Jason Robinson. “Our Common Problem”
I imagine one of the reasons people cling …You also had people that were
To their hates so stubbornly is because they sense Very fine people on both sides…
Once the hate is gone, they will be forced – Donald Trump, August, 2017
To deal with pain
-James Baldwin
We were looking for alternatives. We still are.
My first attempt to tell this story was its own disaster. I had carried it so long. It became jumbled and too heavy to hold. In a sense it may be too big for these pages. It spans lifetimes and generations. It continues to move across continents, like war, like famine, like storms that displace civilization, that cause national disasters. In a sense it is the great National Disaster of the Americas. As Black, Indigenous and Other People of Color (BIPOC) individuals and communities lift their voices and claim their rightful place, white people trapped in the cycle of fighting for success, are grasping for and resisting the privilege of white supremacy that has claimed their identity and annihilated their humanity.
And this story is a convergence, a moment in time, of finding myself in the middle of the attempts to recognize its stranglehold, stand up to it, and bring love, understanding and humanity to the healing.
Andrea Mauk. “Threads, Ribbons and Chains”
September 19th
It began like any other week as summer turned to fall in 2017, except for some reason, instead of going to work, I was in the kitchen examining a collection of plantains that sat on the counter. Should I turn them into tostones or arañitas? I hadn’t decided yet when I felt a surge of intuition come over me. The feeling was like the pull of a little thread that connects us together by thoughts or heartstrings, and that thread rings a tiny alarm bell when something isn’t quite right. It told me to go upstairs to check on my mother even though I knew what she was probably doing, since she had become obsessed with watching CNN.
Mónica Tapiarené. “Fron-lain workerr”
Son las 3:00 p.m. en la estación de entregas de Amazon – DSP Delivery Service Partner – cerca de Lafayette, California. Yo soy una de las vans que entrega paquetes de Amazon. Estoy recién lavada, con el aceite cambiado y el tanque lleno. Me mantienen en óptimas condiciones. En cualquier momento llega mi chofer, José, a llenarme de paquetes. La ruta ya está en la ´´app.´´ Será un día largo. Tenemos más de 100 paquetes que entregar. Desde que empezó la pandemia, la gente ordena más cosas en Amazon. Esta demanda ha incrementado las oportunidades de trabajo para muchos, especialmente para Latinos. Amazon es su segundo o tercer part-time; sin embargo, el precio que deben pagar por llevar un chequecito más a casa es muy alto. Las condiciones de trabajo son inadecuadas, trabajan muchas horas, el salario es bajo y no tienen beneficios. Aún así, los trabajadores son pieza clave del engranaje de la oferta y la demanda en donde el abuso y la disparidad están fuera de control.
Angel Vázquez.
“The Illusion to Scape Reality in One’s Own Creation”
Life is like a big movie. We all want to play a role. We all want to be that distinctive character, the protagonist. And let me tell you that we all are our own individual character. At the same time life is like playing a game except that we know our end will be death, just like a game. But during our existence on earth, we play the role of many different characters in the game of life. The game of ROBLOX allows you to be innovative and be creative. I would like to discuss how people around the world including my daughter Zara, who are playing games on ROBLOX can cause a confusion between the illusion of the world they created and the real world they live in presently. This is also why I would like to take the time to explore how violence, racism, stereotypes, and COVID all play a role in why people play ROBLOX so much today.
My daughter Zara explains to me in her own words what Roblox means to her.
Angel Vázquez
Tick, Tick… Boom! From Production to Screening!
I am Angel Vázquez, an inspiring writer, actor, producer, and director who believes and dreams a lot. ¿What about being like the writer, director, and producer Lynn Manuel Miranda, or Jonathan Larson, both devoted to social causes? Yes, I would like to be drafting and authoring visual stories for musicals, features films, TV series, and writing more stories that could make a difference and inspire, but how?
Since mid-May 2021, I was unemployed and constantly searching to get crew up. So, when the International Cinematographers Guild, ITASE Local 600, made the production list available past month, I found out that this tick, tick… BOOM! is a musical feature film in need of a Digital Utility. I immediately emailed and texted the first Assistant Camera to let him know that I was available. A few weeks later, I received a call from 1st AC Bradley Grant, offering me the 7-day gig as a digital utility on a feature film called tick, tick… BOOM! I have to say that I was scared to take the job because I had never heard of the film, and I was not sure if I was going to be a good match for the production crew. I took my chances and accepted the job.
On The Edge 
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