Op Eds
What the Harvard Climate Report Doesn't Mention
Climate change is a shared problem. Its solutions must be shared too.
Diamonds are a Desi’s Best Friend
Listen, we’re gonna need the diamond back. You lot barely even use it. And yes, this may not necessarily change in an Indian museum, but here’s the difference: For us, it’s a beacon of our cultural heritage, a jewel that represents the journey of a billion people’s ancestors through history, a special representation of the country; for y’all, it’s just another big, ill-gotten diamond.
Nonbinary People Don’t Want to Owe Androgyny, But We Do It to Survive
This LGBTQ+ History Month, as we celebrate the queer trailblazers who have carved our passage towards civil rights into the deepest granite of time, I also want us to look to the future birthed by today’s history. I want us to make the choices now that will lead to broad acceptance of nonbinary people and reduce trans and nonbinary death down the line.
How to Trauma Dump Responsibly
Trauma dumping doesn’t have to be awkward or upsetting, like the common definition suggests. With just a few simple steps, you can pull off a better version of a trauma dump: one that maximizes positive vulnerability and sharing, without triggering any embarrassment, shock, or discomfort.
A Latino Atlas
There is an emotional dissonance in me between loving Harvard and feeling selfish for being here. Hearing the stories of how my parents grew up, I wish they could have had the same opportunities they constructed for me when they were younger.
Paul Farmer’s Vision for the Role of Universities in Global Health Lives On
Eleven years after Paul called on us to treat global health as more than just a hobby, it is time for the University to rededicate itself to the goals and vision that he lived by and animated so brilliantly through partnerships with institutions serving the poor and marginalized.
On the Jackson, Miss., Water Crisis
We will soon have the power to make decisions that will impact our future for the better or worse, and it is only through a concerted effort that we can fight the structures of oppression within our society and strive to create a better world for all those that live in it.
Rest in Mercy
I write this piece standing in front of a grave of murdered Mexican women, whose deaths bear heavy on my hesitating soul. I dedicate this Hispanic Heritage Month to these women, documenting their humanity to the world with the words of this piece.
Harvard Dreams, Allston Nightmares
Harvard’s dreams and Allston’s nightmares are one and the same. It’s time for both to end.
In Defense of HUDS Vegan Cheese
As this new semester begins, please skip the vegan cheese hate speech. Your non-dairy friends have heard it all before. If you don’t like it, just don’t eat it. And if you’re non-dairy-curious, give it a try. You might even enjoy it.
It’s Too Hot at Harvard
Regulated temperatures are not only a matter of comfort but also educational achievement and health and safety. The College should not sacrifice the health, academic potential, and comfort of its students to save on energy costs. The advantages of regulated temperatures are great.
If I Die in America: Immigrant Reflections on Gratitude
What I mean to say is: Yes, there may be millions of Americans who have to live every day knowing that their lives could be taken away by a guy with a gun, for no reason other than the place they grew up, the color of their skin, or the clothes they wear, for no reason other than being at the wrong place at the wrong time, for absolutely no reason at all — but at least if I die in America, it won’t be because my neighbor thought I was on drugs and shot me dead because the president told him to.
God Save the Colonizer
Despite the violence she engineered in my homeland, I do not wish Queen Elizabeth pain in death. I only wish to puncture this protective veil we seem to cast on figures of history, who, upon their death, are allowed to luxuriate in the past, untouched and beautified.
Preserving My Dominican Culture Through Generations
My parents had no choice but to teach their kids Spanish so they could communicate with us, but I will have a choice. And even if my cooking skills don’t ever match Mami’s, I will ensure that my children can read the recipes to me as I follow them.
Hispanic Haitians Exist
The erasure of Black Hispanics in Hispanic culture is a trend that is far too common and should not persist. Colonization has forced us to believe that the more African ancestry one has, the more disposable they are. But Haitian Dominicans are not disposable. They are not erasable. They are not exiles in their country of origin. They are Dominican. And they are Hispanic.
