a trip down memory lane: the most iconic movies that shaped my childhood and adolescence... °❀.ೃ࿔

    

     Because I'm entering my senior year of high school, I've been getting so emotional about my childhood recently. This summer, I've never resonated so much with the phrase "nostalgia is going to be the death of me". I feel a funny mixture of anxiety, excitement, hope, fear, and basically everything in between. To try and cope with the fact that I'm growing up and entering the scariest chapter of my life - adulthood - I've been rewatching my favorite childhood movies. So today - before I write another educational post - I want to share some of my treasured works of media with you all. 𑣲⋆

1. The Cheetah Girls 2

THIS MASTERPIECE!!! This has and will always be MY comfort movie. First things first: the songs. While the whole trilogy is absolutely stacked with hits, the soundtrack for this specific movie just hits different... like, only one CG movie has "It's Over," which I personally believe is one of the BEST ballads Disney has ever created. "Step Up" has to be one of the best hype songs ever on my cat bro like WHO WAS IN THE STUDIOO????? And the choreography like oh Kenny Ortega your mind. Also, "The Party's Just Begun" was such an amazing opener and a great way for us to see how the Cheetahs are doing ever since we last saw them. UGH I love the songs for this movie <3

    Second, the plot. This movie had younger me wanting to break the TV screen and handle the other Cheetahs myself. While I do think that it's totally understandable that the girls wanted to enjoy Barcelona and not solely focus on the competition, I was 100% on Galleria's side - your parents spent a crazy amount of money for a chance at y'all winning the competition and instead you get sidetracked with fashion and random songwriting, so...yea, Galleria's frustration was understandable. One small thing that really bothered me, though, was that Galleria used her dad's fly points, and so much money was spent on the trip and train ticket just for her to not even leave </3 Perks of being rich, I guess. I love the pacing of the story and the subplot of Marisol's mother being an obsessive manager who wanted to sabotage the Cheetahs, and Marisol - despite being a sort of antagonist - was so loveable and I couldn't help but feel bad for her. Seeing her perform with the Cheetahs and defy her mother healed something in little me!

  Last but not least: the fashion. Honestly, the fashion throughout all three movies is so gorgeous and creative, but this movie is such a step up in terms of maturity for the girls.

"The Cheetah Girls" - 2003

While the outfits in the first movie weren't exactly childish, you could sense that the Cheetahs were young teens still figuring out their style. In this one, their outfits feel much more refined and cohesive, while retaining the color and boldness of the first movie.

"The Cheetah Girls 2" - 2006

    Through their wardrobe, you can really get a sense that these girls are no longer tweens but blooming into young adulthood; everything feels established - their sound, their identity, and their brand! They were also entering their senior year of high school, which makes this movie even MORE special to me right now. Overall, this movie and the Cheetah Girls trilogy mean the absolute world to me. Seeing a group of POC girls (plus Dorinda) singing, dancing all around NYC - where I grew up - meant so much to little me because I never really saw girls like me on TV. I <3333 the Cheetah Girls.

2. Bratz (2007)

Every day I'm so grateful my older cousin introduced me to this movie when I was like seven because WOW. I don't have much to say about this movie because it's been a hot minute since I've watched it in its entirety, but I absolutely remember loving the aesthetics surrounding this movie. The entire film was so saturated and COLORFUL and overall, super lively. I remember feeling super irritated that girls gave in to the stereotypes and cliques set up by Miserable Meridith, but I'm glad that conflict was resolved quickly. Even though Meridith got on my nerves (because she was like a Senior or a Junior doing the MOSTTTT), she's honestly so iconic and such a fun character. Her whole birthday party lives rent-free throughout my mind. 

Another thing that lives rent-free? The girls' glammed-up clown outfits. THESE LOOKS WERE TO DIEEE FOR!!! The whole movie, the core four had the best wardrobe ever, but this scene really showed how these four girls came together and used their skills - how well they work as a team and why their friendship is so important. 

Also, it was really fun watching it as a little girl. The talent show has to be one of the best moments in film #ever? It may be debatable but for me it's at least top 30. It always brought tears to my eyes and, again, the outfits were so cute. I love this movie so much, so imagine my surprise when I found out critics hated this movie? While I love to critique things myself, I believe certain things should be consumed lightly, with no care for decent writing or strong plot (not saying that the Bratz movie lacks this - well, at least in my eyes - but you know).

Anyways, I LOVEEEE THIS MOVIE. EVERYBODY WATCH IT. IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

3.  "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"

Honestly, I'm not sure my rather mediocre words could ever do justice to such an amazing, electric, life-changing movie. This movie quite literally changed the animation landscape - goodbye to the generic Disney 3D look, hello style and flair! Also, hello, an Afro-Latino Spider-Man meant the absolute world to nine-year-old me, who hated the lack of Caribbean representation (#puertoricansandominicansunite!!) While I'd love to talk about the amazing Spider-people this movie introduced, I think a lot of people forget that the Spider-Verse trilogy is ultimately about one Spider-Man only: Miles Morales. While I do think Across the Spider-Verse is my favorite, I think because the stakes are kind of low in the first movie, we never really lose track of who we're supposed to be following; something a lot of fans (including myself) struggled with in ATSV. One quick thing I will mention is I absolutely love Gwiles; give me more. They are the cutest in the world, and I am invited to the wedding. જ⁀➴ ♡

    The "Leap of Faith" scene has to go down in history as one of the best moments in animation history ever - literally everything about that scene altered my brain chemistry; the city lights, the glass breaking, the SCORE????????? Like you just had to be there. I will forever thank Sony for making a movie adaptation of Miles' story because it needed to be told, and this movie is undeniably the best film adaptation of a Spider-Man origin story! Sorry, Toby, Andrew, and Peter!!! <3333 

    Anyways, I know this one was a bit of a lengthy one, and I have like 10 other movies I wanted to get to, but I didn't want to bore anybody to death...I've been taking so long writing new "essays" and being active on my blog </3 but I'll try my absolute best to continue updating it!!! 

love you, always.

take care! ｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡

lets get educated! entry one, haiti: a mini deep dive on the country i was taught to hate.

