Not a day should go by~

Not a day should go by without telling those we love how much they mean to us. Brothers... I don't think I have ever really shared how I feel about my brother. He was my partner in crime long before my sisters arrived... long before my daughter would become my partner... it was always Fabin y Alicia... we were the original rat pack... the original wolf pack... and we kept our secrets and had our vows. If one of us was going down we both went down. And both got the beating!!! Except for those occasions when we would throw the other under the bus so one of us could get the break from the beat down that was sure to come. We got into the refridgerator even though they tried to keep us out and away from the food... HELLOOOO child abuse hotline!!!! LMAO. Then they tried putting a combination lock on the telephone so we couldn't make calls. MAN we were the MacGyver and the Bionic Woman team. We had each others back in a fight... we fought each other... and man do we LAUGH together... and that is a beautiful thing!

Brothers… my little brother… actually your 10 months older than me!!! Howeverrrr, I am still taller and better looking. 

Fabio Antonio Santos Jr. (the 12^th lol) 

Today is your birthday… and as I sit here I am flashing back to our Bushwick, Brooklyn days when for six years it was just you and me kid!!! 

Then Josie came and stole the spotlight… six years after that... Fabiana comes to town… y pa que fue eso??? More mouths to feed. 

My big brother I don’t tell you often enough how proud I am of you and your three beautiful sons, Fabio Jr, Anthony and Jayden. I LOVE YOU bro! We may not always agree… we may have our rolling on the ground... beat downs… but this blood runs deep and this love is strong and I don’t ever want there to go a day when you doubt how much you are loved. 

Today and everyday I wish you a life filled with peace, calm, patience and understanding… more patience and a lifetime of love. 

I love you Fabin. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

LOVE, Your little sister.

OH YEAH! I FORGOT!!!! CAUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!

 

Day 10: Self Portrait~ I AM a writer

I AM here to do good work
I AM here to serve
I AM responsible for the words I put on the page
I Write so that our stories live on

I am so grateful for the wonderful conversation today at the New School on the Oral Traditions of Storytelling.

Ache.

Storytelling: An Art

The Oral Tradition On Paper: Latino Writers in their Own Words.

Back in the day stories were memorized and passed down. The oral tradition of story telling is NOT a new concept. The passing on of history, religion, language and music orally through stories is how our traditions and cultures are preserved. All those stories that our mothers and fathers, abuelas and abuelos have told us about who we are and where we come from have been passed down orally.

The roots of where the tambor comes from in Palo Dominicano… the significance of bomba y plena in communicating with our ancestors through dance and drum. How gaga, originally Rara from Haiti, arrived to Hispanola that is celebrated today in the Dominican Republic.

The oral tradition is how we maintain our stories generation across generation.  The storyteller with her pen… takes the stories told orally and gets them on the page. Storytellers remind us of why it is important to document, write and perform our stories. Without storytellers our stories, our history and our culture would be lost.

How do we pass down what has been left for us? What are we leaving behind? What would happen if there were no storytellers? How will we preserve our language and history? Why is it important that YOU document, write and tell our stories?

Join us tomorrow for a wonderful conversation about Oral Tradition from the mouths of storytellers.

Wednesday, September 19^th

Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Address: 72 5^th Avenue, New York

Room 321 Henry Cohen Conference Room

YOU are important!

Today, I must stop for a moment to recognize someone incredibly important in my life.  We met in 2008 after he read an article I wrote that was published in Urban Latino Magazine from that moment we have been inseparable.

RENZO DEVIA… the Executive Producer & Director of Afrolatinos: The Untaught Story.

Aside from his many accomplishments and accolades as a producer for MTV, HBO Latino, Univision and then going onto being one of the founders of American Latino TV and LatiNation which is broadcast in over 100 markets and seen in over 50 million homes.

Renzo is really ABOUT IT! He gets it done! He believes in excellence and knows how to put together an excellent team giving opportunities to Latinos worldwide. He cares about people… all people… but mostly OUR PEOPLE… the Latino experience. He spent years developing the real stories of who LATINOS are… our successes and incredible contributions that are a part of American culture. After being one of the pioneers here in the U.S. he decided that his expertise and talent could be used to tell our stories on a wider scale and so he returned home to Colombia.  

CREADOR Pictures … his production company is finally wrapping up our first revolutionary project taking on the massive story of Afrolatinos. If you don’t know who Afrolatinos are check out WWW.AFROLATINOS.TV

While his contributions and his mission are to be admired… it is my relationship with Renzo that I want to recognize today.

I wanted to take a moment to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I wanted to thank him for choosing me to partner with on the tremendous project that is Afrolatinos: La Historia Que Nunca nos Contaron. I understand that he could have had his pick at hundreds of amazing writers, but he chose me and we were BORN TO TELL THIS STORY!

Today I wish you Renz a day filled with joy and hard work… because I know that as I type you are working your tail off and there IS a payoff in the end. I know that Oya y todo los Santos te van a dar una bendicion tan imensa porque te lo mereces. Maferefun Ellegua que siempre esta contigo.

My best friend y hermano Happy Happy Birthday.

Never stop telling our stories… YOUR WORK IS IMPORTANT… YOU ARE IMPORTANT! 

And I love you.

Tu hermana,

Alicia