I don’t have any actual lines. I only mimic betting money on a cockfight, I make disparaging comments about someone introducing machines to the cigar factory, and I also react in a few other scenes.

I’m a board member of the theater company that put the production together. I was also part of the script writing committee that helped select this play, as well as three others, a year ago. As soon as I got the word that the play was going to be produced, I knew I had to be part of it.

Now, I’m not an actor. And I have a terrible memory. On top of that, this summer has been quite eventful. I knew that I didn’t want to have any lines, despite the director and board president gently asking me to audition a few times. I appreciated their prodding, but I just couldn’t do it. There was too much going on, and again, I had never acted before. I wanted my first time on stage to be as less stressful as possible.

I wanted to be involved in a minimal way, and that’s what I ended up doing.

In my early 20s, I had a few actor friends. I went to see plays, read lines with a few of them to help them out, and went to my share of fun and interesting cast parties. However, I never acted. I was too nervous, too shy. I’d rather be the one who writes the plays, I’d tell them.

I’m 20 years older now. I’m not as shy, but I’m still a bit nervous about getting on stage and performing lines in front of complete strangers. Therefore, at least for now, actually performing lines is not in my future plans.

The whole process is fascinating, though.

We’re at a small theater company, so everyone is pretty much a volunteer. Only recently did we start offering honorariums to the directors. Shades of Theater’s mission is to showcase the voices of underserved communities. Each play we perform is either by or about an undeserved community, whether that’s Latino, Black, or queer stories, among others.

After auditions were done and actors were cast, I showed up to the theater as a special consultant, which is a fancy way of saying that I was there to make sure that the actors were familiar with Cuban culture and history. The director, Maeghan, wanted to ensure the words people pronounced were correct and the dialect, even from the extras/factory workers, was authentically Cuban.

A few days later, the actors rehearsed the entire play, still on book, working things out. How would they deliver their lines? Where should they stand for this scene or the other? I wasn’t there for this part, since I didn’t have any actual lines.

A week later though, it was tech week. This means that the actors showed up in costume, and we went through the whole play with lights, music, and anything else we needed to make the play successful. The crew was there too, running props, helping with costume changes, and obviously working the tech part of the play.

I showed up with my guayabera and hat. Everyone else was wearing a costume. I was the only person who brought clothes they own. This is stuff that I actually wear, so in a way it was easy to step into this character. Oh, and I also shaved my beard and kept this goatee of sorts.

Here are a few things the audience doesn’t get to see.

Behind the stage we’re running around, changing our clothes quickly and quietly (or trying). Since a few of us factory workers don’t have a lot of scenes, we often hang out in another adjacent room, and crack jokes while we listen for our cues. We were late a few times coming into a few scenes, but that only happened during tech week, which is exactly why you have that extra week of practice.

Before we go on stage, we meet in the “green room,” huddle in a circle, where we hold hands and someone says a word of encouragement, before almost in unison wishing each other to “break a leg!” That moment feels special, each time. We are all wearing our costumes, Cuban music playing softly in the background, and holding hands, taking it all in. Yes, we’re a small theater company in the Midwest, but the audience came to see us, and they deserve respect and the best of what we can offer them.

A couple of times during the huddle, Maeghan led us in some vocal exercises, which I’ve seen done in the movies, but had never done in real life. I felt kind of silly making “brrrrr” or “bzzzz” sounds, but everyone was doing it, so I wasn’t alone in my onomatopoeia.

In the dressing room, Matt, one of the actors, likes to quote from the movie Scarface, which is hilarious. He knows it verbatim. He does this while playing Cuban music in the background, often Buena Vista Social Club. We hang out there for about a half hour, getting dressed, getting mentally ready, all the while a crew member coming over every so often to remind us, “Fifteen minutes to places!” To which we respond, I learned, “Thank you fifteen!” And so on.

The first time we perform with a live audience is “Invited Dress,” which means that our friends and family get to see the show first. Jackie brought the kids along so that they could see their dad on stage. (Although I told her to remain outside with the kids for one brief scene)

Even though I don’t have any lines, and I’m just an extra, my kids thought it was cool to see me perform. And I think it’s important for them to see their dad on stage, doing something out of his comfort zone, doing something creative. I hope that this instills confidence in them and a drive to be creative and follow any pursuits they may have, no matter how old they are.

After a week or so of performing with no audience, it felt good to hear people’s reaction. There’s something addictive in hearing the audience’s laughter in the right places, or sometimes in unexpected ones, and the clapping when acknowledging a scene or a particular performance. I finally understood why actors love performing so much. There’s a special alchemy that happens on the stage that it’s hard to replicate elsewhere.

Did this experience birth a desire to be in the theater? I’d say yes. I loved it. Maybe I’ll even venture into actually auditioning. But the time commitment was a bit much during this time of my life. The parenting schedule with my kids and with school starting was too complicated. On top of that, my air conditioning at home started malfunctioning, and my shower/tub decided to also get clogged at the same time. The theater was magic, but life was quickly reminding me that it was all make belief.

And yet, there is something beautiful and necessary in creating a space to escape. It doesn’t have to be the theater. It could be a hike, watching a movie, or especially reading a good book. We need these spaces and practices to remind us that being human is more than just existing, it’s about creating art, and it’s about creating beauty amidst the chaos and the mundane.

After opening night, we had a cast party. This wasn’t like the ones my friends had in their 20s. This was calm, relaxed, but still fun. We talked, ate, drank, and more importantly, smoked cigars. After all, the play is about cigar factory workers.

On our final show, we actually had more people show up than ever. Before we went out and performed, we had our last huddle. This moment felt extra special and charged with energy. This was the last time we would be performing as these characters and the last time this exact group of people would be in costume, holding hands. We formed a bond, week after week. New friendships were certainly ignited as a result of this production. We also hung out a couple of times after the show and that also help cement these nascent relationships.

Finally, after our last show, then came the part where we take everything down, also known as Strike. It was time to say goodbye to Anna in the Tropics.

It was an unforgettable experience. I’m glad that I was able to be involved in this production and share the stage night after night with an incredible group of people. Topeka has so much talented individuals and I hope that one day many of them are recognized nationally and even globally.

Thanks for reading.

Have you ever been involved in theater?

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As many of you know, I’m starting to read all of the Hugo Award winners in order, starting with The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. This novel won the inaugural award in 1953.

As a quick side note, I’m also buying copies of these books when possible. There are a few used bookstores around town, one of them with a large Science Fiction collection, so I’ve had some luck there. For the ones that I can’t find in person, Abe Books also has many of them available at reasonable prices. However, some are hard to find, or they only have a very expensive edition available. In those cases, I’m resorting to my public library, as well as the Internet Wayback Machine.

I’m getting a new bookshelf soon and my plan is to populate it with all of these books. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Onto the review…

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On the opposite spectrum, there is the fact that a lot of the investment going into these companies seems to be circular and the bubble may be about to burst. In other words, it’s the same companies investing or buying from each other. It’s the same money going around and around. For example, OpenAI signed a $300 billion multi-year cloud contract with Oracle. With that money in hand, Oracle then spends billions of dollars purchasing advanced chips from Nvidia. In turn, Nvidia acts as one of OpenAI’s most prominent financial backers, investing billions in the company. And that’s just one example. All the other giants are tangled up in similar web, with Nvidia as the center more often than not.

If the bubble bursts, experts fear that we will go into a global recession.

What is Artificial General Intelligence?

AGI, is when AI can match or beat any human at any smart task. As interesting as talking to ChatGPT may be, large language models are an example of Narrow AI.

LLMs predict the next word in a sentence based on patterns in large training data, but they don’t really reason or comprehend. After their training, the models cannot learn new data or information without human intervention or retraining. And if you ever used an LLM for anything too complex, you may find yourself arguing with it in all caps. (Just me, then?) LLMs are not very smart, not really.

But what if one day one of these companies reaches AGI?

Let’s put aside the scenario where it kills us all. Let’s pretend that it’s aligned with our best interests at heart and always will be, for the sake of this newsletter. What then?

If AGI can do anything and presumably will do anything, what is there left for us to do? And I’m not talking about work, specifically. People always say that work provides meaning, but that’s an elitist way of looking at things. I can almost guarantee that someone cleaning toilets would rather be doing something else. Work does not always provide meaning. Anyone ever had a bullshit job in the past? You can certainly find meaning in your profession, but there’s no inherent meaning in a profession. There are millions of people that would rather get paid to do nothing. It’s not because they’re necessarily lazy, but because they don’t want to flip burgers until they’re 70.

If there’s some form of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and everything is provided for, then what do we with our leisure time? Sure, we can write or create art, but not everyone enjoys artistic pursuits. I suppose we can travel, but if everyone has disposable incomes, can you imagine the hell that would be going to Disney World?

These are questions that we need to grapple with as a species.

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I’m really worried about my kids’ generation. It’s so much easier and convenient to ask AI to solve all your problems. I understand the appeal.

But it’s not just my kids’ generation that is struggling, but mine included, as well as older ones. Tens of millions of people ask AI for relationship advice every single day. On the surface, it seems harmless. But AI chatbots are designed to validate YOU, the person chatting with it. It will always take your side, reaffirm your feelings, and see things the way YOU frame them. AI chatbots are designed to keep you coming back. If the chatbots didn’t make you the center of their universe, you wouldn’t keep going back. It’s about you. It’s about me. However, relationships are centered in the “us” or “we,” not “me” or “you.”

And it’s not just relationships; it’s also critical thinking skills. About 84% of students use AI for homework. Instead of sitting down and wrestling with a text or an algebra problem, they can simply take a picture of their assignment and ask AI to solve it for them. The long-term consequences of children relying on AI for critical thinking and problem solving are unknown, but I can guarantee that they won’t be good. AI is too new right now for long-term studies, but I’m confident grad students are on it.

I love technology, but I’m thankful that I’m the last of the analog generation. I grew up on tapes, VCRs, and landlines. And I kind of miss that right now. I seriously want to buy a Walkman or a Discman and even a VCR and tapes. And this isn’t me being a luddite. I think AI is an important technology, and it has it uses, but in the narrow sense. It is nice to quickly translate something. It is nice to brainstorm ideas for a game night with the kids. But again, those are narrow uses. AI is not something that needs to overtake every facet of our lives.

And yes, I’m excited for new cures for cancer and other terrible diseases. That’s a wonderful use for AI. But the concern is when we abdicate all responsibility and let the machines run amok.

As cool as the science fiction stories that I read are, I would like them to stay strictly in the fiction category. I don’t want a super intelligent robot doing everything for me. I want to remain human, and I want humanity to remain in control of our civilization, even with our many flaws. The possibility of us creating a super species that replaces us is not far fetched, a these tech CEOs are gleefully trying to make it a reality. I don’t want to implant electrodes into my brain or anything weird like that. I don’t think most people want that, either.

Thanks for reading.

I feel like I’m bit all over the place in this piece, but it’s been something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I hope there’s some cohesion throughout, as all of these elements are interconnected.

What do you think?

Further Reading:

-The Merge by Sam Altman

-AI Advice is Undermining Couples - Psychology Today

-Using AI for Homework - Fortune

-AI Circular Deals - Bloomberg

-AI Chatbots Are Causing Relationship Problems - Huffpost

-If Anyone Builds it, Everyone Dies - Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares

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However, growing up, I mainly read science fiction novels, with a particular interest in books by Jules Verne. For whatever reason, I was drawn to stories of the fantastical. Partly, I suspect, it was because I lived in Cuba, a walled-off country. My only way to go anywhere was in my imagination. In those books, I could escape the inescapable.

Another aspect of those novels that I truly enjoyed was the sense of adventure. Exploring virgin jungles, discovering forgotten civilizations, visiting new planets; it all made me feel more alive and that the world was a lot bigger than an island in the Caribbean Sea.

I’m not sure why I stopped reading science fiction. I think somehow, I thought about it as childish, as an unserious genre. Maybe it’s because I read it so much as a child, that part of growing up to me meant leaving it behind.

When I arrived at the United States, at the age of 11, I still read science fiction, but only until my teenager years came knocking. This doesn’t mean that I never read any science fiction in my 20s or 30s, I did read a few Neal Stephenson books and enjoyed them, but those were the exception, not the rule.

I don’t regret the other genres I discovered and learned to love, especially magical realism. After years of reading books by French or American authors, magical realism was exclusively Latin American. I read the books in Spanish and I loved the cadence, the way the sentences made me feel, and the familiarity of the language, despite the idiosyncrasies of the Spanish preferred in other countries. Gabriel García Márquez was the champion of that genre, and I still love his nearly interminable sentences. If you would read anything I wrote during that time, you would surely find sentences that resemble his style.

All this brings me to the main point of this entry; I plan on reading science fiction novels and reviewing them on here and also create video reviews (both for paid subscribers). But I’m not planning on reading just any books that I pick or find interesting. Oh no, my friend. I’m going to read all of the Hugo Award winners for best novels. And yes, I know that the Hugo Awards also include fantasy novels. I will read those, too. I will read them in chronological order.

