He was seated in front of us, inside one of the many rooms in the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Mario O’Hara, respected writer of most of Lino Brocka’s greatest works, inimitable director of such classics like Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos (Three Years without God, 1976) and Fatima Buen Story (1994), outstanding thespian, and arguably one of the most important figures in Philippine cinema, was there in front of us, convincing us to greenlight his next film entitled Henerala. I was then part of the committee that gave grants to filmmakers wanting to make films, and I was ashamed to be in the unjust position of listening to the great O’Hara explain why his proposal would make a good film. I was already convinced then. Henerala could have been a masterpiece, the one film that painted heroic Gabriela Silang, always seen angry while mounted on her even angrier steed, as a sensual human being who was horny for and madly in love with Diego. Still, there I was, listening to him as he animatedly serenaded us of what the film that would now never be made could have been.
The great O’Hara was taken from us too soon. At age 68, while the entire country was steadfastly praying for Dolphy, he quietly said farewell. It is quite amazing how he died the same way he magnanimously lived his life, just there, quiet in the background. While Lino Brocka was being praised everywhere, while Nora Aunor was amassing legions of fans, O’Hara, an Adamson drop-out in a country that was dazzled by the liberal geniuses of the State University and the conservative wisdom of Ateneo, was just humbly working, churning out masterpieces after masterpieces without hardly a sense of the acclaim those masterpieces could have garnered for him. Sure, he was championed and earned the respect that he deserved. However, he never became a celebrity, or even a figurehead. He did not need it. He only needed to work.
His films are never personal visions. They never felt trapped in a world that he and the people who knew him inhabited. His films were either artful crowd-pleasers or relatable art pieces. They evolved whenever the audience or the market evolved. In the 70’s and 80’s, when the Philippines was busy struggling under the dictatorship, he wrote Insiang (1976) and directed Bagong Hari (The New King, 1986) that showed a world of characters that struggled even harder. In the 90’s, when the only films that could compete with Hollywood were children’s fantasies and soft pornography, he gave us Johnny Tinoso and the Proud Beauty (1994), Manananggal in Manila (Monster in Manila, 1997), and Sisa (1999), which featured a Sisa who had breasts the size of melons.
He made Babae sa Breakwater (Woman of the Breakwater, 2003), which brought the Philippines again to Cannes after decades of absence. Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio (The Trial of Andres Bonifacio, 2010) had him experimenting with digital cinematography and the result was more than exhilarating. When the country decided to leave the cinemas for the comforts of their homes, he directed Sa Ngalan ng Ina (In the Name of the Mother, 2011), a television series that not only heralded Aunor’s return to Philippine showbusiness but also showcased the artistic capabilities of Philippine television most local networks could ever imagine because they are too busy being pandering to the stupidity they have cultivated.
The characters that O’Hara wrote and gave life to are never heroes or villains, they were imperfect human beings victimized by circumstance. The Japanese soldier who raped a village girl of Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos is capable of real love. The baby-faced killer of Bagong Hari graduates from his violent encounters as a hero. The leper he played in Brocka’s Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang (You were Weighed but Found Wanting, 1974) is the film’s most tragically human figure. The unfortunate dwellers of the Breakwater in Babae sa Breakwater had joie de vivre the most fortunate of us can't never even imagine. The courageous founder of the Katipunan in Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio had the humanity to cry and beg for his life.
O’Hara’s astute understanding of our collective imperfections is laudable. He had no qualms in breaking perceptions, in defying conventions, in shocking conservative sensibilities, to point out that the weaknesses that are only part and parcel of our being only made in the likeness of God are not something to be masked or hidden but exposed and expressed in film and fiction.
After his pitch, O’Hara said his farewell and uneventfully exited the room. I could not help it. I had to excuse myself. Like a rabid fan, I rushed towards O’Hara and awkwardly attempted to start a conversation. “Hi Mario, I am a big fan. I thought Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio is absolutely great.” That was all I could say. In my mind, I wanted to probe his creative processes, I wanted to ask so many questions, I wanted to die out of sheer embarrassment of being put in a position a few minutes ago that I could never imagine I deserve, but sadly, those short and uncreatively constructed sentences were all that my brain could process to deliver to my mouth. He embarrassedly laughed and politely said thank you. He then asked me where the nearest restroom was. I pointed him towards the one beside the gift shop. He again smiled at me and whisked towards the restroom. I excitedly returned to the one of the many rooms in the Cultural Center of the Philippines, ready to hear out a dozen more pitches. Henerala would eventually get the greenlight, but because of lack of investors, he could not make it. I guess we just live in such an unjust, unfair world.
Mario O’Hara had to pee. He also had to die. He was human after all. In fact, there was so much humanity in him, his works radiate with it.
Rafflecopter was down last night so I wasn't able to schedule this post early. Anyway, without further ado, the winner of the ebook for Wife by Wednesday by Catherine Bybee is.....
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Image: Mariela Castro, Director of the Cuban National Center for Sexual Education, listens to a translator at an event held at the New York City Public Library (Photo credit: Andrés Duque/Blabbeando).
NOTE: This will be a slog for some looking for the juicy bits. If you are looking for those, please skip to the bottom where I've posted three exclusive videos taken at the event.
Background: In the six years since I started this blog, I have covered some pretty amazing developments happening on Latin America when it comes to LGBT rights. Argentina, the first country in the region to pass a marriage equality law back in 2010, probably leads the pack particularly after just approving the most progressive gender identity law in the world. But I would argue that no other country in the region has experienced as big and fast a turnaround on LGBT issues as Cuba.
No small feat, considering its history of persecution and harassment against the LGBT community in the 1960's and 1970's and the quarantine policies it practiced against people with HIV in the 1980's.
The CENESEX: It would be also fair to say that these changes are due in large measure thanks to Mariela Castro's leadership as the head of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX).
During the past decade or so, Ms. Castro has used her considerable influence to raise the visibility of the LGBT community in Cuba and expose the challenges that they face. Through the CENESEX, she has also pressured the government to extend rights to the LGBT population. It doesn't hurt, of course, that Ms. Castro is the daughter of current Cuban president Raúl Castro and the niece of former president Fidel Castro.
My first inkling that change was afoot came in 2006 when a television soap called "The Other Side of the Moon" became a sensation in Cuba. Purportedly, the soap was produced with input from the CENESEX to educate the Cuban public on the risks of HIV transmission, but what made it a must-watch event was that it was the first state-sponsored telenovela to feature a love story between a married man the gay man he falls for.
