CODA XXXII | En "La Brega" and then some
From the Upper West Side of the Bronx to the South Bronx on I-87 South best exists are Exit 6, Macombs Dam Bridge, or 138th St. And they dangerous roads. Each one in its own way but Exit 6 got me to call News 12 The Bronx and added me to a complaint list. For a number of years Exit 6 goes full or half open-close-open-close and right now the exit is closed. So many countries have better roads than us. Que vergüenza. Y ni hablar de Puerto Rico. Down there the shit is an alternate reality. Corruption 101. So, I was hooked with “La Brega” from the first. I “binged-listened” for a beautiful Spanglish immersion experience. Someone I know once said “We need stories about Puerto Rico as there are about the Holocaust.” Y si, es verdad, its true so I hope they return with more.
The mighty rulers have left us, the people, with a lot of neglected roads. I see we are all bregando con lo que hay with as much dignity as we can muster. It is repulsive to see how they get away of murder. They vomit on us—from Brazil to China, India, Mexico, Myanmar, Puerto Rico, Russia, and this very soil of dreams. To add insult to injury, some still need convincing that now is the right time to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour—wow. The Intercepted” February 17 episode “The Democrats’ Long War on Immigrants” is especially good and true, unfortunately—a sea of tears, I say.
Were it not for the good and brave artists, journalists, and scholars, trying to connect us, as of late I would want to be living under a rock, but I don’t and there this reading is amazing: “How Spanish Can Help Us Survive Viral Times | A Journey into the Heart of a Language We Need Now More Than Ever” by the acclaimed Chilean author, activist, and scholar Ariel Dorfman for TomDispatch.
Neyda Martínez’s contribution to the NYU Latin X Project under intervenxions is beautiful and, Heavenly Home (Got to Take a Journey) from the Langrun Branch Baptist Church in York, South Carolina—is for today. The best day to have.
Amen.
Soldanela