Author: SAHIR PEGUERO

With the help of local police a wealthy businessman from Kansas hands out between 100,000 to 200,000 dollars each december near the holidays in form of 100 dollar bills. He saids he looks out for people who look like they have sadness in their hearts and faces and he gives them the hope that their life can be changed. This mystery santa has been doing this for the last 16 years and it is truly beautiful to see. It’s something you definitely don’t see everyday and i think it inspiring. He makes people want to give a little something of their own especially during the holiday where many people don’t have the luxury to even enjoy. So it’s wonderful to see someone light up people’s faces annually. When things like this happen it makes u restore a little faith in today’s humanity with so many things happening around the world this type of kindness is rare in today’s society.

https://youtu.be/YXklnloWA6E?si=Tz9FtE7lDCLC-Rek

   On August 8th 2023, A wildfire broke out in many places in Maui. Lahaina being the one with the biggest destruction. Authorities announced there were a total of 97 confirmed deaths in the Maui fires. Which is one of the 5th most deaths by wildfire in America. The cause of the fire is not officially known but there are a couple of theories as to how it could have started. Some sources say some power lines fell in high winds while others say it was caused because of droughts on the island. Regardless of where it started, it quickly spread because of high winds caused by Hurricane Dora which was going on in the pacific ocean several hundred miles south during that time. Several fires hit Maui hard, leaving over 2,200 buildings damaged in Lahaina alone. 

  Many locals were frustrated at the lack of preparedness of the government. Siren systems were not used during this time, this left many residents unprepared and left many not knowing the gravity of the situation. Emergency texts were sent out however which advised many to evacuate in their cars. However, many locals reported that police cars blocked main roads out of Lahaina. Many sat waiting to be directed safely out , which led to more chaos. Many people had no choice but to evacuate into the water waiting to be rescued. Many waiting hours upon hours on rocks near shore for assistance. Water lines were cut off as well making the fire even worse. The entire fact that Hawaii wasn’t prepared left a lot of people speculating and many conspiracies emerged which are still around today. One being that this was a land grab for investors and they were trying to take advantage of the situation and many other conspiracies. This was a tragedy and the whole situation was definitely weird, if interested there are many resources where you can help or donate.

Links:

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/08/hawaii-wildfires-timeline-maui-lahaina-dg/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/12/us/hawaii-emergency-warning-system-maui-wildfires/index.html

Heyy, My name is Sahir. I like when people say my name in spanish because it sounds better in my opinion, but I know its a little hard to say so you could say my name in both spanish or english, I dont really really mind either way is fine. I was born in Dominican Republic and was raised here, in manhattan, since I was 6. I live in the capital of D.R although my family is from the countryside. I love my home country so much, most of my family is in Dominican Republic so basically my whole life is over there. My favorite snack from over there are the “caribas” plantain chips they are so good and the “bon helado” ice cream is amazing too. Everytime I leave D.R I always take so many snacks because they don’t sell anything from there in the U.S and so I always make sure to take a bunch of things. I love everything from over there, the beaches , the weather , the food , the music overall everything over there brings me so much joy. It’s funny though because when i’m over there I always miss New York just because of how different things are from here to there,but when i’m back here I always end up missing D.R and it becomes a cycle. Most of my childhood memories are from there so i just have a lot of nostalgia for that place and I don’t think that would ever change. I like to listen to a variety of music but I think the music I listen to the most would be spanish music and r&b. My major is marketing management and I chose this major because marketing is a field I would love to learn more about. However, I am not 100% set on this major and very open to seeing other majors and figure it out as i go. I know this was little short but I’m not really sure what else to say so i’m just going to leave it here. I’m excited to hopefully learn more about all of you this semester and see how we all figure out college!

I found it very inspiring and interesting how he took it upon himself to learn and educate himself during his imprisonment. What is even more fascinating is what he did after gaining so much knowledge. To add on, something that caught my attention and that I found interesting was how much in the dark many African Americans were during those times and how even African Americans were hidden from the truths and realities of slavery. Moreover, i found it inspiring to see how he was exposed to all of this information and he chose to not stay silent. I feel like many people would have lacked the courage to have done so, especially as a black man during those times. When Malcom X mentions “a homemade education” I would take that as showing Malcolm X’s journey to educating himself through his own means. I appreciated the fact that he shared his knowledge around and took it upon himself to make a change in society. He never stopped trying to make a change and take initiative to alter society. Ultimately, I found all of this very brave and admirable.