That same year saw the launch of a series of cultural events on the month of May in observance of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The events are now held on an annual basis and has featured the Cuban premieres of of U.S. films such as "Milk" and "If These Walls Could Talk" and a few episodes from "Grey's Anatomy" and "Glee", which might surprise some readers.
And while entirely symbolic in nature, in January of this year the Communist Party of Cuba officially embraced LGBT rights for the first time in history by including the following two "Work Objectives" in an official statement meant to spell out its commitments (a PDF of the full document can be downloaded at this Spanish-language page):
Confront prejudice and discriminatory conduct based on a person’s color of skin, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, country of origin and other issues that are contrary to the Constitution and to the law, that threaten national unity, or that limit the free exercise of a person’s freedoms.
Portray Cuban reality in all its diversity through audiovisual, print and digital media in a professional and faithful manner according to their particular characteristics, including the economic, employment and social situation, people’s gender, color of skin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and country of origin.
Mea-culpas: In the meantime, there have been a couple of less than forthcoming apologies for the sins of Cuba's past.
"There is no repression against gays in Cuba," she said, "what does exist is the same sociocultural response that exists in other nations."
According to Brito, Ms. Castro admitted that the Cuban Communist Party had acknowledged it had been an error to persecute the LGBT community in the 1960's and regretted banning them from reaching top political posts in the 1970's but, when pressed about it, she admitted it was something dealt as an "internal issue" and never discussed with the Cuban public.
Then came Fidel Castro's apology in an August 2010 interview with another journalist from La Jornada in which he chalked up all past abuses to the homophobia of the day and denied he ever personally held any homophobic sentiment. It was only when the reporter insisted on whether the Cuban Communist Party should have been held accountable that Fidel took ownership and admitted that if anyone was to blame it was him (Walter Lippman has a translation of the interview here).
Dissidence: Some critics, mostly those outside the island, have tried to minimize the impact of the CENESEX achievements and have argued that they are part of a public relations campaign to cover up Cuba's past and ongoing human rights violations. Dissident voices within the island also claim that efforts to organize outside the CENESEX umbrella are often met with government interference, censure and outright persecution.
In 2008 reports emerged that the Cuban government had successfully stifled what would have been the first ever Cuban LGBT pride march by harassing organizers and detaining them. Ms. Castro herself would later categorically deny the allegations and said that the reason the march had failed to materialize was that none of the six organizers were gay or had any followers and that their only intent was to discredit Cuba before the eyes of the world.
Cuba Encuentro, which has a long history of editorializing against the Cuban government, identified at least two of the organizers as being gay: Spokesperson Mario José Delgado González who was identified as the director of the Reynaldo Arenas In-Memoriam LGBT Foundation, and Ignacio Cepero Estrada who was identified as the director of the Cuban Human Rights Commission for People Living with HIV and said to have been detained for at least two hours.
Last year, when the AFP reported that a dozen individuals had finally been able to march down the streets of Havana in what they called the first such event, Mr. Estrada was among them.
Two months later Mr. Estrada would go on to gain wider notoriety when he announced he would be marrying Wendy Iriepa, a transgender woman who had worked briefly for the CENESEX, and called it Cuba's "first gay marriage". Ireipa had reportedly left the CENESEX alleging that she had been victimized by the agency but the couple said there was no animosity and said they had sent a wedding invite to Ms. Castro. The maid of honor? Cuba's best known dissident voice Yoanni Sánchez. The BBC was thrilled.
Adding to the parochial feel of the confrontation, Ms. Castro actually responded to the wedding invite. "I am thrilled [Ms. Iriepa] is getting married even if it's not to a heterosexual man as she would have wanted," she told the EFE news agency tongue firmly in cheek, "but it seems she found the love of her life and we wish her much happiness".
She then went on to say that there were foreign forces at play. "There is North American government funding to launch LGBT organizations to counter the positions [of the CENESEX]," she told EFE, "It's political, it's a media campaign against Cuba that has a lot of money behind it and there are people who let themselves be seduced by such things."
I have opened with this long introduction because there is a lot out there about Cuban politics and dissident voices but few, if any, that thread these tensions within a recent LGBT context. It is also a preamble that contextualizes why I was looking forward to a rare U.S. appearance by Ms. Castro that took place at the New York Public Library on May 29th.
Controversy: The event announcement at the Library came only a few days after Ms. Castro got news that she had been granted a visa, a decision by the Department of State that immediately drew withering criticism from long-time critics of the Cuban government.
Before coming to New York, Ms. Castro made a few appearances in San Francisco where she got the ball rolling by insulting Castro government critics in Florida as a tiny "Cuban mafia" holding U.S. policy towards Cuba hostage to their rancor. She also made some headlines by telling anyone who would listen that, yes, she would vote for Barack Obama for president if she was able to cast a vote in the U.S. presidential elections.
The Library also came in for some harsh criticism for changing the registration process only days before the event from one that was open to the public on a 'first come, first seated basis' to one that was by registration only with full capacity reached almost immediately as the change was announced online. Anti-Castro critics accused the Library of deliberately manipulating the registration process as to giving them the power to choose who could get in and who to keep out. The Library absolutely denied the allegations.
During the event I was able to sit in the second row as press and noticed that the first row had been reserved for dignitaries and staff members of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations. No surprise there since securing Ms. Castro's appearance must have taken some diplomatic wrangling. My hunch is that while I very much doubt that Library staff specifically set out to select a specific audience it would not surprise me if the Mission received notice of the change in registration policy and sent out alerts to make sure their allies registered on time. In any case, where the critics are correct is in that the event turned out to be unusually welcoming and warm towards Ms. Castro.
The program: So what actually happened at the event? Glad you asked because I took some notes!
The event started almost an hour late and lasted a little more than sixty minutes. Carey Maloney, Co-Chair of the Library's LGBT Committee, began by introducing Ms. Castro and guest moderator Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
In an opening statement with the help of a translator, Ms. Castro said she had prepared a PowerPoint presentation she had decided to scratch due to time limitations. Nevertheless, she said she had been very impressed with the number of illustrations about Cuban art and culture that Microsoft had included in the software. It was the first of many lines that drew hearty laughter from the audience.
Instead, Ms. Castro introduced a 10 minute documentary reflecting some of the events that took place at the 2009 anti-homophobia cultural festival (Pt. 1 is here and Pt. 2 is here).