Why am I doing this? Why not just read books? Why review them? Honestly, I think it’s fun. It’ll be a good way to organize my thoughts, also. The video reviews will add a layer of work and complexity at first, but I enjoy the challenge and I like making videos.

I think it’ll also reconnect me with some of that youthful spirit of wonder that I had growing up.

I’m not going to put any pressure on myself. I don’t want this to become a thing that I have to do. I want this to be something that brings me joy, not an obligation.

Also, I want to reward my paid subscribers for their support with this extra content. While I want most of my work to remain free for people to read and distribute, I do want to honor those who monetarily support what I do.

I already read book one, The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953. Boy, do I have thoughts!

I hope you join me in this silly and fun project. Maybe this will be a good time to upgrade your subscription!

As always, thanks for reading.

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Related Post:

I spent the last two weeks in Miami, hence my silence on here. It was a much needed vacation, and one where my kids met their grandfather for the first time. (I’m sure that I’ll write more about this later.)

We did a lot. The beach, pools, restaurants, Calle Ocho, Books & Books, and so much more. Every day we had something going on. And still, there were so many people I didn’t get to see and much more that I didn’t get to do.

With all the joy of seeing loved ones, also came old wounds, criticisms, and yes, trauma. It shouldn’t be a surprise that being around those who raised us, instructed us, and often inadvertently hurt us or disappointed us, would bring up unresolved issues. But those moments often appear unexpectedly, a small comment, a disapproving look, or sometimes just being around a specific person.

It is those who we love the most who can hurt us the most.

I’m not saying that this trip was all gloom and doom. On the contrary, most days were great. If one were to add a number to the entire experience, less than 5 percent of the trip had triggering events. But it is human nature to dwell and hold on to the negative comments or moments far longer than we treasure the good ones. It takes some serious rewiring of your brain to unlearn what has been our evolutionary practice of survival. You either remember danger to avoid it, or compartmentalize it in order to keep moving forward.

Growing up in a Latino family, no one really talks about these things. If mental health is a stigma in white-Anglo families, it is 100 times more stigmatized in Latino culture, especially in a foreign country. You don’t have the luxury to dwell or talk about your feelings when you’re working two jobs. And your kids know this and internalize this, so they know not to bring issues up, thus continuing the cycle of unresolved trauma.

And no matter how adjusted you may be, after years of therapy or medication, a perfect mental well-being is not a destination you reach. You really don’t “make it.” The moment you think that is when you’re most vulnerable. You can get better and you can learn tools and strategies, but you’re deceiving yourself if you think that you’re immune from anything ever triggering you again. You have to be watchful and cognizant.

So yes, I did have a great time and I miss my family very much. But at the same time, I’m glad to be home, the home that I made, and I’m glad to get some much needed rest from my vacation.

I will be sharing more about this trip in future entries, but I wanted to write this quick missive and update you on what’s been going on.

Thanks for reading.

What do you think?

P.S.

This was Penny’s first trip on a plane. She held my hand tightly at takeoff and landing. It was very sweet and I want to remember that forever.

And we also went to Epic, in Orlando!

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Let me tell you about one of those times.

The first time it happened, I was at a Barnes & Noble in Kendall, a suburb of Miami. I’ve always loved bookstores. To this day, I still buy three or four books a month, mostly from used bookstores. On this particular visit, I was looking for a new Bible, specifically a study Bible.

While I was standing in the Religion section, minding my own business, a man who looked to be in his early fifties approached me. He was Hispanic, which isn’t exactly unusual in Miami, but he spoke English without much of an accent. He had graying hair and carried himself with a combination of sophistication and self-importance.

“Looking to buy a Bible?” he asked.

This was while I was literally holding one.

“Yes,” I said, already wondering where this conversation was headed.

“So, you’re seeking the Truth?”

“Well, I’m a Christian, so I think I already know the truth.”

“Oh yeah?” he said with a smirk. “Do you know that Jesus already came back?”

It took nearly all of my self-control not to laugh. How rude of me to have missed such a historic event.

“He did?”

“Yes,” he said. “He came back as a man in Korea.”

At that point, I actually laughed. I couldn’t help it. I quickly caught myself, not wanting to be rude.

“It’s true,” he insisted. “He came back, and he’s from Korea.”

“You do know Jesus was Jewish, right? I’m not exactly a geography expert, but I’m pretty sure Israel isn’t on the Korean Peninsula.”

“Let me see that Bible,” he said, completely unfazed.

I handed it to him, and he immediately opened to Revelation. He had clearly done this before. He started reading:

“Then I saw another angel coming up from the east...”

He stopped there and launched into an explanation of how, if you drew a line eastward from Israel, you’d eventually end up in Korea.

Before I could respond, he flipped to Isaiah 41:2. I have to admit, his speed this time was impressive. He read about a righteous ruler whom God called from “the East.”

Then he asked if I knew what the Bride of Christ meant.

“The Church, of course,” I answered.

“No. The Bride of Christ is Ahn Sahng-hong’s wife.”

He said this with absolute conviction.

What followed was a rapid-fire tour through Revelation and several other verses that supposedly proved Ahn Sahng-hong and Zahng Gil-jah were the fulfilled Christ and Bride of Christ. According to him, anyone who believed in them became their spiritual children.

“So this guy is in Korea right now?” I asked.

“Well...” he said. “He died in 1985.”

I blinked.

“Wait. Jesus died again?”

“Yes,” he admitted somewhat sheepishly.

Before he could launch into another explanation involving creative interpretations and theological gymnastics, I stopped him.

“Sir, none of what you’re saying makes any sense. Jesus hasn’t come back. But when He does, it won’t be as a man from Korea who dies a second time. That alone should tell you something is wrong here. And Jesus was celibate during His earthly ministry two thousand years ago. I don’t think He’s suddenly decided to get married.”

At that point, he seemed to realize the recruitment effort wasn’t going well. His face reddened, he handed me back the Bible, and walked away.

He didn’t shake my beliefs, but I was impressed by the way he had memorized the relevant scriptures he needed in order to try and convert new people to his religion. Setting the aside the wildly out of context scriptures, he seemed to know the bible better than most people I knew. Of course, memorizing verses doesn’t actually mean that you know what the text is actually saying (as it was clear in this case), but it was still remarkable.

A few weeks later, I returned to the same Barnes & Noble. From across the store, I spotted him in the Religion section talking to another young guy. I don’t know whether that poor soul was as Christian as I was, but I hope he at least had a functioning bullshit detector.

Have people ever tried to recruit you into something? And yes, Christianity counts.

