Standing On Business

As soon as I got home I realized what I had done, and I was so ashamed! I have always prided myself on always standing on business. I felt so much shame and anger but at that moment I made a sacred vow to myself and my ancestors: 

I will NEVER, ever purchase or willingly support Domino Sugar again! 

I just ran to the neighborhood convenience store because I needed some sugar for my husband's morning coffee. It was as if my desperation blinded me from the very moral code I have always lived by! I was so disappointed and felt like the illest sell-out (if you know you know).

Now if you don't know why I actively boycott Domino sugar we have to take it back to the very first Governor of Puerto Rico, Charles Herbert Allen, who managed to exploit and successfully strong arm my Boricua ancestors into slavery on corporate plantation, on our own land! 

He was the governor for a whopping 1 year and managed to walk away establishing a wealth that is still thriving in 2026. 

How you may be wondering? 

Sugar at one point in time was considered white gold to Europeans and with the colonization of the U.S on Puerto Rico our land became their gold mine. As an American born Puerto Rican (I am also Dominican through my fathers bloodline) I have had to really educate myself on the real history of my ancestors and my culture on both sides. 

I will never forget the day I found out that from 1948-1957 there was a law called, Ley de la Mordaza (Law 53) which made it illegal for Puerto Ricans to: 

• Display the Puerto Rican flag

• Sing patriotic songs

• Speak or write in favor of independence

I was absolutely shocked not only that it happened but realizing that it was a part of our history that no one ever talked about. We talked about slavery all the time, but here I was being stripped of a truth that forced my people to sleep. I have many family members still living who were born during that time or children at that time, so I began asking questions. 

I called my great uncle who is also a Vietnam Vet, who was a child in the 50’s. When I called I told him about what I had just learned and his response shook me, “ that didn’t happen.” 

The horror I had researched, I was knee deep in historical documents and he, who was THERE, was trying to convince me that it wasn't true and that it simply never happened. 

Instantly I thought about the older generations who were tasked with raising him and educating him. What did their world look like? How did they feel about the injustices? How did they keep this from their children? And in that very moment, I knew I would not be the same. 

I will not hide the horrors of the world from my children because I would not be doing anything but making them complacent in the modern day slavery that is quietly forced upon minority people everywhere. 

Is it really that serious you may be wondering, and that is a completely fair question. 

And the answer will always be yes, it is that serious!

The wickedness of white supremacy is still so strongly felt and it is honestly exhausting. And you might think that my little convenience store boycott is not going to have an impact but, “that is a lie” (insert best Maury Povich voice)

We have been living and surviving in a world that literally functions off of the systematic oppressions of people, and it has taken its toll! If I am tired I feel confident assuming you may also be tired! And that you may know some people who are also tired!

That is why we must always stand on business! 

Before I drop the phrase again let me give you some context, and the Timberland boots might make some sense. I am Boston born and grew up in one of the roughest hoods of Dorchester at the time of my childhood. And anyone who has grown up in any real hood you understand that there are truly two types of hood people: 

1- the ones who get active 

2- civilians who stand on business

If you are someone who really moves with honor and values and principals I am sure you fall under one of those two categories. And when I say get active I don't mean committing crimes, although you can read it as you’d like, I mean you are going to do whatever you have to do to get what you need and then what you want. And that I don't want to explain further but if you got it then I see you! 

Now the civilians are usually always around the active ones and are typically the voices of reason. The ones who have spent more time reflecting their environment internally and are learning to navigate the world while never conforming or sacrificing their morals and values for the illusions being fed to us. In schools, on billboards, at bus stops, on tv, on the radio… 

You know all the programming. 

I personally feel like I am more on the civilian side of things but will get active if I ever have to, but I am blessed and grateful that I have not had to be put in a situation where I have had to choose. My children were all born in Boston but are being raised in a very different environment- not a better one- a different one. So believe me when I say my husband and I refuse to let our children grow up not understanding the teachings of “hood-bearing” days.

Being from the hood comes with very distinct super powers that usually go unrecognized or simply shunned by society. If you were observant as a child and growing up in the throes of oppression in any facet, and you were able to transmute it, and survive, you really are one of the strongest!  

We are at a time in our living history where we have to choose to wake up from all the lies that have been given, force fed and disguised to us, as us! 

We have to release the fears associated with maintaining the societal structures and programs that benefit off of our struggles. 

Benefits… 

from our… 

struggle… 

We push up against spiritual and moral law with that one! We have been conditioned to put a price tag on everything because: 

What are you without your price tag? 

How will we know your worth? 

How can you be wealthy without money? 

And that is where many people are stuck in 2026. We are still supporting the same systems that have forced us to sleep for hundreds of years. There are large gaps between our natural existence and our current reality but the use of fear, abuse, torment, illness and religion have always been their weapons of choice. 

So when I say I am standing on business I mean it! 

Here is a list of things that I do not support behind my values: 

Domino Sugar 

McDonalds

Target 

Starbucks 

Nickelodeon 

Jordans (of any kind) 

Tommy Hilfiger

Chuck e Cheese 

There are more but I think it's time to bring this full circle. 

When I stood in my kitchen so frustrated and ashamed about my purchase I asked my son to come take some pictures of me holding the box. Here I was, Mrs.Standingonbusiness still buying, supporting a product that goes against everything I preached; but it truly brought me much needed clarity and a very clear message.

We can never be as good as our word because we were only as good as our actions. 

They knew that the only way they could ever control us was through wicked and evil means. By making us forget our divine nature, our cultures, our stories, and our names. 

You hold all the power, and the choices you make, big and small, always create ripples.

You must be willing to stand on business with whatever comes with your decisions.