First question - Transgender rights in Cuba: Ms. Carey began by making note of the controversy surrounding Ms. Castro's visit and the many e-mails she had received in favor and against the event. To start, though, Ms. Carey alluded to an earlier off-stage conversation they'd apparently had and she asked Ms. Castro to share the journey she had taken from an advocate for women's rights to one who was a staunch advocate for transgender rights. She congratulated Ms. Castro on getting the government to cover gender-reassignment surgery back in 2008 and asked her to explain the process that took place before securing that victory.
Ms. Castro's response: Ms. Castro began by thanking Mr. Maloney and his husband Hermes Mallea for their hospitality and pointedly saluted the fact that their marriage was now recognized by the State of New York. She also thanked the event organizers for giving her an opportunity to meet Ms. Carey.
She then spoke of the groundbreaking work her mother Vilma Castro Espín had done on women's rights and Cuba's vanguard role on the issue. She noted that Cuba had instituted an equal wages law back in 1959 mandating that women must be paid the same as men for equal amounts of work and that the Cuban women's movement had embraced gender issues as far back as the 1960's giving them the advantage of seeing the issue as a mental construct. "We are all transvestites, an invention, a fashion, a style," she said.
She spoke of the human habit of controlling and dominating others through the invention of rigid schemes and the serious trouble some people could get into simply by breaking away from those schemes. And she said that by focusing on gender as a construct provided a tool to confront those privileges.
Women in Cuba were already challenging homophobia and transphobia as far back as the 1960's, she said, but progress was extremely slow because they lacked the methodological tools to change society's attitudes. She reminded audience members that homophobia at that time was not unique to Cuba and that most of the countries in the world saw homosexuality as an illness that should be stamped out. And she reminded the audience that, to this day, most medical science leaders throughout the world still categorize being transgender as a mental illness in a way that excludes transgender individuals from the rest of the world. "Why pathologize and stigmatize human beings," she asked, "are we all permanently ill people?"
Providing an answer to her own question, Ms. Castro said that it was a ploy to make others feel inferior while sustaining heterosexual privilege and not having to share power. She argued it was the same reason why minorities keep being attacked as being immoral, ill, evil beings and pedophiles and why all bad things in the world are often blamed on minorities.
Ms. Castro took scientists to task for helping to create a world of power imbalance. "How many of these illnesses were named after male doctors?" she asked, "A male doctor was the one who first invented the female G Spot as if women didn't already know they had one!"
The audience roared.
Ms. Castro then said that knowledge was power and that, unfortunately, there were many ignorant people in the world who let doctors have "medical omnipotence" over them. "When people feel bad," she said, "people run to their priest, their witch-doctor, their doctor, their santero."
In this context, Ms. Castro argued that sexual education was a liberating force and represented a form of human emancipation and that all forms of discrimination stemmed from the same root and led to inequality.
Finally, Ms. Castro shared an analogy between discrimination, the economy and a piece of bread. She said that when there is not enough bread for everybody but someone wants more than what they received, they have to come up with a convincing reason for others to willingly hand their bread over. Once they get their way they gain power. And once they gain power they gain the ability to denigrate other people's religion, call them ugly or call them fat - and they can come up with a number of reasons to take away people's rights.
"When we fight for LGBT people we are not taking rights from heterosexuals," she said, "we are sharing privilege and power and the same is true for transgender rights."
Second question - Respect for different political and religious views: Highlighting once again the flood of e-mail messages she had received in advance of the event, Ms. Carey said many people clearly saw Ms. Castro as a powerful advocate for LGBT rights but added that to others this seemed to be contradictory in the broader context of human rights in Cuba.
"Many of us feel that LGBT progress is about the freedom to express our true self," Ms. Carey stated and asked Ms. Castro if she would be willing to expand her advocacy to issues of freedom of self and expression which included "people with different political and religious views."
Ms. Castro's response: Saying that she had understood only part of the question, Ms. Castro said that her work on LGBT issues was inclusive of other communities that experienced discrimination.
NOTE: At this point, someone in the audience interrupted Ms. Castro and translated the second part of the question. In what must have looked as planned to most of the audience, the first translator left the podium and was replaced by my friend Pedro Julio Serrano who was there as the Communications Manager at the Task Force and told me later that he was just as shocked to have ended up translating for Ms. Castro.
Ms. Castro's response (continued): Ms. Castro said that she too imagined what Cuba might become; a Cuba that might be able to sustain full sovereignty.
That elicited a spontaneous standing ovation from the audience and shouts of "Long live socialist Cuba!"
By 'a sovereign Cuba', Ms. Castro continued, she meant having to choose their own path to freedom.
She said that all representatives to the Cuban National Assembly were chosen by a popular vote and that their legislative process was a form of socialism that always sought full justice.
Ms. Castro then argued that by standing up to other nations, the Cuban government actually practiced a form of global dissidence. She said that she considered herself to be a dissident and saw all the leaders of the Cuban Revolution as dissidents in that they held positions that made other governments 'uncomfortable.'
Picking up themes from earlier in the presentation, Ms. Castro said that the Cuban government was often discriminated for having chosen, as she called it, "the historic process towards full emancipation of the human being."
Clearly enjoying the moment as well as the thunderous applause from the audience, Ms. Castro stopped and smiled and then challenged the reporters present to quote her directly. "I want to see the 'freed' ones who will publish that!" she exclaimed.
Finally, Ms. Castro said that if there was a reason why she was fighting so hard to change the cultural heritage of reproducing discrimination that existed in her own country it wasn't just on behalf of the CENESEX but also to improve the lives of the LGBT community in the island. Invoking Brazilian philosopher and education theorist Paolo Freire, she said this involved a spontaneous lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and heterosexual movement - an LGBTIH movement which was inclusive of the 'I' as in 'intersex' and the 'H' as in 'heterosexual' - coming together to change society and the world towards full human emancipation.
This, she said, was the reason other nations wanted to punish Cuba.
Third question - Marriage equality: Ms. Carey mentioned recent news reports in which Ms. Castro had gone on the record as being in favor of same-sex civil unions and other reports that said the Cuban government might be ready to allow same-sex marriages. She said it was unclear from reports if Ms. Castro herself would be fighting for marriage equality in Cuba and asked her to clarify what her position was on same-sex unions.
Ms. Castro's response: Ms. Castro stated that a few years ago the CENESEX had approached the Cuban Communist Party and proposed a study a study on whether there were any codes and laws that were discriminatory on the basis of sexual orientation and the Party agreed to back it. She also said that when a new family code was proposed, the CENESEX had worked with several non-governmental organizations to pour over the family code text to make sure that it would extend same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples. "After all, who am I to deny those same rights?" she said, and added "There is no argument there from me and no reason for it not to be equal."
But when Ms. Castro specifically brought up the issues of same-sex marriage and adoption rights for gays, she said she met tremendous opposition from business interest groups and religious institutions and was told they would not go anywhere. Instead, the CENESEX presented a strategic plan to educate the Cuban public on these issues and got the go ahead from the Communist Party.
Speaking about the current situation, Ms. Castro said that there still existed a firm resistance from Cuban society to these issues and that it was clear that if they were put up for a vote they would be rejected. But she also said that the CENESEX had continued to work tirelessly on educating the public to change these attitudes and that this was the first year she truly felt that Cuban media had finally come around and began to support LGBT rights.
Ultimately, Ms. Castro said there were no current efforts to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples or, as she also framed it, to "touch the sacramental word that is 'marriage'
"In Cuba almost nobody gets married anyway," she joked.
Ms. Castro also said there were no plans to touch adoption rights and that this was based on the recommendation of LGBT advocates working with the CENESEX who advised her that it was too loaded an issue to try to push forward at the moment. She added that it might not make sense on a practical basis either since there were very few children in the Cuban adoption system and a waiting list of 300 heterosexual couples awaiting a chance to adopt.
As a result, the CENESEX had decided to focus on securing patrimonial rights for same-sex couples and making sure that when one partner dies the other has the right to handle inheritance rights. Specifically, she said, the CENESEX would focus on these areas:
Establish within the new family code the legal responsibility all Cuban families have towards members of the family who happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
Establish protections under child abuse regulations for children who come out or are outed to their families and end up being insulted, abused or kicked out of home by their own parents.
Monitor a number of upcoming legislative changes to secure that the laws spell out specific protections for the LGBT community wherever they apply and, in doing so, insure the full inclusion of the LGBT community in the Cuban Revolution.
With that, the floor was opened to audience questions.
First audience question - Cuba's democratic LGBT process: Identifying himself as a member of Cuba Solidarity Movement in New York, a man said that Ms. Castro had a lot of friends in New York City who were fighting against the U.S. "war" against Cuba and advocating for the release of "The Cuban Five." He said that in the United States, the Cuban government was often portrayed as a dictatorship and asked Ms. Castro to talk more about the political process in Cuba and the democratic way in which LGBT rights are are taken up legislatively.
Ms. Castro's response: Ms. Castro said that the Cuban democratic process still had room to improve but was working fine. Legislative representatives were voted into office by members of the communities in which they lived, she said, and measures were taken to insure that each person's ballot choice remained private. She also said that political candidates were not allowed to run campaign ads which meant they had to rely entirely on community support to be elected.
As a result, Ms. Castro said, the Cuban legislature was truly diverse and ranked 4th in female representation among all legislative bodies in the world. Where improvement was needed, she said, was in increasing racial representation and insuring that people of all ages gained access to the legislative body. She noted that her own father had made an issue of the later back in January when he said that he was concerned about "the prominence of old people" like himself at the top echelons of the Cuban Communist Party.
Ms. Castro said that there were decisions taken by the Cuban Communist Party she liked and others not so much but said she still had trust in the process. She said that she found some decisions to be too dogmatic or dialectical for her taste and a few she felt took the country a step backward. But she also saw others as a step in the right direction including a resolution approved at the national congress back in January in which the Party, for the first time, had backed a resolution to fight all forms of discrimination in Cuban society, including that based on sexual orientation and gender identity [NOTE: The actual text, as I mention in the introduction mentions sexual orientation and gender but I don't believe it actually mentions 'gender identity'].
She said that these developments indicated that there was political will but said that political will in itself was not enough and yet it reflected the current state in which they found themselves right now and that it gave her hope that Cubans would eventually gain full justice and equality. She said that humans had a tendency towards discrimination and that overcoming certain ideas would take a continuous battle. "It is the difficult, challenging and complex creative process in which we are at the moment", she said.
Second audience question - Should Cuba apologize for having sent LGBT individuals to forced labor camps?: Identifying herself as Anabel Evora, an audience member stood up and said that she had been born in Puerto Rico to Cuban parents and still considered herself to be more Cuban than Puerto Rican. She said she knew the Cuban community in Miami from having lived there and was well aware how difficult it might be to work with them but she said that she suspected many of them might stand with Ms. Castro and support her work if only for a single reason.
Ms. Evora said that many members of the Cuban LGBT community that lived in Miami had fled the island after being held in concentration camps for being gay.
At this point, Ms. Castro stepped in and said Ms. Evora was probably referring to individuals who participated in Cuba's mandatory military service, including gay and transgender individuals, but denied there had ever been concentration camps in Cuba.
Ms. Evora said the issue was that these men were still held against their will for being gay and said that they might appreciate it if Cuba apologized for the way they had been treated.
Some audience members who were clearly annoyed asked Ms. Evora if she was done with her question but Ms. Castro hushed them and calmly told her to go on.
Ms. Evora finished by asking if Ms. Castro might be able to talk about it with her father Raúl.
Ms. Castro's response (VIDEO): I wasn't planning to capture any part of the presentation on video partly because I didn't think that I had enough memory in my portable camera to do so but I wanted to capture Ms. Castro's response to this specific question and so I did.
Ms. Castro thanked Ms. Evora for a "wonderful question" and said that the estimated number of Cubans living in the United States was 1.5 million which she thought was a wonderful thing. She said she enjoyed close communication with many Cuban immigrants but blamed what she called "a tiny group of people without scruples" for manipulating information and lying about Cuba with the sole intention of enriching themselves at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.
Ms. Castro blamed them for the travel ban to Cuba and said that this was a violation of the civil rights of the people of the United States. She ended with an anecdote about President John. F. Kennedy not having wanted to sign the Cuban travel ban because he didn't want to see his access to Cuban cigars restricted and noted that the ban was only enshrined into legislative policy when President Ronald Reagan handed the power to decide on it to Congress. The audience corrected her on that last point and said President Bill Clinton was actually the one who took that step.
You can see a low-quality video of that part of her response here.
Ms. Castro then discussed government-sponsored homophobia throughout the world and the fact that a number of countries today still have death penalties for gays. She referred to the majority of Caribbean countries that still impose jail terms for anyone found to be gay and said that these policies needed to change.
