My first meaningful experiences with the Dominican Republic came via New York—or Parlin, New Jersey, really—the home of Junot Díaz's frequent narrator, Yunior de las Casas. But he belongs to the DR during the Era of Trujillo and to its diasporas. Never mind that it's fiction.
It took me years to make an actual trip to DR. I had imagined the country somehow yellowed, picturing a present colored by its past. Over time and several trips, I've come to better understand the nation's colors. Depending on how much the place will show or conceal on a given day, the light will either illuminate or obstruct a view.
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Ever since I was a child, "fixing the world" has been on my list of New Year's Resolutions. In elementary school, we thought we would grow up to help make the world a better place. Altruism was integral to our education experience. We secured financial sponsorship for every mile in the annual walkathon; saved pennies in piggybanks for the starving in Ethiopia; organized dances to create scholarships; sold chocolates for some purpose or other. We walked, danced, made money and saved it; we worked for those in need.
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Tom McDonough, a professor at Binghamton University, has a following. His publications on the Situationist International (
Guy Debord and the Situationist International, 2004;
Situationists and the City, 2010) have been pivotal and timely. They are crucial references for anyone exploring public space and mass media at a time when practices of resistance towards corporatization are more necessary than ever.
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