Author: Darlene Kriesel

Social Justice Plea from A Black Mother to her Black and Latino Brothers and Sisters

My ex-husband used to tell me that when he was just a boy in his old LA neighborhood, the black kids were louder and more aggressive than he, and they would bully him until he ran home crying to his mama. What my husband experienced in his childhood neighborhood painted a negative picture in his Mexican mama’s imagination of Black-Americans. To take an experience and create broad assumptions about a person or a group of people is so common to our human experience, it almost seems it would be a helpful practice. But we all know deep down, that...

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The Old and the New: 4th St. Market, Santa Ana

On my way to speak to Paz Cassidy, the co-manager and event planner of the 4th Street Market in Santa Ana, California (formerly Fiesta Market Place), the aroma of fried food and fresh brewed coffee is the telltale sign I am near.  High-scattered clouds, the cool temp, the soft, barely noticeable breeze, promises another rainless evening – a point I would have been passively thankful for in the past. But lately, I look for small signs indicating even a drizzle in our drought plagued Southern California. No longer do I consider the mild, California climate, as  just my good...

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