Visiting Puerto Rico Via The Bronx : "Can't Stop La Musica"

Narratively, the gorgeous forum which tells one story each day sharing a weekly theme, published my narrative as part of the week "The Bronx Is Not Burning." It certainly is not, but the community at La Casita in the Melrose neighborhood - a place where the music of plena travels between generations - remembers when it was.

The story is accompanied by recordings of plenero Jose Rivera and photography of the people & place that form a unique familia, both by Narratively's director of multimedia

Everyone I spent time with for the piece was incredibly generous in letting me be present in their day, sharing their stories, their pasts, and their traditions.

As writers, we are usually drawn to similar themes, expressed uniquely. This is a narrative of home, and it was an opportunity to explore my self-described genre, the biography of place.

Have a look, listen and read: Can't Stop La Musica

Yours,
CMMOB.

Here's a pull-quote that Narratively shared on their Facebook page, which I recommend you LIKE to follow all of the Bronx week stories.

"Despite the turbulence, segregation and violence associated with the area, Tito speaks fondly of his early days here. 'You’d dance,” he says. “Nobody would fight when they’d play the Temptations, Gladys Knight.'" Today, Narratively reminds you through photos, sounds & text that you "Can't Stop La Musica."

Everything that Rises Must Converge

It's been one year since my Columbia commencement, five years since my Dartmouth commencement and ten years since I graduated from high school - what a privilege it was to be on the stage in the CEU commencement with colleagues on Thursday, and what a reversal of roles. My students were beaming, and I especially enjoyed that each and every one had the opportunity to shake hands with the founder of CEU, George Soros. It was a great tribute to the incredible diversity of CEU that every student's country was called as well as their name. It was a moment for reflection about how we relate identity and citizenship, however, as I was curious whether the basis for the country that could 'claim' each student was legal, practical, cultural or simply a matter of the students' preference.

I've been thinking about origins and mentors very much as I reflect on the academic year - especially since I received the news that my essay "A Figment of Your Imagination" will be published in the fall issue of the Bellevue Literary Review.

Ernest Hebert, who I described in my first blog post, was instrumental in encouraging me to work with ">Cynthia Huntington whose gracious scrutiny of every word of my undergraduate thesis has deeply influenced the way I conceptualize my writing and teaching - as a balancing act between form and content.

I remember, during a brief sojourn in San Francisco, when I met one of the Beat poets. I asked him if he had read her work and if he'd stock it in his shop. I haven't been back to California in the six years since then to see if her latest work is on the shelves, so I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite of her poems.

Enjoy, 'til I blog again.

The Radiant

PS The title of this post comes from Flannery O'Connor- it's the first book my godmother suggested to me after she had read my writing.