It’s not easy to warm up to George Zimmerman as he sits silently at his trial for second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin. How do we read his expressionless, stoic frumpiness, stuffed into that gray suit? HIs eyes dart around the courtroom, at the witnesses, the jury, then down to a sheet of paper where he […]
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This week is the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. There’s an exhaustive summary of the costs of the war by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies here. It’s kind of overwhelming, but worth scrolling through just to add context and clarity. Back in March 2003, I watched the “Shock and […]
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It’s a beautiful mystery, at least it was/will be before and after the postmodern era.
Read moreJanuary 31, 2013 President Obama’s speech on immigration Tuesday was a significant demonstration that the second-term president has embraced a mandate that demands rights for marginalized people. By making the argument that America has always been a nation of immigrants, he has taken the first step in reversing a tide of anti-Latino sentiment, stoked by […]
Read moreSupreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Elana Kagan arrives on the West Front of the Capitol in Washington.(Win McNamee, Pool/AP Photo) Jan. 25, 2013 Two days before Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor swore in returning Vice President Joe Biden, she was paying a visit to El Barrio, or at least El Museo del Barrio, a […]
Read moreOn Saturday night, the masses descended on the corner of Cortland Avenue and 151st Street, because in the end, all of the Nuyorican nation (and honorary Nuyorican isleños) eventually comes home, this time to the Bronx, others to El Barrio or Loisaida or Los Sures, to spend some time with familia. There was lots of […]
Read moreEduardo Bhatia, René Pérez, and Carmen Yulín Cruz backstage at Calle 13?s December 15th concert. (Eduardo Bhatia) Jan. 18, 2013 On Monday night’s inauguration in San Juan’s Parque Luis Muñoz Marín, new mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz rattled off slogans timed to her Twitter feed: “The University Will Be RESPECTED” she intoned, ensuring she will not […]
Read moreSam Riley (left), Kristen Stewart (center), and Garrett Hedlund (right) in Walter Salles’ film version of Jack Kerouac’s classic novel, ‘On the Road.’ (Gregory Smith/Courtesy of IFC Films) Early on in Walter Salles and José Rivera’s adaptation of the classic 1957 Jack Kerouac novel On the Road, the film’s narrator, Sal Paradise, makes clear what drives him […]
Read moreThe Ghetto Brothers in the studio, recording their only album, Power Fuerza, originally released in 1971. (Courtesy of Truth & Soul Records) It happened a little over 41 years ago, in the middle of a South Bronx park—a moment that would change Benjy Meléndez, his street gang and rock band the Ghetto Brothers, and music history forever. […]
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Apparently New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith learned some salsa moves from his high school AAU basketball teammate, NY Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz. After hitting the game-winning shot vs. Charlotte Hornets Wednesday night, J.R. busted this move, seemingly approved by backup point guard Pablo Prigioni, who gets all Buenos Aires on him as […]
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ED MORALES 