My Meditation of Praxis and Cerebral Confessions

Flickr- Markus Branse I sit here, 3:47 am, listening to the quiet. I’m looking for reasons to evade my studies. So here I am philosophizing my depression I’ve allowed myself to feel and accept...  Kierkegaard writes, “Depression is the most faithful mistress I have known — no wonder, then, that I return the love.” Present …

Oakland community speaks out about city’s lack of transparency on impact fees

This was posted Nov. 12 2019 with Mills College The Campanil. An Oakland City Council meeting was held Oct. 22 to discuss the economic development efforts affecting future plans for affordable housing. Community members and directors of local organizations such as the East Bay Housing Organization (EBHO) were especially fervent for the release of the …

The Return of the Gilded Age

Mark Twain once described the western world to be, “The Gilded Age,” a time where opulence and wealth came with a dirty price. A time where the elite lived lavishly off the industrialization of a modernized world. The corruption of government eroded away the needs of people, and favored policies furthering the economic agenda of …

A Sociological Imagination

This is a short analysis of an idea covered in sociology by C. Wright Mills (1959). One must have a sociological imagination, or the ability to externalize and construct reality for oneself that ultimately participates in a collective reality. With the components of a scientist, artist, and journalist one could help be a part of …

Art, Immigration, and Hitler

This is an article featured in Glendale Community College Magazine. Is art powerful enough to bridge the gap of polarizing beliefs? Could art help mediate conversation that promotes mutual compromise and respect? I set out to spark conversation amongst Glendale Community College students on the topic of immigration. I had the opportunity to speak to …

Marijuana, Religion, and the Brain

This was an article that I published in Glendale Community College's newspaper El Vaquero. “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.” – Marie Curie After the legalization of marijuana in California, there hasn’t been much backlash or debate on the negative effects of this drug from Millennials. Is it …

Not Latin Enough

I used to treat my trilled R's like Parseltongue. Quick to correct my mothers gorgeous accent, quick to straighten my wild hair. When people in Indiana asked me where I was from, I made it very clear I was born in the U.S. and my primary language was English. In the summers, girls would envy …

“You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.”

I think we are a network of consciousness. Similar to the butterfly effect where an invigorating conversation transpires into a story someone writes, where someone across the world reads, that manifests into a petition, that alters legislation....so on and so fourth. There's no starting point or ending point. Maybe that's why I was so afraid …

“Sleep of Reason- Produces Monsters” Francisco Goya

My mind is a web of ideas, a mixture of seemingly unrelated concepts that at times only creates a sea of unending questions. Anyone that knows me has experienced the unsurmountable level of curiosity- even at times overwhelming. I'm lucky to have patient friends and family that are willing to listen. So here's a taste …

Dangers of a Mental Sieve

There walking along the Imago Beach is a young boy that feels a hunger. He digs his feet into the damp sand and takes deep breaths, trying to recall something forgotten. He then begins to unscrew the side of his head. He chose this beach for the mystical properties it possesses. The beach itself consists …