LaToya M. Davidson-Perez

Our ways of viewing television programs have changed considerably over the last few decades. With the popularity of satellite television and expanded traditional cable options there’s virtually no limit to the content that we have access to. Have a passion for sports, british programs or even telenovelas? They’re just a click away on your multi-buttoned remote. We’re no longer tied to the traditional television networks and recording shows have never been quite the same. I find that I spend a lot more time watching tv, more than I probably should.

During my childhood while living in Jamaica I remember there being only one channel, JBC. Each night’s broadcast ended with the playing of the national anthem followed by the nothingness of the SMPTE color bars. It was finite. You always knew when children programming and the news were coming on and with one channel, it was easy to know what others were watching. In these days of early commercial satellite tv my grandparents were among the few who subscribed to American television via a very large satellite dish (which remained up from the 80s into this decade). Certain channels that they didn’t subscribe to came through with squiggly lines and other distortions which were meant to serve as an early deterrent to non-subscribers of premium channels. Read the rest of this entry »

As I write this I can’t help but to feel a little tentative. Hot button issues are just that – hot. However, since this is an opinion piece, that’s what I’m going to give. My opinion. I don’t want to make this article wholly based on religious views on the issue. To me, it’s a social and human rights issue. Is marriage, the union of two people, an issue that should be decided in the federal courts or in the court of public opinion? Who’s to say that the partnership between a same-sex couple is less than that of a heterosexual one? Read the rest of this entry »

I was recently discussing with my best friend how I feel about “being black.” Actually, I don’t consider myself as “black” given my Irish, Jamaican and Indian heritage. It’s bothersome that we are summed up to be a color rather than a culture. What even hurts more is that there is racism not just between whites and blacks, but it is very prevalent within the black community. How you may ask? Well, there are some who distinguish between light-skinned and black-skinned blacks. And within that subclass I wouldn’t be black enough. What does it mean to be black? In recent sports news NFL football player Robert Griffin III was, according to commentator Rob Parker, accused of not being black enough due to his eloquent (for a black person) speech, his demeanor, and his choice in women. To say that a person, a person of a specific skin tone is less inclined to be “white” is ridiculous. I understand stereotypes. Considering that I’ve lived in the South for the past twenty-three years one can’t not understand stereotypes. Sure, sometimes they’re comical and sometimes they even seem to be true, but a stereotype does not define a race or a person. Read the rest of this entry »

Societal roles for females have greatly changed over time. Long gone is the vision of a woman daintily placing her arm on a male and needing the likes of smelling salts or a fainting couch. The same can be said about her stereotypical role of being the homemaker, ensuring that her husband’s meal is ready on the table when he arrives home from work and that the children and the house were hers to take care of. What is interesting is the not so new dilemma that has again been brought to the forefront of tradition and reality, women on the front lines. Read the rest of this entry »

When we were young the vast majority of us dismissed our parents’ clichés about life. We planned to be nothing like them and we couldn’t wait to be adults. However, try as we must most of those clichés are often true. In moments of reflection I considered these things. Why was I in such a hurry to grow up?

Often times, even as adults, we’re in such a hurry to get to the next thing. We can’t wait for the journey to end, we just want the reward. I’m certainly no Tupac, I’m not foreseeing an early death but I have been giving a lot more thought to my life. I’ve thought about the things that I experienced and those that I never did or would. I never went to prom. It’s not something I’ve ever regretted but now I don’t know what that experience would’ve been like. I didn’t really date in my teen years. The first serious relationship I had, I married the guy. That didn’t work out. Lesson learned. I also didn’t take the time to appreciate the wonderful things that has happened in my life thus far. I suppose some of those lack of experiences were good. As they say, when it comes to life, “anything goes.” Read the rest of this entry »