Yesterday was the Puerto Rican Day Parade in Nueva York... and while I've never attended in the physical, my heart truly has always been present amidst the crowd and the festivities. Many people do not understand why we as a people are so proud, despite our colonial relationship with the United States. And while I am not particularly a fan of slapping la bandera on any and everything, I understand that it s form of protest- whether conscious of subconscious. Our immense pride and the way we display it is a social and cultural protest against the condition placed on la isla and within the mindset of it's people. We wave our flags because unbeknownst to many, once America took over the island from the Spanish, it was illegal to do so. We, as all other colonized people, suffer from the depression and mental anguish of oppression, whether we admit it or not, it leaks through many of our people's ways and actions. We continuously kindle and perpetuate our pride as a form of intoxication, attempting to drink away the pain of a so-called commonwealth or territorial status. We adorn ourselves in the Puerto flag, as a form of resistance, to remind the United States, that despite the arrest of our people's liberation and being the only Latin American countries that has not won it's own freedom, yet, we are and will always be Borikuas before we are Americans.
In tribute, here's a throw back from the 90's...
-Also, make sure you check out my post on "Los Indios" about the Puerto Rican Day Parade: www.in-dios.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment