There are tags underneath our membranes. Although our mind controls the way our body behaves, we tend to become a slave to it. As I grow older, I continually notice that everyday is at war, against our conscious. Most people don’t realize how amazing it is that we can constantly work against our desires to accomplish what we need to get done.

            In a matter of days, you can change your personality and the whole world will notice. Experience helps you develop some ...

    If you just graduated college, Congratulations! This is a very exciting time in your career but it is important to remember not to freak out. 

            It’s hard to think of what you want to do with your life once your responsibilities are gone but don’t fret, this is now an opportunity to get to know yourself without the pressure of fitting into the social circles created in college.

            If you haven’t found a job yet, don’t sit at home and wait for...

“That’s a very important line, pay attention to that,” said Queens College professor Anupama Kapse.

 Her Silent and early sound era class was set up in a semi circle as they watched 7^th heaven, a 1927 Parisian film, she encouraged students to interpret the film.

 Kapse’s film classes have served as tools to the publications she’s put out in past years due to the many things that she has learned from different students.

“I find that a lot of students in Queens ...

By Ana Castillo          March 9, 2015

            There are many things to encounter when moving to Ghana from the United States but there is one unusual question that an African American woman has to ask herself, how do you ask an African man to use a condom?

            One of the most controversial episodes of the online web series “An African City” is “Condom Etiquette” in which the show’s creator touches upon the issues of HIV and a man’s inability to pro...

Today, I was finally able to have a conversation with my mother after having my tongue literally tied for the past 5 days due to my tonsillectomy. Ever since my uncle passed away last year, we have felt so much different about going back home. She told me she spoke to my aunt today only to be more disappointed about how troublesome our old neighborhood has become along with the people. 

I find myself having this battle everyday. When I was in High School and my early stages of living in Americ...

In an effort to get myself out of the habit of eating in the streets and increasing my skills in cooking I decided to make a new challenge (And of course your welcome to follow). I will find 7 recipes, one for each day of the week, and it will either be a breakfast, lunch or dinner meal. I will write all ingredients and instructions in a brand new journal and at the end of each write a shopping list for the weekend. This way each day I will make sure each meal gets done and by the end of the ...

            I have been gone for quiet too long and it’s because I needed a break from life! Although I went to Paris for the whole of last month, I was also taking some really fun classes. Well, before I embarked on my trip, I was doing some research to finally get rid of my acne scars, which have been haunting me since high school. I stumbled upon this amazing little tool called a Derma roller.

            Derma rolling is not a very popular treatment in the market since it i...

My 3rd Green Smoothie this week.




I’m getting myself back on track, its time to resume my fitness.

For this I used:

1/2 a Mango
1 handful of spinach
1 large Banana
2 tablespoons of Yogurt
1/2 cup of SoyMilk 

And just blend away.



This is so delicious, I’m more fond of putting spinach in my smoothies than Kale but I still do both! 

I've started drinking Green Smoothies about a month ago. They have become my breakfast replacement, and if I do eat something besides the smoothie, it is ...

My new Favorite Snack.
I always buy these at the Grocery store when I get home from School or before work. Instead of spending a dollar on a small bag I decided to just do it myself.
I bought a couple of plantains and threw in a pinch of salt and voila, Plantain chips.

If you want to make these yourself make sure you slice them very thin.
You can put them in a zip log bag and eat them on the go or have them as a snack after a long day. 

To make this you will need:
2 Green Plantains (Pla...

Why are we slaves to our subconscious?

As children, we are given love.

We breathe love and celebrate it

When we grow older, we open our hearts to another.

Why does our first love mark the end of our feel of love?

As our hearts become tainted with agony,

We replace that initial careless feeling with the pain.

When we recover, we trust less.

How can you ever love again?

Is it possible for you to remember the first feel of love?

The frightful beating of your...

I wouldn't dwell on the past,
unless I wanted you here present.
The past was good.
It was all joy
I was confused, felt like a toy
Mesmerized. 
Spoke enough, then too much,

You live, learn, accept.
Your gone, now back.
Then gone, and back.
Forgive me but you must stay.
I must taste your lips again.
Your the poison that I picked,
I wish to bleed its joyous pain.

To not be sane, or ready.
Would be a great mistake,
Endeavored in your being, I'd
Love to have thee.

My dreams died with the shadows that overtook the night
I loved you like no other
I probably do, still
Your absence filled my nights with sorrow
Endless times, thinking it was me
I'm not complete
But now, it all lies underneath 
My army consisted of two warriors
They would stand side by side no matter what
No matter how much blood was spilled
No matter how much... Bodies were killed
One body would return home
One body will live to tell, and pass it all on to the future
Silly to think that the cow really d...

Those nights I'd think I would never let go.

When his heart was the resident in the presidential suite of my heart.

When my thoughts raced like horse's adrenaline at the end of a race. 

I was stranded, I was one, I was lonely. 

 There's no greater pain, than falling in love.

Specially when that person never even dated you.

They become the dreams you don't want to wake up from.

The reason you don't finish your meals.

The streak of motivation when you just can't seem to keep going.

But then they leave.

L...

The New York Subway

Its funny; how life works. 

My city is united by railways. 

5 boroughs, and everyday is the same routine

4am, workers dragged out their bed sleep on the karts on their way to work

No care for appearance, pulling through the hours to make an extra cent

To be home, before their kids arrive from school.

12 Noon, we begin to see the homeless

Begging for money, for different reasons 

But to us it all sounds the same.

We venture along these carts on the same routine.

With hopes that show n...

Along with my fitness journey I also started a healthy hair journey. I only used deva curl products for the same 4 months of my fitness journey along with NO HEAT or straightening my hair. The transition was hard at first, but its now been a year and I find it extremely hard to want my hair straight.

Born Hispaniola

Raised Dominican Republic

Motherland of my life, author to my many disasters

This land is the definition of Nationalism.

With examples of survival skills of disgust

But we speak of them without shame.

We don’t care what you think ‘coz you don’t know how we live

You can’t experience being Dominican in a resort.

Fuck no!

Let me tell you my truth

Woke up one morning, a rooster my alarm like every other day

No wind, No sound, 

No one in sight

A poor neighborhood but a ser...

Here's my observation:

I wake up 

My skin is brown.

I work out, 

Shower, get a massage.

Almost drown, 

Almost Choke.

Heal.

Still brown.

I have color.

Here's my argument:

I’m not only brown, I’m beautiful.

Dark and beautiful.

Like chocolate, caramel and cinnamon.

Color!

But, there are people 

who think it isn't.

"She's dark!"

Gasp!

So because I'm dark

I'm ghetto

I will steal your money 

Take Your purse without a gun

Talk without manners

Curse after every word 

Put my elbows on the tabl...

My love towards him is confusion

When I think of it

I’m lost

Lost in wonder

And imagination

Thinking of what could be

And what it isn’t

But by the end of the day

I look at him

Then at myself

Then I ask

Why do I wait?

I can tell he’s also waiting

But the chain is not yet breaking

It will take my bravery

To make it noticeable

And it will take his energy to make me powerful

But all in all

He is still my mysterious love