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Angelo Escobar slumps down on the red mat beneath him, fully tired after the last two hours of training. He runs his hand through his shaggy black hair that he thinks about cutting, but for now, likes the look it gives him. Leaning towards his friends, he starts to discuss what he could have done better, and how he can improve. Because he has to be at his best; he has a fight at the Capitale in Manhattan in one week and if he wins it could mean a huge advantage for his career as a fighter.

Escobar started mixed martial arts at the age of 16 when his dad essentially told him to stop being lazy and go outside and do an activity. He found Tiger Schulmann’s through an online search and after taking his first class stuck with it to this day. He got lost in the class and used it hereafter as a way to take out his frustrations. Like any other typical beginner, he started with a kickboxing class. Kickboxing is a form of martial arts where you strike, and defend with your hands and legs. As a beginner, you start on the bag and the more advanced you become the more you are allowed to spar other students in the class. For him, the transitioning from training to actual sparring matches was an easy one. He loves the adrenaline rush and the self-confidence it builds when he goes against an opponent and wins. But his goal isn’t to win but to always keep learning and challenging himself.

When he first started training his family was very supportive of him and happy that he found something to do besides stay at home and watch tv and play video games. Now that he is fighting, they aren’t the happiest. Both parents would prefer he stay home and train only for self-defense. His mom would always ask him “Is it with gear, or without gear?” whenever he would step into the ring, worrying for her only son. His father was always into combat sports but seeing his own son in the ring caused him to realize how unsafe it was. Even though they do not fully support his decision to fight professionally they understand how much it means to him and try to come to his fights and support his training.

Just a few months ago Escobar graduated from Queen’s College at 23 years old. Escobar has always had a great connection to his Ecuadorian background, his favorite meal being the typical Spanish rice and beans. He says he gets his drive and passion from his culture as well. His sharp cheekbones and muscular build are also something he claims from his Ecuadorian roots. Going through college, while simultaneously focusing on college and work, was a challenge that he faced and overcame last year. Graduating with a major in childhood education, Escobar wants to be a teacher. Working two jobs, one as a martial arts instructor and manager, and the other helping his dad manage his Mr. Softee business, he is trying to save up to one day open his own school. Although a little cliché, he wants to take everything he has learned and give back somehow and teaching is the way he wants to do so, whether it be in a classroom or on a mat.

While Escobar is trying not to focus on the anxiety of having a fight he does contemplate what this fight means to him. He focuses on his family, friends, and those supporting him in the crowd. But to him, this fight is a time to test and challenge himself. He preaches that martial art is about building character and accepting challenges. “Life throws things at you, and makes you feel uncomfortable and I just hope that this fight can bring that to me so I can learn from it.”

He references the latest fight he watched with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier. Khabib won the fight, but Escobar looks up to Poirier more because of his character. Poirier, a fighter since 2011, has been involved in charity all throughout his career, giving back to his community step by step. Escobar grew up with a family that taught him strong morals and to always give back and to see Poirier doing so he is inspired. “He has a big platform and he uses it for good,” and that is the kind of person and fighter he wants to be.

Escobar has had two fights so far. Both amateur kickboxing fights at La Boom in Queens, NY. His first two fights were hosted by Extreme Cage Fighting (ECF), a gym company that hosts amateur fights for competitors of all ages and martial arts in Queens. This is a great opportunity for amateur fighters to get a start on their career and put their names and fighting styles out there. While these fighters might do this for a living, they are not considered “pro fighters”. A pro fighter is under contract with an organization or a fight team. They get paid according to their reputation and public worth as a fighter. Meaning, even if they lose a fight they get paid for just showing up. On the other hand, other fighters such as pro fighters or amateurs, do not get paid that much. They get paid a commission depending on how many tickets they sell and that is it. Meaning the challenge for most fighters is trying to draw a big crowd. Escobar hasn’t really struggled with this as his gym and its members are supportive and enjoy going to the fights.

Fighting in the ring is much different than training and sparring. In class Escobar goes against people that he knows and could see their fighting styles in his sleep. He knows his regular training partner opens too wide on his hooks. He can tell that every time that girl throws a round kick she is off balance for 5 seconds. During his fight on September 19^th, he is not going to know any of that. He will not know the strengths and weaknesses of his opponent. They will be facing each other for the first time and will have to analyze and learn each other’s techniques as they are fighting.

Escobar has successfully won his first two amateur fights. In the first fight, he won by technical knockout, resulting in a stoppage 30 seconds through the first round. Going into his first fight he was calm, on autopilot. His control over his emotions allowed him to focus on his opponent, throwing power shots that resulted in a win. This third fight will be his ticket to Madison Square Garden if he wins.