Ms. Castro said allegations that gays were ever sent to concentration camps in Cuba were false but said that there were a few years in which gay men and transgender women who enrolled in mandatory military service were sent to segregated Military Production Support Units - or UMAPs - which kept them separate from the heterosexual quarters. She revealed that the CENESEX had started an oral history project just this year to document these experiences and claimed that the military itself had decided to shut down the gay units three years after they were instituted because the policy was not working. She made no mention of the hard labor endured by some at the UMAP's and compared the homophobic treatment of some individuals to that of other governments at the time.
In perhaps the most disappointing part of her presentation, Ms. Castro shot down the idea that Cuba might ever apologize for its past treatment of LGBT individuals in the island. That part of her response starts at the 2:10 mark.
"Asking for forgiveness would be an act of hypocrisy and won't change the past," Ms. Castro answered before saying that an apology would only benefit Cuban critics. She insisted that what was needed, instead, was to build on the current track and continue to fight for LGBT rights in Cuba.
She later argued that if Cuba did ask for forgiveness, then it would be up to other nations to ask for forgiveness for an array of human rights violations which meant you'd never see the end of it. An easy way to evade responsibility.
Third and last audience question - How to keep the LGBT movement from replicating patriarchal models:Naomi Brussel from WBAI stood up and said that she had visited Cuba in 1980, 2000 and 2009 and seen the changes that had taken place on the issue during that time. She asked if Ms. Castro thought it would eventually be possible for an "autonomous" LGBT group like the Task Force to form in Cuba perhaps indirectly raising the issue that few voices represented the face of the LGBT community in Cuba other than Mariela Castro's.
Mariela Castro's response (VIDEO): Ms. Castro said that she expected such a time would come but that in the meantime she was dedicating her time to train activists from a "profound ideology of non-exclusion". She said she was worried that in promoting LGBT rights others might promote certain hegemonic ideologies that she sees in the global LGBT movement that perpetuate patriarchal models. "Gay men dominate in ways that hurt the lesbian and transgender rights movements," she said.
This is were the conversation picks up in this final video:
Ms. Castro said that she was surprised by what she saw at The Castro museum in San Francisco when she saw documents and flyers from the 1960's showing that the modern LGBT rights movement used to be much more open to different movements and ideologies and embraced activists from the Communist Party of the United States. She also said she was shocked to see that they didn't just fight for LGBT right but also other sorts of discrimination including that based on race. She joked that for years she thought she was the one who had invented such a progressive outlook. To close, she argued that it was the fight for HIV funding that created divisions with people fighting over who experienced more discrimination than others.
The hosts of the event closed the presentation and a member of the audience handed Ms. Castro a bouquet of flower.
Accepting a bouquet of flowers from an audience member, Ms. Castro then led the crowd in a chant to "Free the Cuban Five".
Coda: It has been a month to the day since the event took place and her comments are still reverberating online and in the press. Ms. Castro herself is back in Cuba and posted her own thoughts on the visit on her blog in Spanish and English ("A Message of Friendship").
According to reports they also handed a document to parliamentary representatives in which they ask the government to protect their rights. Interestingly, they also demand that the CENESEX launch an investigation of the UMAPs and their discriminatory record during the 1960's which Ms. Castro preempted in New York by saying that an investigation had been launched.
I'll ad one more detail just in case people are still reading this far down the post: Even as Ms. Castro was evasive about Cuba's responsibility for human rights abuses and invokes the fact that other nations had worse records when it comes to LGBT rights, Iranian Vice President Ali Saeedlu was in Havana announcing "bilateral ties" with Cuba on the same day she appeared at the New York Public Library.
Iran, of course, is one of the countries Ms. Castro indirectly invoked as having death penalties for gay men found guilty of sodomy. One would think that if Cuba is truly committed to eradicating homophobia throughout the world, they would put pressure on Iran to change their policies as well.
So, I forgot to post last week. Oops. To make up for it, I'm giving you a twofer today. I loved both of these books--so did my oldest boy--and we both are waiting for the promised third installment. And the movie. (Fingers crossed that both actually happen.)
Savvy by Ingrid Law
For: Ages 8-12
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2008
Description: Thirteen is when a Beaumont’s savvy hits—and with one brother who causes hurricanes and another who creates electricity, Mibs Beaumont is eager to see what she gets. But just before the big day, Poppa is in a terrible accident. And now all Mibs wants is a savvy that will save him. In fact, Mibs is so sure she’ll get a powerful savvy that she sneaks a ride to the hospital on a rickety bus with her sibling and the preacher’s kids in tow. After this extraordinary adventure—full of talking tattoos and a kidnapping—not a soul on board will ever be the same.
Why I Liked It: You know, I love fantasies, but most of them are seeped in European history. But this was a true stars and stripes fantasy. It's wild and wacky but heartfelt...and completely American. Ingrid does a great job with subtle humor, too, so this book is one part adventure, one part fantasy, one part humorous, but with meat on it. It deserved the Newbery Honor it received, in my opinion.
Scumble by Ingrid Law
For: Ages 8-12
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2010
Description: It's nine years after Savvy, and Mibs' cousin Ledge is on the verge of turning thirteen. More than anything, he wants the power to run like the wind. But when his birthday comes, he discovers that his savvy is actually making things fall apart. It starts out with small things, but then it gets worse. To top it all off, someone outside the family has witnessed his destruction. Now, in addition to trying to figure out how to control - or scumble - his savvy, he's got to worry about how to protect the family secrets. Over the course of one amazing summer, Ledge learns a lot about himself and his family, makes a new - and very unlikely - friend, and learns to appreciate his newfound skills.
Why I Liked it: This was just as good as the first (maybe better). I enjoyed seeing glimpses of the characters from the first book, but I adored the new characters who take center stage. Again, this was wild and entertaining but had substance as well. I found the savvies particularly clever, but I mostly enjoyed that the troubles Ledge finds himself in with his own savvy are more...er, destructive. Perfect for the boy readers out there.
Do you know of any other fantasies like these? I've been searching, but to no avail. If you know of some, please share in the comments below.
Let's Talk Friday is a discussion post where I find a topic to discuss and talk about my opinions on the subject. I am in no way an expert, so please, take this with a grain of salt as they say. Don't hesitate to voice your opinion (or advice) in the comments and let's start the discussion!
This week, I thought I would talk about heartbreaks and how I dealt with them. I found the idea from Elle and Blair's website. Click here to check their blog post on it.
Fortunately, I've only had my heart broken once. Yes, that means I've only had one boyfriend in my lifetime. I had three stages of coping with the breakup: Hope, Anger, Acceptance.