    

   If you have a sibling, I'm sure you've said you've hated them at least once in your life. You never really meant it, because - despite your differences - you grew up with them. You don't know a life without them, and your shared experiences bring you closer together. That unconditional love will never fade, no matter what happens.

   Unfortunately, the Dominican Republic and Haiti never forged the bond they were seemingly destined to share. Although physically tied together, they are as distant as the sun and the moon. Dominicans hate Haitians; we hate their religion, hate that they're "taking the jobs" (even though they're doing the dirty work no one else seems to want to do...kinda reminds me of the mindset a lot of Americans have towards immigrants...) and we hate what they can't control - the color of their skin. When I say "we," I am not included. Many Dominicans lack all empathy when it comes to our sisters and brothers; so, I decided to do what most of my people don't do - learn about our neighbors and share it all with you - in a short, easily digestible way. ☘︎ ݁˖

    1. Colonization: The arrival of the Spanish and the French

    After Portugal had begun establishing trading posts throughout Asia and Africa, Spain decided it was time to embark on its own global expedition. Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile commissioned Italian mariner Christopher Columbus to reach the East Indies. We all know how the story goes; he, in fact, did not land in the East Indies - he landed on the beautiful island of Quisqueya (now known as Hispaniola). This ignited the Age of Exploration. 

In the late 17th century, Spain ceded the western third of the island to the French after the Treaty of Rijswijk was formally signed. The French renamed the area to Saint-Domingue, and the colony quickly became a major source of income, where they exported crops such as sugar, coffee, and indigo. Of course, this labor was not done by the Europeans themselves - they exported hundreds of thousands of Africans to do the labor for them! Not only did the French exploit the vulnerable slaves, but the amount of labor they were forced to do eventually led to immense exploitation and damage to the soil - damage which has unfortunately persisted today due to poor agricultural practices. Eventually, slaves outnumbered the Europeans and free people of color 10 to 1 (affranchis). This furthered already burning tension between different class groups and races, which eventually led to...

2. The Haitian Revolution

    To understand the Haitian Revolution, we first have to rewind the timeline a bit to the French Revolution. Not only did the French Revolution have major impacts on France and its government, but thanks to cultural diffusion, revolutionary and Enlightenment ideas quickly spread throughout the globe. It didn't take long for such ideas to influence an already fragmented Haitian society.

 Before the revolution officially started, there were various slave revolts throughout the colony. Many affranchis also revolted against a racist society, where Europeans in the colony refused to acknowledge their citizenship despite the National Convention granting free people of color French citizenship (to those who actually met certain economic and property criteria). The official revolution began with the Bois Caiman Ceremony - a secret Voodoo ceremony led by priest Dutty Boukman, where enslaved women and men pledged to overthrow their slaveowners on August 14th, 1971. While there were various leaders throughout the revolution, I'm sure only one rings a bell: Toussaint Louverture.

 Louverture was born into slavery in the colony of Saint-Domingue and was emancipated in 1776. When the slave revolts first happened, Louverture was not committed at ALL. However, he joined the rebellion in hopes of defending his life and the word of God - which was against slavery (he was a devout Catholic). He gained an army of his own and taught guerrilla warfare. Louverture gained control of various areas, such as Santo Domingo, and later proclaimed himself "governor-general for life". He unfortunately died on April 7th, 1803, after Napoleon imprisoned him and exiled him to France. After winning the Battle of Vertieres - where Jean-Jacques Dessalines and his army defeated French forces - Haiti officially became independent on January 1st, 1804. However, it wasn't until 1825 that France recognized the Black republic as independent, requiring the small nation to pay a large sum of 100 million francs in return. Haiti officially finished repaying the enormous debt in 1947.

3. Fun Facts

• "Haiti" means mountainous country.
• The word "zombie" is a Haitian word and was used by slaves, who believed that dying would take them back to Africa.
• The red and blue on the Haitian flag represent the unity between Blacks and Mulattoes.
• Haiti is home to the highest peak in the Caribbean (Pic la Selle).
• Haitian Creole is the most spoken Creole language in the world.
• Venezuela's flag was created in Haiti.
• Haiti was nicknamed "La Perle des Antilles" (The Pearl of the Antilles) because it was France's richest colony.

I really wanted to go into the complex relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti in this post, but this piece has already taken me more than a week to complete, so I'll save that for another day.

 Nevertheless, I hope many of you learned a little something about a nation the world turns a blind eye to. I've learned a lot about the Haitian Revolution while I was writing this, and I hope you did too. Obviously, this small post on a blog does not do enough justice on how complex and vast Haiti's history is, so down below I will link my sources - please read these articles!

Toussaint Louverture | Biography, Haitian Revolution, French Revolution, Revolutionary Leaders, Saint-Domingue, Haiti, & Atlantic History | Britannica

Haitian Revolution | Causes, Summary, & Facts | Britannica

The Haitian Revolution Timeline - Brown University

Haiti History – Revolution, Earthquakes & Key Events — Greater Good Haiti

Toussaint L'Ouverture: Biography, Haitian Indepenence Movement

19 Interesting Facts About Haiti | Haitian History, Culture, People & More | Caribbean & Co.

24 Interesting Facts About Haiti - The Facts Institute

HAITI: A Brief History of a Complex Nation | Institute of Haitian Studies

To whoever stayed and read through this whole thing, thank you. 

love you, always.

take care and stay educated. ｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡

•