20 Years After 9/11, I’m Giving Up My Survivor’s Guilt

My dad escaped the horrors of the World Trade Center attacks. Yet for both of us, the trauma remains.

I had big plans for September 11, 2001.

I left my childhood home in Queens that morning dressed in flared jeans with patches below the knee. As I hopped on the F train at 179th Street and Hillside Avenue, Krystal Harris’ song “Supergirl!” from The Princess Diaries played on repeat…

Dearest Aaliyah

If I could speak to my idol 20 years later, here’s what I’d say to her

It’s been a big week for Aaliyah fans. Her album One In A Million is finally available on streaming services after two decades of radio silence. …

Club Peloton Has It All For The Introverted Thirtysomething

I can not stop talking about Peloton — let’s rewind to see how I got here

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when it felt like everything was out of my control, I was adamant about one rule: I wouldn’t buy any massive pieces of gym equipment.

I know myself. From the Nintendo console that’s been collecting dust under my childhood bed since I was…

Swimming, My Adult Extracurricular Activity

Learning how to move underwater around tiny swimmers taught me that it’s okay to give a new thing a try

Sort-of swimming with Nina, a young dolphin in The Bahamas.

I was never the most athletic person. Rewind that VHS tape to the ’90s, and you’d find a shy kid who was really into books and listening to my heroes, Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. I’d pray for a stomach ache to keep me out of gym class — if…

The Death of New York City Is Clickbait

Anyone who said NY was dead after Covid-19 arrived wasn’t a New Yorker to begin with

A pride colored heart is seen on a subway car near a person wearing a mask as the city moves into Phase 2 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic on June 25, 2020 in New York City. — Photo: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

There’s one way to put even the mellowest New Yorker into a fit of rage: insinuating, in any way, that New York City is dead.

Last March, grief overtook the city I’ve lived in my entire life. Although the events of 9/11 caused me PTSD due to the trauma of…

“I want to lead the charge and let them have hope, let them know that it is possible to make it to the NBA coming from [Puerto Rico].”

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Published in Momentum

·Oct 11, 2021

“My mom is a woman of color even though she might not be readily identified as such and I feel like because of that, she always gave me space to explore my identity; get in touch with who I am. She understood the void of not having enough guidance, in that. Even though she is not a Black woman, throughout my life, she filled me with such pride of being one.” — Tessa Thompson

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Published in Momentum

·Sep 27, 2021

“Clearly we’re not there yet, but to be able to bring forward the world as we see it, as I see it and as I saw it growing up and all the voices — women, Afro-Latinos, Latinos, Asians. We all inhabit the world, we all have something to say, we all have a point of view.” — Gina Torres

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Published in Momentum

·Sep 24, 2021

“I would say I’m Black because my parents said I’m Black. I’m Black because my mother’s Black. I’m black because I grew up in a family of all Black people. I knew I was Black because I grew up in an all-white neighborhood. And my parents, as part of their protective mechanisms that they were going to give to us, made it very clear what we were.” — Soledad O’ Brien

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Published in Momentum

·Sep 22, 2021

“I believe if we only are talking to people who agree with us, we are failing in some way to understand our world and our country.” — Gwen Ifill

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My dad escaped the horrors of the World Trade Center attacks. Yet for both of us, the trauma remains.

If I could speak to my idol 20 years later, here’s what I’d say to her

I can not stop talking about Peloton — let’s rewind to see how I got here

Learning how to move underwater around tiny swimmers taught me that it’s okay to give a new thing a try

Anyone who said NY was dead after Covid-19 arrived wasn’t a New Yorker to begin with

Jada Gomez