Thanks for reading.

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However, there’s something insidious happening at the moment, wherein so-called prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi allow anyone to wager on pretty much anything, including whether the Hentavirus will become a pandemic this year.

People can even wager on whether wars will continue or not. A soldier with inside information on the operation to remove Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro reportedly made $400k betting that it would happen on a specific day. Only after much public outcry did Polymarket make such wagers illegal, and the Department of Justice ended up charging the soldier.

Prediction markets operate in a gray area where they are not legally considered gambling. But let’s be honest here, that is exactly what they are.

Traditional gambling used to be discreet and somewhat shameful. At the very least, you had to physically drive somewhere in order to place big bets. Now, you can do it from an app. No one around you would even know that you are potentially ruining your financial future with the click of a few buttons.

That’s what makes this moment in time particularly pernicious. Gambling itself is already an addiction for many, but when you add a smartphone (already addicting), as well as apps that make these wagers easy, you have a recipe for disaster. These platforms are still in their infancy, so expect this problem to get even worse with time.

On a personal level, I truly despise the “bettification” of everything. From the weather, to wars, to even when Jesus is coming back (really), people on these apps can bet on anything. This frustrates me even more when people bet on pandemics, or wars, or anything that profits over the suffertng of others.

And it’s not just Polymarket or Kalshi that bother me, it’s the “traditional” sports-betting apps like FanDuel. It’s the fact that gambling is becoming an accepted part of society. Again, this was a vice for a long time. It has been known to ruin lives, to lead people to self-harm or to harming others, and yet it is now something you can do in a couple of clicks.

What these apps will do to a generation of mainly young men, who already face a tremendous amount of financial hardship, is hard to fathom. The ease, the risk, the promise made by these “prediction” markets is almost too irresistible. While thousands go into debt, the CEOs of these companies have become millionaires. They’re actively fighting hard to not be labeled as gambling corporations to avoid paying state taxes.

I say tax them out of existence, but that seems like a far-fetched outcome.

Thanks for reading.

What do you think? Do you also get unreasonably upset at the sight of a commercial for one of these apps?

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Further reading:

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/05/polymarket-prediction-market-hantavirus-pandemic-epidemic-betting/

https://law.stanford.edu/2026/04/30/prediction-markets-are-surging-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

https://www.businessinsider.com/quitting-polymarket-kalshi-prediction-markets-problem-gambling-addiction-2026-2

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-soldier-charged-using-classified-information-profit-prediction-market-bets

While having dinner recently, one of my kids brought up the idea that, given enough time, no one would remember you. (Our dinner-time conversations range from deep philosophical topics like this one to innocuous YouTuber drama. It’s really different every time, and I love it.)

This topic of immortality through memory is something that I’ve thought about from time to time. I can’t tell you the names of my great-great-grandparents. Do you know yours? Do you know the names of your relatives from 100 years ago?

Maybe you do because you bought a kit from Ancestry or 23andMe, but that’s not the same as remembering them. Remembering someone, truly recalling their essence, is not just a name that you read in a database. There needs to be a story attached to that person, regardless of whether that story includes you.

I think it’s in the retelling of these stories that someone becomes immortalized. The moment your stories are no longer shared by others is when a sort of second death occurs.

Now, because we live in an unprecedented era of social media and constant sharing with family and strangers, there might be a longer “life” for someone who passes away. I know of friends and family who have died, and now their Facebook accounts exist in a perpetual memorialized state. I understand the appeal for family members who want to look back and remember them, but it’s also a bit eerie. They’re not really here with the living, but their thoughts, pictures, and videos still are. Those accounts will technically be there forever, unless a family member deletes them, the company goes under, or a data center gets wiped clean.

For centuries, people only had their memories to remember their loved ones. For the past 200 years, we’ve had pictures to help us do so. Now, not only do we have pictures and videos, but also records of what people wrote on their timelines, potentially moments before they died.

As I wrote about recently, with AI, we may never forget, or perhaps even heal from, someone’s passing. AI chatbots using a deceased person’s likeness are already being created and marketed to grieving individuals. I understand the appeal for someone consumed by grief, but I’m concerned about the psychological impact such a thing can have on a person. For more on this, please read this post.

I think that wanting to be remembered is ingrained in our psyches. It’s probably part of the reason we reproduce. We’re essentially passing down our genetic material, a part of ourselves, to another human being. It’s definitely a way to be immortalized, biologically.

I’m here because dozens and dozens of people had to meet, fall in love, and make love. I’m a product of all of those stories, whether I know them fully or not. And so are you. Think about that. Think about all of the serendipitous events that had to happen in order for you to be here now, reading this.

There’s a line from the movie Shakespeare in Love that often comes to mind. Shakespeare finds his paramour Rosaline in bed with another man, and, dejected, he tells her, “I would have made you immortal.” Putting aside how Shakespeare could have known that he would be the Shakespeare, there’s an element of truth to that line. Every writer, every artist, hopes that their work will outlive them, that it will somehow immortalize them and their stories. Not everyone will be remembered by millions like Shakespeare, but someone out there will read your work and, at the very least, remember how you made them feel, potentially long after all of your immediate family and friends are gone, too. There’s immortality in that, too.

And this is what I told my kids, who are thankfully artistically inclined: their work of art will outlive them and have the potential to be read and seen by thousands of people. Their future great-great-grandkids will have something to remember them by. Through making art, whether videos, books, or whatever else, there’s a piece of them that will live on.

I’ve seen old pictures of family members who were long gone before I was even born. They stare straight ahead, solemn-faced. They are strangers to me. I don’t know their stories. I wish I did.

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Thanks for reading.

What do you think?

Jackie and I go to this store often, and to others like it as well. It’s become more of a ritual than anything else. She usually finds clothes to wear for work, and I spend most of my time looking at books or clothes for my kids. (Their selection of men’s clothing is depressing.)

On this particular day, I happened to see someone I knew from work. You know that feeling when you know someone saw you, but they seem to be avoiding you? I sensed that, but convinced myself it was all in my head and went over to say hello.

She acted surprised to see me, even though I knew she’d already seen me, and immediately started justifying her reason for being there. I hadn’t asked any questions; I had simply said hello.

In this conversation, which lasted less than five minutes, she began, unprompted, to explain why she was there. She went on to talk about how she was shopping for families in need, not for herself. She repeated some version of that same story at least five times during our brief exchange.

It seemed that she was embarrassed to be seen buying second-hand clothing. I suppose, in some circles, this isn’t considered respectable.

To ease her obvious discomfort, I simply said with a smile, “I come here all the time.”

“You do?”