Hope
Given that it was my first and only breakup, I had no idea how to deal with it. I tried to talk to the other person and try to stay friends - basically tried to make sure that the connection was not completely cut off. This only caused me so much pain and I shed buckets of tears to the point of exhaustion. I cried myself to sleep, in the shower, in the car, at work, etc. I was a mess.
Anger
After a couple months, the other person decided to move on, and as I call it, got himself a rebound girl. (Whodathunkit - I was a rebound myself but didn't know it at the time). That was the time when I started telling myself that I was angry. I wasn't necessarily angry to the point that I wished him harm. In fact, it was the opposite. I made fun of him and his new fling, but I found that I would still defend his honor when someone else would say bad things about him. It was a complicated thing in my head. Anyway, I stayed "angry" for a while, which led me to my last stage.
Acceptance
You know the saying "fake it til you make it"? I guess that's what I did when I kept telling myself I was angry when really, it was a simple mechanism for me to forget. As time went on, the memories started to blur, and the pain started to subside. There's also another saying "out of sight, out of mind." I stopped "stalking" the person on Facebook and it really helped with the coping process.
My advice for those with a broken heart:
Find something you enjoy doing and concentrate on it. At one point, I felt so low that I thought my life was over. It wasn't until I saw Blair Fowler post a video about the House of Night series. I started reading the series and fell in love with reading. Bottom line, books and reading got me through the days, and now I'm quite content. If I hadn't found my way to a good book, I probably would still be bitter right now. Thank God for books! :)
I also found "pink therapy." It is the kind of therapy where I go to a store and look at pretty things, preferably pink, and I would be happy. It could also mean going to a bookstore, and the mere touch of the books in my hands make me happy. After that first heartbreak, I learned to be happy about the smallest things and appreciate them.
So tell me, have you had your heart broken? How did you cope with it?
Again, I apologize to all the authors that have given me a copy of their books and I have yet to review them. I am currently swamped in book tour reviews at the moment. Those invites just keep sucking me in, I can't help myself!
The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review (or any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.
This week, I am highlighting FOUR books. 2 Young Adult, and 2 Adult Romance
Young Adult
Source: Won in a giveaway (both e-book and paperback)
Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she must face the evil she despises and the good she always feared.
When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is finding a reason to change—something she’s never had before—a friend.
Lauren is visited in her dreams for years by a stranger claiming to be her destiny. Destiny becomes reality when paths cross during a failed robbery attempt. Lauren and the stranger experience chemistry like no other and now her doubt over her long time relationship with her high school sweetheart is not her only secret…someone else knows about her keen intuition and sixth sense.A mysterious clairvoyant seeks Lauren out and tells her not only of her life now but what the future may hold. Soon Lauren is in the middle of a murder investigation and a questionable friendship with the key suspect. Law enforcement, friends and family are concerned for Lauren but unfortunately they are unaware of the true danger…Sinister forces are at work and will stop at nothing to destroy Lauren’s abilities.
Former Army Special Forces Sgt. Marco Vieri has never thought of Alyssa Scott as more than his best friend’s little sister, but her return home changes that…and challenges him to keep his war-borne demons at bay. Marco’s not the same person he was back when he protected Alyssa from her abusive father, and he’s not about to let her see the mess he’s become.
…but now she’s all grown up.
When Alyssa takes a job at the bar where Marco works, her carefree smiles wreak havoc on his resolve to bury his feelings. How can he protect her when he can’t stop thinking about her in his bed? But Alyssa’s not looking for protection—not anymore. Now that she’s back in his life, she’s determined to heal her forbidden hero, one touch at a time…
When an Oscar-winning movie star meets a department-store photographer…
Movie star Nic Lamoureux appears to have a playboy’s perfect life. But it’s a part he plays, an act designed to conceal a dark secret he carries on his shoulders. His empty days and nights are a meaningless blur until he meets the woman who fulfills all his dreams. She and her son are the family he’s always wanted—if she can forgive a horrible mistake from his past.
A Hollywood dream…
Lauren James, a widowed single mother, earns barely enough money to support herself and her son. When she wins a photography contest and meets Nic, the man who stars in all her fantasies, her dreams, both professional and personal, are on the verge of becoming real. The attraction between Lauren and Nic is instant—and mutual. Their chemistry burns out of control during a photo shoot that could put Lauren on the fast track to a lucrative career.
Becomes a Hollywood nightmare
But an ill-advised kiss makes front-page news, and the lurid headlines threaten everything Nic and Lauren have hoped for. Before they know what’s happening, their relationship is further rocked by an obsessed and cunning stalker who’ll stop at nothing—not even murder—to have Nic to herself. When Nic falls for Lauren, the stalker zeroes in on her as the competition.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think? If not, would you want to read them? I personally am excited to read all of these books! Her Forbidden Hero is in my queue to read simply because it was given to me for review by my partner Kayla, and even though there is no deadline, I really should get to reading it.
First up, I received two awesome books from my partner Kayla! She sent me one YA and one adult ARC for my birthday :) How awesome, right? Make sure to check out her blogs when you're done here: Bengal Reads (YA) and Reading on the Wild Side (adult partner). Thank you, Kayla! The books were beautiful!
Next, I won a book from Ruth Hill over at My Devotional Thoughts in the Lazy Summer Giveaway :) She asked me to send an author (or a list of author) that I wanted to read but don't own any book from them yet. She surprised me with the book below. I was ecstatic! Thank you, Ruth!
This next book, I won from a giveaway by Gabrielle from Mod Podge Bookshelf. Originally, she told me I was going to receive Goddess Test, but she made a mistake. I was actually going to receive Goddess Interrupted. So now I have to enter giveaways for the first book, instead of the second book LOL! Thank you Gabrielle for holding the giveaway!
I already have this next book, but I thought I would get this copy because it has the TV show cover and I thought maybe I will give it away later. On looking at the cover a second time, I'm wondering whether I should keep it instead. The book was $0.25 and paid for by the book seller at our local "Friends of the Library" bookstore. I love free books and awesome book sellers!
Next up, the real reason I was at the library. Nowadays, I don't request books from the library because as some of you know, I win a lot of books and have a mountain of books to read. However, with this book, I made an exception. I would stop everything to read this book: Golden Lily by Richelle Mead. The second book in the Bloodlines series. It looks so beautiful, doesn't it?!!
On another day, I was at the library again and decided to stop by the bookstore. Of course, I came away with another book for $0.50. *Sigh* I don't think I would have a consistent collection for this series as far as cover goes.
