Author: Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig
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When I walked into the Bad Bunny concert in Mexico City this past Wednesday—research notebook in my pocket, the arena vibrating before the first beat even dropped—I felt a mix of joy, pride, and excitement that caught me off guard. I’ve seen Kendrick. I’ve seen Sade, Janet Jackson, Ricky Martin, Maná, Santana, Celia Cruz, and…
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I still remember the day my mother handed me a worn paperback by James Baldwin. It had the scent of aged paper and sunlight caught in its fibers, the smell of a book that had been passed through more hands and histories than I could imagine at the time. Opening it felt like stepping into…
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Hope has always held an honored place in our collective imagination. It is the spark that keeps people walking toward a better future even when circumstances feel heavy and uncertain. It is the energy behind movements, communities, and leadership that refuses to settle for mediocrity. Barack Obama built an entire national conversation around this truth,…
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Cesar Chavez once observed, “The job of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.” At first, the sentence feels familiar, almost predictable, as if it belongs in a leadership handbook or a Ted talk. But the longer you sit with it, the more it reveals…
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Most people assume harm requires force. We think damage comes from fists, objects, or physical impact. But the truth is that some of the deepest injuries people carry are not the kind that ever bruise the skin. They come from language that is careless, selfish, resentful, or cruel to bring people down on purpose. I…
Cloaking Inequity 