What I've done and what I've loved

Hi, all. Spring has made its glorious debut in New York. After 10 years of living in the desert, I’ve rediscovered the wonder of watching coats of bright green leaves dress naked trees. From my kitchen window, I’ve followed a couple of house sparrows build a nest on a tight space between neighboring brownstones. They’re methodical and patient even if working against time.

Speaking of time, I ran short of it this month and skipped two of my regular weekly notes. I’ve accomplished a lot in May, though, and the month isn’t over yet. I’ve guest-hosted two In The Thick podcasts, shepherded the launch of Futuro Media’s celebration of 30 years of Latino USA (for more about this and my role at Futuro, check out our website and my bio), and concluded the most challenging part of the revisions to my manuscript.

I’m on my way to Cuba as I write, escorting 17 students from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where I teach storytelling, on a study abroad trip. If I stick with my plan, I’ll be writing every evening and finishing my memoir from the rooftop bar at Hotel Ambos Mundos, where Ernest Hemingway worked on For Whom The Bell Tolls. And how befitting that a book by an immigrant and American like me could be finished from a hotel named “both worlds.” (I’ll be staying with Emma and José Antonio at their home in Havana.)

I’ll have more to tell you about my time in Cuba after I return. Meanwhile, I thought you might enjoy some of what I’ve enjoyed so far in May.

1. This analysis by Sharon Hurley Hall analysis in her Substack, Sharon’s Anti-Racism Newsletter, about the coronation of King Charles III:

The Coronation, The Royal Family and Racism

2. A PEN America panel featuring three of my favorite memoir writers talking about the process of sharing their lives with strangers: Isaac Fitzgerald, author of Dirtbag Massachusetts; Maggie Smith, author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful; and Ashley C. Ford, who wrote Somebody’s Daughter and said at the event these very meaningful (to me, at least) words:

Loving somebody does not require you to be silent about the ways they hurt you.

3. Reading Mott Street, by Ava Chin, who masterfully connects her understanding of family to the understanding of our collective history.

4. Hosting my Arizona friend Katie and her daughter Abbie at our home in New York.

   

5. Joining Julio Ricardo Varela to talk about immigration and the abortion ban in North Carolina on In The Thick. What a feeling it is to speak my mind freely, without the weight or chains of an institution to constrict me.

6. Having Mister Softee ice cream cones on Sundays with my Flora at Riverbank State Park.

What have you enjoyed this month? Let me know in the comments.

With love and purpose, always.

Fernanda