jeva” cuando yo era apenas un chamaquito; por ser un gran tío, pero también un amigo. Gracias por tu corazón generoso que siempre daba sin…
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Barbarism
The recent legal execution of a man in Alabama, where nitrogen gas was used as a sanctioned killing method for the first time, starkly highlights the ongoing and deeply troubling issues surrounding capital punishment. This case, involving an individual who not only endured a previously failed execution attempt but also suffered visible convulsions during the…
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Confianza marchita
La confianza es la base de cualquier relación, ya sea entre individuos o entre ciudadanos y sus instituciones gubernamentales. Cuando una madre pierde a su hijo y las autoridades la mantienen en la oscuridad durante meses sobre las circunstancias de su muerte, esa confianza se quiebra. El caso de Dexter Wade es más que solo…
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Librorum prohibitorum
La censura no es un fenómeno nuevo. La censura es milenaria. Y en la mayoría de los casos, la censura es herramienta de opresión. Ahora, si me hubieran dicho que en la era de la información censurar libros en las escuelas se convertiría en tendencia, probablemente hubiera fruncido el ceño en señal de incredulidad.
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A new journey
This week I say goodbye to my job of 14+ years to start a new professional journey (CV has the details). Throughout the many years serving students, I’ve had the privilege of crossing paths with many amazing individuals. One of those happened to be my “boss” of many years, Bruce Weaver. Rarely you cross paths…