It’s about more than the pandemic. — Respond to every call that excites your spirit. — Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi My eyes have seen a little bit of the world. I say “a little bit” to remind myself 35 is just a number. The real gauge of what my soul has experienced comes not with how many…

A Publication is Born Hola & Welcome to Little Love Lines! I am so excited to be typing this first entry and even more elated to have your eyes here! Creating this publication has been on my mind for the past few months. Birthing 3-L The backstory began over a decade ago…

What about becoming a nurse or a secretary? My mom’s comment was not an attempt to deflate the balloon of hope I’d been secretly carrying. She didn’t know. No one knew why, as a little girl I’d get so excited whenever we went to Kennedy airport to greet family members…

Meet trailblazing cultural warrior, Yuma Inarú Pouerie — Un pueblo sin cultura es un pueblo sin identidad (Without culture, there is no identity). ~ Author Unknown Unique to the archipelago of Borikén (our Indigenous name), Puerto Rican Bomba is a musical genre dating back over 400 years to a time when enslaved persons were brought from Africa. Comprised…

Because some things are non-negotiable. — I’m relatively new to this freelancer life. In April 2020, a close friend gave me my first gig. He needed a partial French-English literary translation: one chapter of Philosopher, Dr. Bassidiki Coulibaly’s Du Crime d’être Noir. I was ecstatic…so much so that I offered to work for free. Lola, this…

Deciphering the difference between an “off moment” and a personality disorder is crucial. — Everyone has a less than cheery side. It’s what makes us human. There are days when we simply feel “off,” perhaps preferring to be alone with our thoughts. On those occasions, we might be more easily annoyed. But what happens when our reaction reveals more than mere annoyance? What does…

Spoiler alert: Didn’t work for me. — Getting paid for writing has been challenging. I do not have a degree in English or in journalism. Mine is not the experience level of a best-selling author. Mostly, I’m adept at storytelling — the cultural kind. Whether it’s via protest poetry or confronting societal “norms,” I like to dig…

If so, it’s time for serious introspection. — Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. ~ Children’s taunt If you’ve spent time in parts of the world where Spanish is the native tongue, chances are you’ve heard the term. To be clear, you can also be exposed to it while living in…