-
My Second Bilingual Children’s Book: Sebastian’s Game Day Surprise
On August of 2019, my second bilingual children’s book was published: “Sebastian’s Game Day Surprise/La Sorpresa de Sebastián el Día del Partido Final”. The book was commissioned by the program called Read Conmigo. This book was really special to me as it allowed me to bring to life a character that positively represents AfroLatino children…
-
3 Happiness Lessons Our Kids Can Learn from Dominican Culture
I just got back from my hometown of Santo Domingo and am now experiencing what I call the ‘withdrawal stage’ after returning to the United States from the Dominican Republic. Besides the nostalgic feeling of leaving friends and family behind, there’s also a longing for the natural joy that’s so inherent to life on the…
-
7 TED Talks You Must Watch on Biases, Racial Inequality, and Violence
As I was looking at old photos the other night, memories of my teenage years in Santo Domingo flooded my mind. I began thinking about my late aunt, Anairis, who probably never realized the profound impact she had on my life. She always told me that I was a natural leader, and those words, as…
-
Home Again: Living Out My Dominican Dream
After almost 20 years of living in the United States, I finally got to live out my Dominican Dream: moving back to the Dominican Republic for a year. This has been a long-time dream of mine—returning to my home country to live here with my children. Yes, we moved to Santo Domingo as soon as…
-
Raising Culturally Aware Kids for a Global Society
As a mother, I often catch myself saying things my grandmother used to say, like “things aren’t the same as they used to be,” as I sigh and reminisce about my childhood. The truth is, nothing is like it used to be, and we must prepare our children to navigate a complex world. Raising culturally…
-
Unconscious Bias: What You Need to Know
When I first moved to New York City over a decade ago, I didn’t know anything about unconscious bias. This lack of awareness meant that my own prejudices were hidden from me. For example, I would get upset when people mistook me for another nationality, not Dominican. My reaction was, “Of course not!” This triggered…
-
3 Simple Ways to Nurture Multicultural Friendships in Children
When I left my island in my mid-twenties, I didn’t set out to live a multicultural life. I never imagined that more than a decade later, I would be nurturing multicultural friendships in my American-born children. Multicultural living wasn’t even on my mind before I moved to the United States; at that time, Santo Domingo…
-
Remembering Muhammad Ali: Great Lessons From the Activist Champion
As the world bids farewell to Muhammad Ali, there’s no doubt about his lightning-fast moves and powerful punch. He will forever be remembered as the greatest, the most celebrated athlete of his time. However, I want to pay tribute to his other strengths—the rapid rhythm of his poetry and the force of his principles. It…
-
5 Effective Ways to Support Language Acquisition
Up until I was 19 years old, I only spoke Spanish and had never been to an English-speaking country. For a long time, I believed I would never be able to learn English, as starting to study a new language as an adult was incredibly challenging. This is one of the reasons I am committed…