As my luck would have it, I won the Debut Author Giveaway hosted by Mickey from I'm A Book Shark. I chose Sweet Evil because I've heard good things about this book. Thanks Mickey!
I don't know how well I can keep this up, but in from now on, I will try to keep up with the ebooks that I won/received for review and showcase them here as well. So, check out below the ebooks I've received since the first Pink Spotlight back in June 10, 2012. (P.S. Any book sent to me for R.A.K. will be in the wrap-up post)
Gifted by the author for review.
Won from a giveaway
Won from a giveaway - had so much trouble downloading it from Net Galley - I hate that place.
Beauty
I went to Walmart a couple weeks ago and realized I didn't have a big list of things to buy, so I decided to browse the cosmetics section. Of course, knowing me, I came away with a few things. I got a new brand of lip balm and two eye shadows from Maybelline (Vanilla and Made for Mocha for my brows).
So, that is all I've got in the past couple weeks. Everything I bought in Vegas is in my wrap-up post here.
Tell me in the comments: Book: How soon should I read Divergent? I am absolutely SWAMPED with review books, but if I get any breathing room, I usually pick up a book that I really want to read and breeze through it. Do you think Divergent should be that next book?
Beauty: What would you recommend for an affordable blush? I have yet to afford NARS or MAC blushes so I'm looking for maybe a drugstore one? Also I probably should get more brushes because right now, I'm using one brush for three products - powder, blush, bronzer - I'm pretty sure that's not good.
Kimmy Dora and the Temple of Kiyeme (Joyce Bernal, 2012)
Joyce Bernal’s Kimmy Dora and the Temple of Kiyeme misses the entire point. It is just one humongous mistake that sadly betrays whatever hope the success of Kimmy Dora: Kambal sa Kiyeme (2009) created for the Philippine film industry. Perhaps the first Kimmy Dora offering was simply a tad overrated. It has everything going for it. It featured Eugene Domingo, then an underdog, an actress who has worked her way to the top as its lead. It was also the only film that had guts to take them on, armed only with faith on the untested charms of its lead and its guiltless humor In a market that only welcomed the repetitive romances and inane horrors of the country’s mainstream studios.
It peddled nothing more but nonsense. However, it took that nonsense seriously. From the crafty screenplay that sought to stretch Domingo’s capabilities as both an actress and a comedienne, the film evolved into something that was sincere in its objectives, which was to introduce something new, whether it be the unbounded faith on a talented artist or the emancipated manner of making a commercial film, to the very tired system. Surely,Kambal sa Kiyeme was not overrated. It deserved the rewards it reaped, the acclaim and the several millions of pesos it earned from weeks of filling up local theaters.
Kambal sa Kiyeme’s hyperbolic appreciation of Philippine life, bolstered by Domingo’s equally hyperbolic performances as both Kimmy, the short-tempered and extravagant CEO of her family’s conglomerate, and Dora, her immaculately sweet but mentally retarded twin sister, elevates it from being just a string of gags to something more relatable, something whose humor is more grounded on what was then current. Frustratingly, The Temple of Kiyeme replaces that pleasant hyperbole with unoriginal gimmickry. It abandoned the high-strung realism of the first film with inglorious fantasy, allowing needless ornaments and effects to overshadow Domingo’s earnest efforts to elevate the entire thing.
From the high-stress offices and the posh suburbs of Manila, The Temple of Kiyeme relocates its comedy to the temples of Korea, continuing the story of the twins as they discover their roots and become aware of their duty to be wed to the hideous heir of their family’s business partners in order to eradicate a curse that all of sudden plagued their semi-serene way of life. Horror creeps into the picture through frequent hauntings of a drum-beating ghost, filmed by Bernal like a third-rate J-horror upstart who got into the craze ten years too late. The story, both convoluted and confused plods along painfully, burdened by the futile attempts to both scare and amuse. The jokes, farted out half-heartedly, are surprisingly underwritten, overplayed, and mostly middling.
If The Temple of Kiyeme is what pure entertainment is, then I believe the film’s makers have adopted a skewed sense of what pleasure is. The film is a near torturous event, weighed down further by how it feels like the moral and artistic opposite of Kambal sa Kiyeme. Coming from the same makers with suspicious new economic and creative partners, one can't help but feel that this latest endeavor reeks of plain treachery
Two years ago, 21-year-old Kate Edwards became deathly ill and slipped into a coma. While unconscious, she crept into the mind of a missing boy and awoke with the knowledge of his location. Friends and family were skeptical and wary of her new ability to see into the minds of others. Their fears prompted Kate to keep her psychic powers a secret. Feeling alienated, she dropped out of college and spent most of her days holed up at her mother's home.
Now another child has been abducted. Police detective Jared Corbett seeks out Kate for her help in solving the case. Reluctantly, Kate agrees and they must work together to bring 8-year-old Cori Preston home to her family. Although attracted to one another, Jared has a girlfriend with ties to the abduction case and Kate is sarcastic and guarded since her coma. With visions she can't control and an uncontrollable attraction to the detective, she wonders if she can leave the past behind and finally stop hiding from the world. Otherwise, Cori may be lost forever.
Jared and Kate have lunch together to discuss one of Kate’s visions about Cori’s abduction (Excerpt 1)
I get you? What the hell was that supposed to mean? His comments were making her feel unsure and suddenly exposed. Quickly, she decided to change the subject. “Your aunt doesn’t have any abilities?”
“No, she just always felt there was more to the world than we could see. Most of her major life decisions are based on answers she receives during tarot card readings. Some of her ideas are pretty out there. But I learned from a young age how to take things with a grain of salt,” he explained.
“Is she local?”
“Not anymore. Kind of lives off the grid now. She met this guy from Maine and moved up there about five years ago. He makes these amazing homemade brooms and Aunt Lizzie helps him run his business.” He gave a fond smile as he thought about his aunt. “You should meet her one day, you’d love her.”
“She sounds cool. Although introductions might be a little awkward. How would you present me? As your psychic sidekick?”
Before he could reply, the waitress returned for their order. He ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and potato salad. Against her better judgment, she went for the cheese fries with a side of gravy.
Jared gave her an undisguised look of distaste once the waitress had left. “How can you eat that crap? Sounds disgusting.” As he let his gaze run over her body, she felt heat rise to her cheeks. “Why are you so thin? You should be a hundred pounds overweight if you eat that kind of stuff.”