“Oh yes. I’m here almost every other weekend.”

She took that in for a second and then proceeded to tell me, for what felt like the hundredht time, that she was there to buy a few items for families in need.

And perhaps she was. Perhaps she was buying clothing and household items for others in need. But the fact that she felt so compelled to explain her presence made it seem as though I had caught her doing something illegal. She didn’t want to be known as someone who buys second-hand items for herself or her family. She didn’t want to be thought of as poor or working class.

That’s a mentality I don’t understand.

Poverty is often treated as a moral failure. But I have a full-time job and have often needed to do some DoorDash-driving to make ends meet. Sometimes even that isn’t enough. There’s nothing immoral about that. It’s not for lack of trying. It’s not a lack of effort on my part.

The reasons for poverty are often systemic. But it’s easier, and more convenient, for those at the very top to frame it as an individual’s responsibility. If we’re too busy feeling inadequate, or fighting each other for meager raises, we can’t see where the real theft is happening.

I’ve written often about being poor in the richest nation on Earth. It’s no exaggeration to say that what separates me from homelessness is a single paycheck. That’s a stressful way to live. And again, it’s not for lack of trying on my part.

I’m neither ashamed nor proud of my situation. It’s simply my reality.

Yes, I often shop at thrift stores. I’m not ashamed of that. I think it’s smart, and I think it’s better for our planet. Perhaps some look down at others who frequent thrift shops, but those are not my people and I certainly wouldn’t want to be around them socially.

Thanks for reading.

What do you think?

(Bonus points if you have the Macklemore song stuck in your head after reading the title of this post.)

Hey, have you checked out the writing platform I created for authors?

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Further reading

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Many articles, podcasts, and even books have been written about why this particular group of people still support a man who is the literally antithesis of what their holy book stands for. I personally have written countless missives about this point, some of which I’ll direct you to at the end of this post. Something that I hadn’t connected, until a few weeks ago, is how the prosperity gospel paved the way for the moral acceptance of Donald Trump by self-professing Christians.

Undoubtedly, the misogynists, the racists, and the transphobes, all saw a part of themselves in Trump; a flesh and bones Rorschach test. But that alone doesn’t account for the evangelical support.

The prosperity gospel ties it all together.

For decades, white evangelical preachers have connected wealth with being blessed. The more money you have, the more God loves you. That’s the message. And if you’re not wealthy yet….well, you don’t have enough faith. But how can you grow your faith? Simple, you can “sow a seed” by sending them your money. Obviously, this makes them wealthy, and you stay poor. But maybe it’s because you didn’t sow enough, you see? Was that really a sacrificial offering? Did you really give it your all? It’s a cycle. The house always wins.

As the prosperity gospel gained influence, Trump’s brash brand grew alongside it. Through ventures such as universities (really, scams), steaks, hotels, golf resorts, casinos, and more, he worked to make the Trump name synonymous with success and wealth.

Back then, evangelicals would have never voted for the man, but the timing wasn’t right yet. Their brand of Christianity had not permeated enough of the culture. In 2016, though, the timing was perfect.

Their own fears and prejudices tied to the belief that success equals God’s blessing became personified in Trump.

And that’s how we get to this:

The unveiling of this monstrosity was officiated by an actual pastor praying for (or to?) Trump. If Moses had come down from Mount Sinai with the tablets, he would have hurled himself instead. This is just too much.

The biggest irony is that today’s evangelical Christians are the modern-day Pharisees that Jesus often confronted. They have become the establishment. They have literally forged a new idol.

And just like the Pharisees couldn’t see the truth in their day, neither can the evangelicals of today.

For years after Trump’s first election, I lost my faith. I couldn’t understand how the people around me could be so certain that he was God’s chosen one. It made no sense to me. Before Trump, I believed these people were my friends and that they cared about me as a person, regardless of where I was born. I was wrong. Their devotion to a false idol was stronger than the Christian love they claimed to have.

Thanks for reading.

What do you think?

Related Posts:

And hey, have you checked out Lumina, yet?

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So, while I was working on Lumina, I created a Facebook page in order to eventually run ads to reach potential users. When you create a page, Facebook really wants you to select interests or hobbies and follow people or pages in those fields. I wasn’t in the mood to decide what pages to follow, so I skipped it.

I naively thought this meant that I wouldn’t be served with any pages or accounts, but boy, was I wrong. Meta wants to make money at all costs and for whatever reason, the algorithm decided that it was going to show me bizarre AI slop. In particular, celebrities celebrating their birthdays in…hospital beds. I wish I was making this up. Yes, I’m laughing as I write this.

Why in hospital beds? I don’t know.

Sure, it’s usually famous actors in their 70s or 80s, but not all of them.

There are a LOT of pages doing similar things, but there’s one that’s the champion of famous people celebrating their birthdays in a hospital bed, you know, as you do.

Why is Hilary Swank in a hospital bed? Why is Clint Eastwood with her? Sure, they were in a movie together…22 years ago. But if anyone in that scenario were to be in a hospital bed, it would probably be Eastwood.

Another dynamic duo.

Why does this have 151 likes? Why 12 shares? Who is sharing this stuff and why? Who is commenting?

Some of the comments acknowledge that it is AI, but most of them do not.

But let’s keep going…

What the hell happened to Anthony Hopkins? I don’t even know.

But my favorite one of all?

It’s this one. I just can’t.

LOOK AT THE PHOTO OF “HIMSELF’ THAT HE’S HOLDING.

WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHY ARE THEY TREATING MORGAN FREEMAN LIKE THIS?

So yeah, Facebook has completely lost control. The amount of AI slop is too much. It’s really everywhere.

And it’s not just people in hospitals. For some reason, famous action hero dudes are also super popular.

Why? Again, I don’t know. But apparently people love to see this fantasy of famous people hanging out. Maybe that’s it? Maybe because it makes them feel more like “us?”

What do you think?

I haven’t even touched on the videos.

There are so many videos of animals doing things that are obviously fake or impossible but rake millions of views nonetheless. Despite the outcry of people being against AI, that’s not the reality on Facebook. Millions of people are consuming and engaging with clearly fake media….and like it?

Am I in the wrong business here?

It’s kind of sad, but I’d rather laugh at this madness.

Thanks for reading.

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I’ve used WordPerfect (remember that?), to Microsoft Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and others. Some are great, some not so much. Sometimes those platforms have formatting issues, or sometimes they have SO much that is kind of intimidating and confusing.

So, I decided to build my own writing platform.

Lumina.

It gets out of your way and let’s you write. You can write your amazing novel and you can export it as a PDF, or even as as an EPUB if you want to self-publish it on Amazon!

