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Author Archives: Alexia Raynal

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The sky wasn’t blue until just recently

March 2, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Last week, the Business Insider published an article about the way we see colors, arguing that until recently in human history, people did not “see” or notice blue. In The Odyssey, it explains, “Homer famously describes the ‘wine-dark sea.’ But why ‘wine-dark’ and not deep blue or green?” The suggested answer is not a mere matter of preference or poetic choice. Kevin Loria, the author of the article, refers to findings from a Radiolab episode titled “Colors,” which claims that ancient languages like […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: Business Insider, colors, History, literature, sky

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The drawbacks of ethnic product placement

February 23, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Or On the Importance of Inclusion To some extent, ethnic art (including film and literature) has been recognized as an empowering tool for minorities. Latino and African-American advocates have consistently pushed for the inclusion of content reflecting the lives and struggles of people of color in art and at school. But while these stories have gradually made it into the market, they have nonetheless preserved their ethnic labels. For example, movies with African-American casts are usually labeled as ethnic films rather […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: African-Americans, art, books, children, education, film, literature, reading, writing

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Michael “Little B” Lewis, abandoned orphan who has spent more continuous time incarcerated than any person starting his sentence at the same age.

How to treat a boy convicted at age 13

February 16, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Last month, The Daily Kos published an article written by Shaun King about Michael “Little B” Lewis, a 13-year-old Atlanta resident who was convicted for murder in 1997. In one of the first paragraphs, King explains: [Lewis’s] story had gripped the city and was regularly on the nightly news and on the front page of the AJC. They said he murdered a dad in cold blood in front of his kids on January 21, 1997. I didn’t know if it was true or not, but […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: childhood, children, civil rights, crime, education, politics

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A culture’s fear of aging

February 9, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Two weeks ago I came across a book titled How to Age as I strolled through the snowy streets of Brooklyn. The book, written by Anne Karpf, criticized people’s fear of aging and promoted advanced adulthood as a nurturing life stage. To illustrate negative views of aging, Karpf used an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science in 2000 as an example: In a booth open only to children under 15, participants had their photo taken and then, at the press of a button, a […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: aging, Anne Karpf, art, Boston Museum of Science, childhood, children, How to Age, technology

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Boko Haram: On lack of sympathy

January 26, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Earlier this month, UK-based researcher Mark Hay wrote about the press’ lack of interest in Boko Haram’s most recent massacre. But rather than being downright condemning, Hay wrote analytically. While acknowledging the influence of racism and Western views of Africa on this matter, the writer points out to a much larger lack of sympathy for those with whom we fail to identify. Hay explains that to Westerners, the events at Baga seem distant, chaotic, and devoid of familiar faces. For many in the press, that murky […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: History, politics, reading, writing

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Children Challenging Borders

December 24, 2014 by Alexia Raynal

The Physical and Psychological Journeys that the Children of Immigrants Make for their Families By Alexia Raynal Click here for PDF version. {Note: This is the sixth in Zeteo‘s Fall 2014 series of pieces related to borders, the borders here being between countries, between families, and between generations.} [print_link] [email_link]   One summer morning about two years ago, as I was finding my seat on a plane in New York that would take me to Mexico, I noticed a group of elementary-school […]

Categories: Article, Fall 2014 Issue • Tags: borders, child labor, children, family roles, immigrant bargain, immigration, Joanna Dreby, Mexican-Americans, Robert C. Smith, second generation, traveling, unaccompanied minors

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Please come back. . .Next Year!

December 15, 2014 by Alexia Raynal

Alexia Raynal is heading home for the holidays. Her commentary in the fields of children and childhood will return next year. Wish her luck as she tries to keep her hands off the keyboard! From Duncan Tonatiuh’s book Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin. Watch him read the stories of two cousins—Carlos and Charlie—about their lives across borders here. — Alexia Raynal, Zeteo Associate Editor To read more posts in the fields of children and childhood by Alexia Raynal, visit her ZiR page here.

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: books, childhood, children, Duncan Tonatiuh, reading

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Ronald McDonald and Boy, arms spread, Christ-like

McDonald “inspires” through magic and fun

December 8, 2014 by Alexia Raynal

How the food industry limits children’s healthy choices I first heard about Fed Up—a documentary about obesity in the United States—when a review by The Huffington Post made it to my news feed last week. In the article, Corinna Clendenen addresses the documentary’s stories of children’s struggles to lose weight. She is not entirely convinced about the health facts in it, but she shares concerns about the manipulative strategies of the food industry. For example, Clendenen explains: The film takes a hard look at the post-war food industry and […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiLL • Tags: capitalism, childhood, children, Erik Ravelo, Fed Up, film, McDonald's, Michelle Obama, politics, The Huffington Post

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Parents look back and children do too

December 1, 2014 by Alexia Raynal

Last morning, as I skimmed through my favorite books, I bumped into Marjorie Orellana’s Translating Childhoods: Immigrant Youth, Language, and Culture. I had not picked up the book since last year, but it was easy to remember why I like it so much. While speaking mostly about children’s work as translators for their monolingual parents, Orellana also dedicates a brief section to Immigrant Childhoods. She begins this section by explaining: Immigrant families differ from those who have resided in the United States for generations on dimensions […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: books, childhood, children, families, immigration, Marjorie Faulstich Orellana, Translating Childhoods

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