PUBLISHER’S LETTER
“T
hese are unprecedented times…”
We’ve heard the words drip from the lips of so many as COVID-19 ravaged through countries around the world. Amidst the turmoil, came Black Lives Matter (#BLM), a movement that resurged in the United States with a force so great, it awakened voices against oppression worldwide. As we’ve seen in the months leading to 2020, the #MeToo movement that started in 2006 by Tarana Burke had already taken hold. Then Hollywood’s #TimesUp piggyback and charges against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, veteran actor and comedian Bill Cosby and former financier Jeffrey Epstein among others for whom decades of bad behavior screamed for justice. “The high road for a woman for centuries was silence,” actor Zoe Saldana said to Cosmopolitan Magazine. “The new high road is speaking up.”
LIVING HISTORY We are witnessing history as this time proves perfectly poised to dismantle systems of oppression, greed and classism – They’re being ripped apart all around the world. 12
As of this writing, #BLM has ignited weeks of ongoing protest around the globe. British actor John Boyega, best known for the latest “Star Wars” movies, openly commented that he knew the professional risk and potential fallout for his empowered speech at a Black Lives Matter protest in London’s Hyde Park (Thankfully, many “Star Wars” associates showed their support via social media). In Berlin Germany, crowds gathered outside the U.S. embassy to protest police brutality, disavow racism and support Black Lives Matter. People of color in Canada and Australia are speaking up for indigenous rights “our black people,” Says Afro-Australian Model Duckie Thot on her IGTV. Even K-pop fans got in the mix by taking over the white lives matter hashtag on Twitter. Thousands marched across San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, along with protests all through the United States down to small towns with even smaller black populations as allies to the movement came out in force.
THE GREAT EQUALIZER As protests sparked by #BLM seemingly have left no one untouched, so has COVID-19. It’s been called the great equalizer – attacking humans no matter race, creed or finances. No matter the debate of “it’s real, it’s not real – follow this guidance, no – follow that;” it macht nichts when the reaper comes to your doorstep.
Summer 2020 | www.CultursMag.com
We are witnessing history as this time proves perfectly poised to dismantle systems of oppression, greed and classism – They’re being ripped apart all around the world.
TRIBUTE TO DAD I lost my father to COVID-19. A proud Costa Rican immigrant, he came to the U.S. in his late teens to be with his family who already was here. Looked upon as different, “You ‘Ricans,” my cousin says people in Brooklyn would say; they had their own community and upheld traditional values. With a reserved attitude, stately accent in English and beautifully melodic Spanish, my father wooed the ladies with his voice and charm. He had a writing style that was positively calligraphic — receiving a letter from him was like being gifted a work of art. My parents divorced when I was young and my father and I reconnected during my college