Here it is in action:

Ready to try it for yourself?

Check it out, here at: https://luminawrite.com/

It’s free to use! Go in and start writing.

There are some limits to the free tier, though. To get the most out of Lumina, the Pro version would be the way to go. With Pro, you can get longer unlimited Writing Sprints to keep you motivated, unlimited characters in your Character Bible, more themes to match your mood, plus a lot more! I’m also working on adding more features that I think will make your writing experience better.

I built this for myself first. Now I want other writers to have it. If you want to keep up with the latest features, as well as lock-in the early monthly price of $9, now’s the time to do it.

I’ve been using it for weeks already and it’s been great. A few early users have already created accounts and started writing.

So, what are you waiting for? Go visit Lumina and finally, finish what you start.

Thanks for reading!

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If you have no idea what I’m talking about, Lumina is a writing platform that lets you focus on just writing. It lives on the cloud, so you can access your work from wherever and it’s completely secure. You own your copyright. You own everything that you create.

On Tuesday, I’ll be sharing the link with the rest of you. I hope you check it out. If you like what you see, please upgrade to Lumina Pro! You’ll get access to expanded features, and I’m also working on some other areas of improvement and some cool things that will make your writing experience more pleasant.

I’m also beginning work on a tool to help writers in a different way. But more on that in a few weeks.

As many of you longtime readers know, I love learning. There isn’t a week when I don’t feel inclined to learn something new. Subjects range from psychology, to physics, to AI, to quantum mechanics. The list is interminable.

Seriously, I’ll go deep on a subject and learn all I can about it.

I know I’m not the only one.

If that’s you, follow the link below and subscribe to a free newsletter where I curate the best courses and send them to you.

Eventually, it’ll be a platform where you can track all your courses so you don’t feel overwhelmed by it all.

This is something that I’m working on for fun, just because I love learning.

Click the button, below.

Join Open Learning

As always, thanks for reading.

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It was Father’s Day. And even though I have the most amazing kids ever, and the love of a wonderful partner, I was so depressed that I didn’t want to be around anymore.

For people who don’t suffer from depression this seems illogical. Almost as if being depressed is a choice, or a button that one can turn on and off. If only it were that simple.

That’s why when celebrities, like for example, Anthony Bourdain, take their own lives, people are shocked. “But he had it all! Money, fame, adulation! He had it all!”

You can “have it all,” and still be depressed to the point where you see no way out. It’s a combination of brain chemistry, stress, past trauma, genetics and even physical health. It can be all of that, or a few, but it’s never just one thing.

Depression feels like your mind turning against you. On some level you’re aware that this isn’t, “you,” but you feel helpless.

Tomorrow, my oldest turns 14. Had I taken any drastic measures, I wouldn’t be here to see it. I would have missed so much. So many great things happened these past two years, and frankly, some hard times too. But I was there for it all. I went through the darkness and came out of it.

That’s the main point I want to make. If you find yourself right now where I was two years ago, remember that you won’t always feel that way. You will get through it. Get help, whether that’s a therapist, medication, exercise, or all three. For me, it was that combination that helped me. I no longer see a therapist, but I’m still on medication and work out regularly. Find your way to get through, but get through.

You are needed. You are worthy. You are loved.

You don’t want to miss future birthdays.

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If you haven’t signed up to receive early access, you still have time. If you want to do so, you can click here.

Like I mentioned, it’s completely free. For full features, plus other amazing ones I’ll be adding, it’ll be $9 per month. If you sign up at launch, you’ll be locked in at that price until you choose to cancel (but why would you!?). Later, the price will go up to $12 per month for everyone else.

Building an app is challenging. For the past few weeks, I’ve been making it better. It’s frustrating, when a single misplaced “,” or “{“ can make or break and entire application, but once it all works, it kind of feels like magic.

Seriously, it’s like alchemy.

One thing that I worked on these past few days, was to make the writing real estate larger.

Before, it was fine, like so.

However, I think it looks better like the version, below. There’s more room. It just feels better.

As you may have noticed, there’s a 25 minute sprint, timer. That’s for Pro users. But don’t worry, free users also get a sprint timer, it’s just limited to 10 minutes. The idea behind this is to encourage you to write if you’re feeling stuck.

Once I share the link, you’ll see all of the different features. Test it out before you commit to making a monthly payment. But I think you’ll love it! And if you do, I’d certainly hope you consider upgrading It’ll mean the world to me, and it’ll allow me to grow it and make it better. Seriously, I have so many great ideas.

Lumina is a clean, calming writing studio for writers. No matter what other features I may add in the future, it will always remain clutter free. You can organize your chapters, build your characters, write without distraction, and export your manuscript without fighting your software.

Let me ask you this. What would your ideal writing app have? What do you struggle the most with as a writer?

I’m looking forward to reading your responses.

I’m excited to launch it soon! Remember, early users will get access on May 4th! I will email you the link individually.

Thanks for reading.

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I definitely don’t like the people in stores who ask every three minutes,
“Can I help you find anything?”

No, thanks. If I need help, I’ll ask.

With that said… I do like creating things. I’ve built a lot of websites, tools, and apps over the years. I even wrote my own fitness app that I still use. In my last job, I built an entire CRM from scratch.

Lately, I’ve been working on something for writers. Writers like you and me. People who want to write, novels, short stories, poetry, whatever it is.

There are a lot of writing platforms out there. But most of them feel cluttered…or just not quite right. A lot of them feel like they were built by people who don’t actually write.

So I built something different.

A writing space that’s clean, simple, and actually enjoyable to use.

I’m not a salesperson. I’m just a writer and a creative person. Honestly, even writing this feels a little uncomfortable, because I don’t want this to come across like I’m trying to sell you something.

I’m not.

I just built something that’s been helping me, and I think it might help you too.

One thing I’ve always struggled with is consistency. Sitting down and actually writing.

So this platform quietly helps with that. It tracks your streaks. It gives you small nudges. It has Writing Sprints when you need a push. But it does all of this in a subtle way. Nothing intrusive. Nothing annoying. Just… there when you need it.

I’m not ready to release it yet, but let me show you what it looks like. (Click on each image to expand)

In this first screenshot, you can see your writing real estate, with some key functionalities and tools on each side.

However, you can also collapse the two sides, to give you a distraction free writing environment.

In the screenshot below, there’s the timer activated, to encourage your writing sprint. This is a closer look at that feature.

In the following screenshot, you can see a Character Bible. In the example I’m using, I don’t have characters, because this is my memoir and I associate that with fiction writing. However, you can totally add characters and keep track of their characteristics, fiction or not.

