1.

Churchill, Ward. “History Not Taught is History Forgot: Columbus’ Legacy of Genocide.” Indians are us. Common Courage Press, 1994. Web. 6 March 2017. http://web.mit.edu/thistle/www/v9/9.11/1columbus.html.

Summary and Excerpts: “He went, as his own diaries, reports, and letters make clear, fully expecting to encounter wealth belonging to others. It was his stated purpose to seize this wealth, by whatever means necessary and available, in order to enrich both his sponsors and himself. Plainly, he pre-figured, both in design and by intent, what came next. To this extent, he not only symbolizes the process of conquest and genocide which eventually consumed the indigenous peoples of America, but bears the personal responsibility of having participated in it.” It was inevitable that Columbus was not a good man. He was greedy and did not care about the people that encountered the land. He wanted to be rich and have power.

Abstract: This passage talks about Christopher Columbus and how he started the genocide of the indigenous people of America. Columbus wanted power and wealth over the land. More than “one hundred million” natives of the Caribbean were killed and used for slavery. That’s more than the holocaust.

2.

Casas, Bartolomé de las, 1474-1566.  A short account of the destruction of the Indies. London: Penguin, 1992. Columbia University Libraries Virtual Reading Room, 2002. Based on edition of 1552. http://www.columbia.edu/~daviss/work/files/presentations/casshort/.

Summary and Excerpts: “Las Casas’s understanding of the historical and eschatological significance of the discovery and conquest of America contrasted an early vision of peaceful settlement with the rapacious horrors of the conquests which followed.  Columbus, whose diary he preserved and edited, had, in Las Casas’s view, been chosen by God for his learning and virtue to bring the Gospel to the New World.” Las Casas was a from Spain and left for the new world. He witnessed the conquest of Cuba and the massacre of an Indian community.

Abstract: This online book shows Bartolome De Las Casas’ view on Christopher Columbus. Las Casas knew what was happening with Columbus’ power was wrong and villainous. Las Casas tried to create peaceful settlements in the new world.

Felipe Alfau

Felipe Alfau was not your normal writer. In fact, he believed he was not a professional writer at all. Ironically, Felipe comes from a family with lots of journalist, translators, and people that devoted their life to the art of writing. He never wanted money for his work and was never interested in writing professionally. Felipe considered himself just like your average man with a wife and a daughter. He became known as a writer when he first submitting Locos to a New York Times Publisher for financial reasons. Felipe’s first language was Spanish. He was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1902. In 1916, he moved to the United States when he was only fourteen-years-old. He quickly picked up English as his second language. He spent over seventy years of his life in the United States. He received a Catholic education, but remained skeptical about afterlife. In his last years of life, Felipe resided in a retirement home. As an elder, Felipe still sees his life as having nothing out of the ordinary and knew he was ready to leave his life. Overall, Felipe was a stubborn and traditional man.

Felipe Alfau has written numerous stories and criticism pieces. A lot of his work is lost; however, because he did not consider himself a professional writer and did not want his work showcased. Some of his most famous works include but are not limited to,

• Locos (1936)
• Chromos (1990)
• Le Café des fous (1990)
• Sentimental Songs (1992)
• Cuentos Espanoles de Antano (1995)

Cites to visit about Felipe and more on his works,

• https://asitoughttobe.com/2010/08/26/felipe-alfau-1902-1999/
• https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/280064.Felipe_Alfau
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felipe_Alfau

It is interesting to note that all the works listened above besides for Chromos were originally written in English. However, some of his works in Spanish were from when Felipe was only eighteen-years-old. He wrote music criticism for a newspaper called La Presna. He believed writing in English was easier to convey his message and bring two cultures together. His works were about the things in life he had passion for.

If I had a conversation with Felipe Alfau, I would ask him why he didn’t consider himself a professional writer when he wrote all his life. He would respond that he doesn’t consider himself a professional writer because he’s not one. In an interview Alfau said about himself that “it was better when nobody cared. Some people think I am a celebrity, but I don’t even understand what that means.” He would say he writes because it’s his passion. It’s how he connects his life in Spain to his life in the United States. Following that question, I would ask him, why did you write pieces so much in your later life that became published? Felipe would respond that he got bored because he’s been in a nursing home for a long time. He even said, “I see myself as an old man ready for death, ready for rest.” That the people in the nursing home were crazy and writing keeps him sain. And “perhaps because [his work] didn’t belong to the culture climate of the past, but they fit into the present.” Lastly, I would ask why he doesn’t consider his life ordinary? Felipe would say there is nothing ordinary about his life and say that his life is “a waste of time.”

Felipe Alfau was a very intriguing man. He was not your average human being even though he saw himself that way. He did not consider himself a professional writer and never wanted to be a professional writer. Felipe brought the culture of Spain and the United States together through his writing, which made him so unique. He wrote because it was his passion. He was just a stubborn and traditional family man that found himself in the spotlight when he needed a little extra cash.