Fellow competitor and instructor to Escobar, George Etienne, was supposed to fight at MSG before his opponent pulled out last minute. Etienne says Madison Square Garden is “a place of self-recognition and … a platform dreamed by many but achieved by few.” That is how most people see MSG, as that is where the top fighters get the most recognition and go on to gain fame in the MMA world.

But for Escobar that isn’t what the fight is about. He just wants the chance to prove what he can do. “If you’ve been practicing something why not put it to the test you know?” He is not trying to go for the knockout in this fight. That is what he learned the most from his time in the ring and training; not to try to knock your opponent down but to have a good fight.

Waking up at 1 am, he goes to his gym and starts working on his technique: “I was laying down and had this feeling my opponent worked harder than me today” and that’s something his drive won’t allow.

Whatever the outcome of this fight, he knows that the process is the biggest test of character he has had. Toeing the line between cocky and too humble, Escobar knows he is a fighter to be reckoned with but he will never stop pushing himself either.

Please watch this video I made about Manar, a queer, nonbinary, Muslim Egyptian sex worker.

Below is the profile narrative I wrote about her.

Hospitalized more than a few times for attempting suicide in both 2018 and 2019, Manar has always had a rough history with mental health Besides being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) by a therapist, Bipolar 1 by the mental hospital Manar went to, and BPD by their psychiatrist, Manar also struggles with judgment form the same people that are supposed to help them. “So many therapists and psychiatrists look down at what I do. At my absolute lowest, health care professionals made me feel even lower.” This struggle with mental health was only expanded by Manar’s struggle with gender identity. Identifying as non-binary and using the pronouns they/them, Manar fights for people to recognize their gender and struggles with how it conflicts with their job as well. Blaming Manar’s problems on their job, psychiatrist and therapists disregarded that Manar had the symptoms of these disorders before starting work. They felt hated and pressured to quit. This struggle and pressure to quit their job would not only come to them from their doctors but from their friends, potential relationships, and even from their family.

As a queer, nonbinary, Muslim Egyptian, Manar’s childhood was very strict and reserved. The topic of women’s bodies, healthcare, and sexuality was so taboo in the household that when Manar started their menstrual cycle at the age of 9 years old, they hid their underwear away for fear there was something wrong with their body. It wasn’t until their mother found their hidden soiled underwear that they were forced to come clean.

In Egyptian culture, the avoidance of sexual topics is the norm, especially for women. Women are meant for a man’s pleasure and rarely feel any of it for themselves. Karen Badt retells the story of why he will not marry an Egyptian woman. “We have killed our women…They cut it off—that little thing between women’s legs—when they are two years old.”1 In Egypt, women’s clitorises are cut off at a young age and as they grow up they are not taught what it was meant to do nor why it exists. Manar confirms this and was lucky enough that they were born here in America and so did not have to go through that. It is supposed to be about being faithful and having respect for our bodies. The first time Egyptian women are supposed to have sex is when they get married. “I can see it in my mother.” Manar’s mom doesn’t know what a lot of sexual things are and doesn’t understand the sexual references around her. Manar says, “I had my vibrator out and there was nothing it could have been but a vibrator, and my mom had no clue what it was.”

Manar was born here and then at three months old, their parents moved back to Egypt. They were young and don’t remember most of it but when they came back to America at age eight their family moved into a Muslim community. Sex was never mentioned in their household and in fact, Manar’s parents pulled them out of sex-ed classes and continued to do so until the class was made mandatory in high school. “Sex is something to make your husband happy, it is not something for you to enjoy.”

Manar first discovered porn through their brother and by going to a New York City public middle school. When they were 16 years old they told a boyfriend that they would highly consider going into making porn videos. A virgin until they were 17, Manar was still very comfortable with their body and sexuality. Their boyfriend took it in a very negative light and flipped out on them in a misogynistic degrading way. “It was basic, insecure male bullshit.” Manar’s boyfriend said he would never be able to have them meet his parents or bring them around his friends. Manar would consistently be judged by their partners and parents for their open views on sexuality. This contrast between Manar’s culture and their more liberal ideals of sex and gender and sexuality led to big disagreements with their parents.

Leaving to go to college was Manar’s way of escaping. It was their way out from under the control of their parents. That is when she went through her mental breakdown in college. They needed college as an escape but failed out of classes as they struggled with their identity. Having to come back and live with her parents was not helpful for her mental state of mind and in fact, she was kicked out of her house not long after.

Manar was living on a friends’ couch and they needed money, and they needed it fast. After applying to other jobs and hearing no reply they looked into it googling how to be a dancer, and how to audition. “It’s not that hard, you buy an outfit, you buy some shoes, and call the club up and ask for audition times.” In strip club jobs if they decided to hire a dancer, they are hired immediately and started working that night. The club gave Manar two songs to dance to and they auditioned and got the job. Starting the night with only $13 to their name and one outfit and one pair of shoes, Manar made almost $350 that same night. Many movies led Manar to think that they would feel ashamed and spend the night after stripping crying on their floor feeling dirty and ashamed. However, all Manar could think about was that they had financial stability and could make in a night what some people make in a week. Manar was dancing and making money from the beginning of December until the end of Spring.