After you sign in, you actually land on the following page, which has all of your current and/or archived books.

The app is called Lumina.

I chose that name because writing, at its best, brings clarity. It helps you think. It helps you understand things. And I wanted to build a space that supports that.

Quick note: it’s designed for desktop/laptop use more than phones.

And if you’re wondering, does it come in dark mode? Well, of course!

I’m planning to launch soon.

There will be a free tier (no catch). If you find it useful, there will also be a paid option. Subscribing is simply a way to support what I’m building and help me keep improving it. I already have a long list of ideas I’d love to build as it grows.

For you, since you’ve been reading and supporting this newsletter for the past four years, I’ll have an early price of $9/month. Later on, it’ll be $12/month.

No pressure, obviously. You can cancel anytime. Try it for a month, see how it feels. If it’s not for you, that’s completely fine.

I’m launching on May 12. If you want to try it early, I’ll send it to you about a week before everyone else. You’ll get access first. If you want in, click below.

Get Early Access

I’d genuinely love to hear what you think once you try it.

As always, thanks for reading.

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She said: “Jesus taught so many lessons through his death, burial, and resurrection. He showed us great leadership, great transformation requires great sacrifice. And Mr. President, no one has paid the price like you have paid the price. It almost cost you your life.”

And then: “You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us. Because of His resurrection, you rose up.”

Yeah…

I’ve written before about being a young kid from South Florida, driving up to Hamilton, Alabama, sitting in a packed auditorium at a place called The Ramp, feeling what I thought was the presence of God. I was swept up in it completely. The music, the tears, the sense that something divine was happening in that room. I believed it wholeheartedly. I wanted to bring all of that energy back home with me.

Even then, in my most fervent and naive state, nobody compared any other person to Jesus.

The Jesus I read about in the Gospels washed feet. He touched lepers. He sat with people nobody else wanted to sit with. He told the rich young ruler to give everything away. He said the greatest among you must be the servant of all.

How do you read any of that and then stand in the East Room and draw a straight line between that Jesus and this president? How do you do that with a straight face, in front of other faith leaders? And how do those faith leaders have the audacity to clap in agreement?

This is what the Seven Mountains Mandate looks like when it reaches full bloom. I encountered that ideology in a small town in Alabama twenty years ago and thought it was a fringe thing, something happening at the edges.

Christian Nationalism is not a fringe movement anymore. It has an office in the West Wing. It has a budget. It has an adviser who tells a president, in front of witnesses, during Holy Week, that he is like Jesus Christ. This comparison was made about a president who revels in demonizing immigrants and his political opponents. It was made about a president who cheated on his third wife with a porn star and then illegally used campaign funds to cover it up. And that’s jut the tip of the iceberg.

When you make Jesus into a political weapon, you don’t just weaponize him. You hollow him out. You replace him with something easier, something that serves you, something that rewards your tribe and punishes your enemies. You make a Jesus who looks a lot more like Caesar than like the man from Galilee.

And on some level, I think that’s the point.

Faith, real faith, doesn’t need this. It doesn’t need pageantry or power or a seat at a president’s table. It doesn’t need a White House Faith Office or a bishop standing silently on a stage while blasphemy is spoken. It doesn’t need any of it.

What it needs is honesty. And right now, honesty requires saying plainly: what Paula White did on April 1st was not worship. It was not prayer. It was not the conveying of God’s heart.

It was idolatry. And the idol was smiling.

Thanks for reading.

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Further Reading:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-spiritual-adviser-faces-backlash-154231810.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/morally-dangerous-black-theologians-slam-194500500.html

https://www.christianpost.com/news/paula-white-caine-likens-trump-to-jesus-stokes-backlash.html

If you ever attended any evangelical church in the U.S., the idea of the Rapture is a given. Even people who are not Christian or religious are familiar with the basic concepts of this belief. One moment the world is normal. The next, millions of people vanish into thin air. Planes fall out of the sky. Cars crash into each other. Clothes are abandoned on the ground.

Kirk Cameron made a sort of a career comeback with the Left Behind films, which were in turn based on the bestselling novels of the same name. These were everywhere in the late 90s and early 2000s. Even Nicolas Cage made a remake of the first movie just a few years ago.

Now, I grew up Catholic for the first decade of my life, and still attended mass a few times over the next few years, and I never heard of the Rapture.

So, where did this idea come from?

Was the Rapture something Christians had always believed? Or was it a more recent interpretation of biblical prophecy?

The answer turns out to be far more interesting than most people realize.

Early Christians and the End

From the earliest days of Christianity, believers expected Christ to return.

The New Testament speaks about a future moment when Christ would return, the dead would be raised, and God’s kingdom would be fully established.

One passage that often comes up in discussions of the Rapture is found in 1 Thessalonians 4, where the apostle Paul writes that believers will be “caught up… in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

At first glance that language can sound very similar to the modern Rapture concept. But historically, early Christians understood the passage differently than many people do today.

For the first centuries of Christian history, believers interpreted these verses as part of a single, dramatic return of Christ at the end of time. When Christ returned, the dead would be resurrected, the living would be transformed, and the final judgment would take place.

In other words, the “catching up” of believers was not viewed as a separate event that occurred years before the end of the world. It was simply part of the final moment when Christ returned to bring history to its conclusion.

This interpretation remained the dominant view throughout the early church.

Influential theologians over the centuries like Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas helped shape and cement this understanding. In fact, for nearly 18 centuries, Christians across the Catholic, Orthodox, and even Protestants traditions agreed on this point: Christ would return once, visibly and publicly, at the end of history.

A New Interpretation Emerges

The modern concept of the Rapture did not begin to take shape until the early nineteenth century.

The central figure in this development was John Nelson Darby, an Anglo-Irish theologian and one of the early leaders of a movement known as the Plymouth Brethren.

Darby developed a theological framework that would later become known as dispensationalism.

Dispensationalism divides history into a series of distinct periods—or “dispensations”—in which God interacts with humanity in different ways. One of the most important features of Darby’s system was a strong distinction between Israel and the Church in God’s prophetic plan.

According to Darby’s interpretation, many biblical prophecies concerning Israel would be fulfilled during a future period of intense suffering often called the Great Tribulation.

Because the Church was not part of this particular prophetic program, Darby concluded that believers would be removed from the earth before that tribulation began.

This removal became known as the Rapture, a term derived from the Latin word rapturo, meaning “to seize” or “carry away.”

First would come a hidden or “secret” return in which believers would suddenly be taken up to meet Christ. After a period of tribulation on earth, Christ would return again, this time publicly, to establish his kingdom.

This interpretation was dramatically different from the traditional view that had dominated Christian theology for centuries.

I do want to point out that there is some debate about the origins of this doctrine. Some scholars argue that Darby was either inspired or copied the ideas of a young Scottish woman named Margaret MacDonald. In 1830, MacDonald reportedly experienced a prophetic vision during a period of illness and intense religious revival in the town of Port Glasgow. Although not exactly the same as Darby, there is still enough similarity to point this out.

How the Rapture Spread in America

While Darby helped develop the theological framework, the Rapture gained its greatest influence in the United States. One of the most important factors in its spread was the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909.

Compiled by American theologian Cyrus I. Scofield, this Bible included extensive study notes explaining biblical passages through the lens of dispensational theology. For many readers, these notes became an authoritative guide to understanding prophecy.

The impact was enormous. Bible institutes, prophecy conferences, and evangelical seminaries began teaching dispensational interpretations of scripture. Over time, these ideas became deeply embedded in American evangelical culture.

For many believers, the Rapture simply became the default way of understanding the end times.

This all got exacerbated by the Cold War. The threat of nuclear destruction suddenly made the end of civilization more real than ever in human history. Events such as the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948 were interpreted by many believers as signs that ancient prophecies were being fulfilled in real time.

In 1970, author Hal Lindsey published a book called The Late Great Planet Earth. Lindsey interpreted contemporary world events through the lens of dispensational prophecy and suggested that the end times could arrive within the current generation. (Spoiler Alert: It didn’t)

A Working Theory

With the war in Iran right now, you’re seeing more of this chatter online. Evangelical Christians are almost giddy at the thought of another world war starting. Why? Because they believe that this will usher in the beginning of the Rapture.

Recently, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation had over 200 complaints from service members being told by their commanding officers things like, “Donald Trump was anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth."

One working theory that I have is that evangelicals are terrified of death and the idea of being caught up in heaven with Jesus, without tasting death, is too irresistible for them. Are they willing to burn the entire world to prove this doctrine? I believe so. This is what psychologists call Terror Management Theory, which argues that humans construct belief systems that help manage anxiety about mortality. But that’s not the only reason. Not only will the question of their own mortality be solved, but they will also feel vindicated. They were right. Everyone else was wrong.

Do I believe in the Rapture?

No. I used to, back when I was in those evangelical circles over a decade ago, but not anymore. It goes against 18 centuries of tradition and scholarship and it has been used by politicians to justify all kinds of reprehensible acts in the Middle East.

I refuse to be a pawn in the geopolitical games by the religious right.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading.

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Further Reading:

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism

-https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/03/us-israel-iran-war-christian-rhetoric

-https://www.goodreads.com/series/50162-left-behind

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I have been researching the third part in my series regarding the historical white lash in the U.S. that follows any period of racial progress, which helps to explain the moment we’re in. However, it’s been difficult to put words down when I’m constantly worried about the state of the nation. More than that, I’m worried about the state of my community.

ICE has conducted raids in communities less than 30 minutes from where I live and in surrounding areas. With that, almost daily there are reports of ICE coming to town, or someone swearing that they just saw them in a white SUV.

I’m a naturalized American citizen. Technically, I should be okay. I only say technically because if Stephen Miller has his way, I would be denationalized. But I’m not really worried so much about myself. I have good friends and even family members who could be targets of ICE, not because they’ve committed any crimes, but simply because they are undocumented.

Of course, now we have the unnecessary war in Iran. While the war is not happening at home, it still occupies a lot of my mental real estate. It could easily spiral out of control, while at the same time religious extremists in the arm forces are hoping it does. All this in the name of ensuring Christ’s return. This apocalyptic belief one relegated to televangelists, has now permeated the arm forces, as well as the White House. I definitely plan on writing more about this belief, its origins, as well as its enduring influence.

On top of that, Trump continues to try and steal the upcoming midterms. His latest push is to pressure Congress to pass the SAVE Act. If enacted, this would be the biggest disenfranchisement of voters in our modern era. He is desperate because if Democrats take the House, and by some miracle of God the Senate as well, he will face a possible impeachment and removal. Not to mention, there will be countless investigations against the crimes committed by Trump, as well as many of his corrupt cronies. He doesn’t want any of that, so he will try to cheat. From the mid-year redistricting, to the seizing of ballots in Fulton County, it’s all part of the same strategy.

So, yeah, there’s a lot going on. There’s also a lot going on in my personal life. Thanks for sticking around. As always, thanks for reading.

What’s going on with you?

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Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance was one for the ages. You can't separate it from the moment in time we're living in. With anti-Latino sentiment an at all time high, with people being detained for having an accent, and others just because of their skin color, Benito sent an unforgettable message: We're still here.

It would have been easy, and even understandable, if Bad Bunny had used this moment to speak out against ICE and its injustices, or to speak out against the president who has constantly demonized Latino immigrants; but he didn't. Instead, the halftime show was a celebration of Latino culture and its undeniable contributions to this country. It was a celebration of brown joy. It was a celebration of multi-cultural America, where white, black, brown, and everyone else under the sun is welcomed and acknowledged as a human being.

From the sugar cane fields, to the references to the power outages in Puerto Rico, to Lady Gaga, and Ricky Martin, to giving his younger self a Grammy and letting all children know that they can too do great things if they persevere and believe in themselves; it was beautiful. Even the subtle cultural reference that every Latino growing up can relate to, when Benito wakes up a young boy sleeping in a makeshift bed once the party's over. That was me, growing up. That was millions of us. It was all there. It was beautiful and unifying.

He said, "God Bless America" and then started naming all of the countries in the Americas, all of them, not just the USA.

As he finished, Benito held up a football that said, "Together We're America," while at the same time a banner appeared saying, "The Only Thing More Powerful than Hate is Love."

Then at the end of his set, he said to the camera, "We're still here."

The entire show was performed in Spanish, and as someone who was bullied and ridiculed for having an accent, that alone meant the world to me. As someone who's grandma has been called racist epitaphs because she didn't speak English, it meant everything.

Trump called it a "slap to the face" and "an affront to the Greatness of America," while also adding, "No one understands a word this guy is saying."

The thing is 45 million Americans in this country knew what he was saying. The other 90 million who watched and don't speak Spanish, still enjoyed it because music and joy are universal and because love is more powerful than hate.

By 2050, the US is projected to become the world's largest Spanish-speaking nation. They may demonize us, they may arrest us, they may even try to bury us, but we're still here.

We're still here.

Next week we will continue with our historical white lash posts. However, this is definitely related, don’t you think?

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