I was born with a progressive hearing loss. My hearing did not worsen until after most of my speech had developed, so I speak with no impediments. Therefore, I am privileged in my experience with this disability. This has been a double-edged sword. While it is indisputable that deafness is a disability, when it isn’t […]
It is a gusty rainy night on the streets of central Manhattan. Heat and steam rises up from the sewers. Subways howl with thousands of people traveling underground. Cuddled up in a corner, Ethan is soaked to the bone trying to catch a few winks of sleep without freezing to death. He sees the corner […]
One day while driving my brother and a few of his friends to our house, his friend Jerry, a black 16-year-old from Buffalo who has been to our house countless times since he was 12, looked at me and said “I feel like I’m not allowed to be here. No one looks like me…Shit is […]
For women, deciding to have sex involves much more than the physical act itself. Their decision also includes the use of contraception and the best way to protect themselves and their partner against unwanted pregnancies. Finding what forms of contraception work for their bodies can be a complex, confusing, and exhausting process of trial-and-error. In […]
The Jamaican national slogan is “Out of Many, One People,” which symbolizes the unity of cultural minorities inhabiting the island nation. However, the Jamaican national slogan fails to identify the economic and racial disparities on the island. Jamaica may have “One People,” but Jamaica has two classes: the wealthy White elites and the poorer Black […]
I grew up on the Upper West Side in New York City. The blue portion of the map is the area I grew up in; it consists of mostly tall, expensive apartment buildings. I spent a lot of time playing basketball at the Frederick Douglass Playground (grayed area on the map). It is the foremost […]
Peru elected Pedro Castillo and Keiko Fujimori for its Presidential Election run-offs last April 11th This was surprising, to say the least. Far-left candidate Pedro Castillo never appeared on the polls until election day and far-right candidate Keiko Fujimori had just been imprisoned in 2020 for corruption and other charges. In polls, she had high […]
Growing up just outside of Boston and visiting the city frequently, the various ethnic sectors were always apparent to me: Southie had the Irish, the North End housed the Italians, Chinatown was home to the Chinese. These communities provide a sense of belonging to certain ethnicities who say they can embrace their culture. However, they […]