Manar had to stop dancing after moving back in with their parents in April. Manar’s parents were going through a rough divorce and their parents were abusive. That was supposed to be Manar’s safe haven but they couldn’t dance anymore because she couldn’t lie about the hours. Sometimes, they would be working the midday shift or night shift and they would get home late which, in a strict family such as Manars’, was unacceptable. “Either way I was coming home late and I couldn’t lie about those hours. That is when they decided to go into escorting. Manar went on Reddit and Twitter to find out how to become an escort and found a Reddit page about independent escort page where you can put up ads. Within a week of putting up an ad, they made $2,000. Manar originally put their listing price as four hundred dollars an hour and as they gained experience raised that price and now lists themselves at $500 an hour and going higher. Sometimes they would be making $1,000 a week.

Manar left their parents’ house in the middle of the summer after starting to escort. They knew their parents had an inkling of what they were doing to afford their bills. Manar’s father had kicked them out before after going through their bank account and questioning how they made their money. Manar tried to lie and say they worked at trader joes but their dad threatened to follow up. They felt it would just be better to leave and not come back.

As an escort Manar does not just have sex with men who buy their time. “A lot of the time it is just these lonely men who wanna be around a pretty girl.” Their highest paying client booked them for four hours and all they did was sit around and talk, he wanted to hear their poetry. The most important part is the screening. “You can find out who they are depending on how good your stalking abilities are.” Manar has had some clients who are all about sex though. They have met basketball players, people who do Ted talks, people who write books, etc. Manar has made more friends in their line of work, and they all have their own experiences. “Most people go into sex work because they are in a position when they need the money. The fundamental line for people in sex work is I need bread.”

Escort agencies do make Manar’s work safer, but she describes them as high-class pimps. They give them transportation, screen clients, and give certain hours to work, but the agency also takes half the money Manar makes. With escorting they can make anywhere from $4k to $6k a week depending on how good the clients are. Manar does not want this to perpetuate the image that sex workers make a lot of money. “There are nights that I left the strip club after 8 hours and I only left with $50.” The money is inconsistent and there is no real way to guarantee what the pay will look like.

Paige Simmons would describe herself n the past as a sex worker but more specifically a sugar baby. She started to sugar baby when she was in high school. She had a part-time job at a grocery store and started seeing this guy called Nav that paid her for her time and sexual favors. He also convinced her to help him with his underground drug business. Paige did it for a while and enjoyed the money she was making. She would use it to take care of her mother, who had a psychotic breakdown, and her younger brother. “It was too much money than I knew how to deal with. I’d go home, pack a bag, go to his house, make two drop-offs and then go to my job all morning or all night and then get off and do the same thing.” One guy she remembers working with got beat up after a deal went awry. It was so bad he did have to go to the hospital to deal with his injuries. Nav convinced him not to go to the police and aid for his medical bills. Two weeks later the guy was back working again. That shook Paige into quitting being with Nav and made her realize how addictive the money could be.

As an escort Manar sees drugs a lot. Their clients love to party and the one drug they see a ton is a cocaine. After smoking with a client one night, Manar went home googled what he had given them. “He called it Tina, it was crystal meth.” After struggling with their addiction issues, they are scared to fall into that pattern again as it doesn’t take much for them to become addicted.

Manar does not have a difficult time crossing culture, religion, and their job. They still consider themselves Muslim and do not think anyone could get in between themself and god. The problem for Manar is how people take the Quran and the culture and use it to justify their actions. Manar knows that Egyptian culture is strict but still believes everyone should have the right to choose what they believe in and what rules they follow.

Manar thinks sex work would not be accepted there but definitely knows it happens. Manar thinks sex work in America would profit more people if it were legal. They advocate against policies that harm sex workers. “Policies like FOSTA and SESTA, which were passed to try to help victims of trafficking but really ended up hurting consensual sex workers like myself.” In mid-2018 these two laws were signed by President Trump himself and had many celebrity endorsements. These two laws were meant to protect victims of sex trafficking and make it safer for people. What they actually do is hold online accounts accountable for the selling of sex work that is done on their websites. 2 No sex workers were actually consulted when this legislation was made and so the lives of sex workers have become more difficult. Essentially this bill moved sex work off of online platforms and onto the streets. This erases the progress sex workers had in becoming legal and safer and gets rid of their opportunities to screen clients, and makes them have to rely on pimps.

Manar says these laws restrict their access to information and screening and what they imply is that they wouldn’t choose to do this work for themselves if they had the choice. But Manar would. This is not something that they want to do forever, and they know it’s not something they can do forever. But Manar is an advocate that women and all people should have the ability to express themselves when they want to. “We are all human at the end of the day. And we all deserve to be treated with respect.”