Kate snorted. Jeez, she really needed to stop snorting in his presence, talk about one of the least attractive qualities. “I’m hardly thin, I saw your girlfriend. I look like Cartman from South Park next to her.”
“Ugh, girls with their weight issues,” he said and waved her off. “Want to show me that sketch now?”
She pulled the picture out of her purse and he examined it thoroughly. After a moment of thoughtful consideration, he remarked, “You did a good job, I have a few ideas of what type of car it may be. Looks like an older model Ford or Toyota sedan. You said about ten years old and dark green?”
She nodded and he continued, “I’ll work on getting printouts of models from around that time period. See if we can get an exact match.”
“I wish I could’ve seen the license plate, but it wasn’t visible from the angle he brought Cori out in. The garage was well-lit, but the rest of the house was dark. The layout of the house looked like a Cape Cod style, but honestly he dragged her through so quickly I couldn’t say for sure.” She sighed and then took a sip of her diet soda. She figured ordering the diet soda helped to cancel out the massive amounts of calories in the cheese fries.
“Do you have any idea of a timeframe? How long she was in the car for?”
“She was unconscious for part of the ride. She didn’t have a good sense of time, but I would say he was driving for no more than twenty minutes while she was awake. It was very dark in the house which makes me guess it could have been a lot later after he left the Prestons. Not sure if he went anywhere first before heading to his house. Maybe someone near Cori’s house will remember seeing that type of car. I can’t imagine too many of the Prestons’ neighbors drive a hoopdie like that.”
He leaned back and chewed on his thumb. “With the damage to the front, it would definitely stand out. Of course, I wish we knew more, but this has been extremely helpful, Kate. Thank you.”
Closely, she watched his movements as he patted her hand. It only lasted a second, but Kate felt the touch long after he pulled away. Suffering a loss for words, Kate was grateful for the interruption when his phone rang.
After answering, he put his hand over the receiver and addressed her. “I’m going to step outside and take this. It’s a call from another one of the detectives working on the case.” After her nod, he disappeared out of the diner. While she waited, she fidgeted and tried not to think about how right his hand felt on hers.
A couple of minutes later, he returned with an apologetic look on his face. “Sorry about that. He wanted to let me know that they’re organizing a search party for tonight. The plan is to comb a few wooded areas in town to look for Cori. We have other detectives going door to door with Cori’s picture to see if anyone has any information,” he explained solemnly. It was hard to not get drawn in by his intensity as he spoke about Cori.
As the food arrived at the table, she became convinced greasy food would help get rid of these butterflies she was feeling. She saturated the fries with the gravy. After shoving a forkful in her mouth, she closed her eyes and sighed. “These are heavenly.”
Jared gave her a dubious look while taking a bite of his sandwich. “I can see your arteries clogging right before my eyes.” She held out her fork to him. “Go ahead and try them. You know you want to.”
He looked on the verge of denial, but eventually caved. “Fine, but I have a feeling I’ll be regretting it.”
She grinned as he took a large bite. He showed no reaction, but she giggled as he reached over and took another large forkful. “I can’t tell if I like it. I better taste some more in order to make a sound judgment.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she said. She grabbed a side dish plate and piled some on it. “Here, stop denying yourself. One serving of disco fries will not kill you.” Her grin could not seem to fade as she pushed the plate to his side of the table.
“So, that’s what these are called? Now that you have me addicted to them, I can blame you when I get too fat to chase anyone down,” he commented between bites. He cut his sandwich in half and held out a piece to her. “Wanna share?”
She took the sandwich from him and felt a jolt as their hands brushed. She was in big trouble and she knew it. More of this and she was going to ask him to procreate on the table right then and there. He returned her smile and seemed to also revel in the intimacy of the moment. She wished she could’ve thrown his phone against the wall when it rang again a second later. Kate felt embarrassed that she was weirding him out when she noticed how uncomfortable he suddenly looked.
Prologue (Excerpt 2)
Kate Edwards Journal
May 8
I always prided myself growing up as being one of a kind. Being fearless and never giving a damn what anyone had to say about it. In high school, I was one of those girls who refused to fit into a mold. I wasn’t with the glue sniffers out back under the bleachers, but I wasn’t sitting with the head cheerleaders either. I felt in charge of my destiny and I was going to pursue my dream of being an artist despite the odds stacked against me. If anyone had told me otherwise, I had no problem telling that person where to shove it.
Little did I know, it sometimes really blows being one of a kind. For starters, I contracted bacterial meningitis in college. What are the chances? Only about 1,500 people in the entire country get it each year. I think there were more kids than that in my graduating class of high school. Once a person has meningitis, she has an eleven percent chance of dying and a twenty percent chance of losing a limb or suffering from brain damage. Nineteen years old and there was a good chance I was either going to be dead or armless.
Lucky for me, I woke up from the coma I fell into. No brain damage, both arms in tact and alive and kicking. Kate was back in business and ready to kick ass and take names. However, fate decided to kick my ass instead. I came back from the dead not the same old Kate. No, I was now Kate with a second sight.
Some people may not understand why I don’t simply bask in the glory of having psychic abilities. Set up a psychic hotline, write a book or maybe open a palm reading shop. My mother and I could move to a mansion and I could rename myself some cool mystical name like Clairvoyant Caterina.
Well, the first reason is— that idea isn’t possible. I have no control over what I see. I’ll go to sleep at night and dream myself unwilling into someone else’s head. It’s unimaginable how truly awful that could be. Do I really care about that special day my mailman spent with his first dog Skippy at the park during the summer he turned eleven? Or do I need to know about the yearlong affair my dentist has been having with his secretary? Worse yet, I haven’t been able to predict anything. I may be able to tell someone what he ate for dinner on a first date ten years ago, but not if he is going to die choking the next night.
Sometimes I think maybe there is some way to control what I see. Or maybe I should be doing something worthwhile instead of destining myself to a life as a shut-in. I just can’t understand why this happened to me. Whose brilliant idea was it to nominate Kate to see inside other people’s heads? And now that I’ve been given this gift, what the hell am I supposed to do with it?
Author bio
Heather Topham Wood graduated from the College of New Jersey in 2005 and holds a bachelor's degree in English. Working full-time as a freelance writer for publications such as USA Today, Livestrong.com, Outlook by the Bay and Step in Style magazine, she writes fiction novels in her spare time. She resides in Trenton, New Jersey with her husband and two sons. Besides writing, Heather is a pop culture fanatic and has an obsession with supernatural novels and TV shows.
First Visions is the first book in the Second Sight series.
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