This was an assignment I wrote for a Com class in College. It was very hard to make a concise point and it felt a lot like philosophy…. Enjoy

During this class, two perspectives that we discussed were from the Adorno and Gabler readings and the Sirois and Wasko readings. I want to take those two topics of media commodity and individual consumption and analyze how they are played out in modern times, relatively compared to the past.

The first thing I want to discuss is how Gabler points out that before the 19th-century “art” and “entertainment” was whatever the elite, rich and powerful decided it should be. This implies that what the higher-ups say is art, the lower caste will agree just due to social standing. So, if the poor and not the elite decided that they didn’t consider what the rich thought to be art and boycotted their idea, what would happen. The elite is not as numerous as the popular, meaning the majority would have a differing idea. Would the original art the elite preferred, not be considered art anymore? But art is subjective, and the people and the individual (as subjects) decide what the qualifications are to consider something art. We have no real recollection of lower caste people leaving records of what they consider art, and in modern media we are given this idea that simple people thought of nature or everyday things as art, giving the idea that “simple people prefer simple art”. A hot take considering most famous start off as poor and have to work their way up, mostly considered popular when they are old or dead.

This take can be applied to media as well, that the people, the majority, have always had the say in what becomes popular. As a community, a species, we thrive on copying with what has been done and improving on it. Adorno makes the point that modern people are more similar than ever, which I can argue is from evolution and humans need to adapt to fit into society, as belonging to society keeps the individual protected. Adorno also claims there is no uniqueness to art and society due to capitalism and big business. My reaction to that claim is that “people” as a whole have always been similar, the things that become popular in culture become popular because many people like it. While humans crave to be unique, we are the same and mostly have the same interests. In the beginning, when we first went over this reading I said I did not fault capitalism for creating this sameness, only profiting off of it, but after going through our semester, I do see where capitalism and greed work together to create an interest popular to the masses. My point being that I do see that for the most popular works, capitalist corporations do have a role in promoting the works that make the most money and then profiting off of that interest. If an entertainment, entertainer, or body of work(movie, book, tv show, musical artist) is deemed to meet the criteria of what the moguls of the entertainment industry think will go viral then those moguls or people in charge will not give money or attention to these lesser-known entertainments. This means for people that do not go out and explore the entertainment world, do not get to perceive other interests and bodies of works by lesser-known artists. However, I cannot fault capitalism for the free will of these individuals that do not explore beyond what they are given by popular media. This would demean the hard work of those that do and show disrespect to those small niches, that are everywhere. The best example I can give to simplify my statements is the Marvel movie example. Marvel has released a multitude of movies, leading to TV shows, leading to more movies, that many argue are simply popular because the first few movies had such success and the rest piggyback off of the popularity and the fans who “love” the series. Two arguments can be made, one: the fans only love the series because it is familiar and two: fans love the series because of the intricate world and character building that goes deeper with each movie. As a not so super fan, but fan none-the-less of Marvel, I may be biased but I can see both sides of the argument. Now to put it into the context of my previous statements. Marvel was greatly received when it came out, due to this it had more money put into it. The genre of western American heroes has become richer because of it. A lesser genre, let’s say Bollywood movies, would not receive the hype that a Marvel movie would receive because it would not receive as much funding, because the powers that be decided it would not gain as much popularity as anew Marvel movie. That is capitalism at work, in which I agree with Adorno. However, where I disagree is that there is still a fan base for that lesser-known genre, and if those people that loved Marvel were to try and explore outside of what they were given, a good percent of them would perhaps like those Bollywood movies as well. My point being due to free will and the natural reluctance of most people to actually explore outside of what they are shown, it can never be known for sure if Capitalism is the reason why most people in modern society have the same interest. Which circles back to my point of how modern storylines do not allow for audiences to use their own imagination, but are forced to observe stories through a preconceived storyline, but is that really the fault of the movie makers or of the audience who doesn’t demand otherwise? “The dependence of the most powerful broadcasting company on the electrical industry… characterizes the whole sphere, the individual sectors of which are themselves economically intertwined.” (Adorno)

i took a step in the rong direction

i found myself on the right path

to the wrong destination

so muh green and shades of tan

i mean the poeople

they walk here too but oposite

i want to go the same way thy rrre

then i thnk

thyr goin the wrong way to

 I take the six train

Although I make it to school

 I am still so late.

They say you are unmanageable.

Too many streets, too many names

You end as quickly as you begin.

But to those of us who know how to navigate you,

You are home.

So concluding this section is me in Central Park. This section of my City Story was more based on my and my movements through New York City.

One of the most interesting things about Queens is how diverse it is. We should remember the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows and its message of “Peace Through Understanding”. Especially as we go through these times of debate concerning immigration policy.

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