I agree that we suffer from a form of "political constipation" but aside from a movement, I feel first and foremost that we need a plan for such a movement: WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN & WHY
WHO's going to step to the plate to make such a movement happen? Who's already involved, there are countless numbers of us already involved in the struggle, but are we communicating our message effectively, are we communicating with each other? Who's even responsible for the mess we're in to begin with?
WHAT's the problem we intend to deal with? Is political constipation really the problem, or just one part of it? WHAT resources are available to combat those problems that have been identified? WHAT form will this movement take? WHAT's really at stake?
WHERE are we going to concentrate our efforts and resources, both geographically (nation wide, state wide, or city wide) and spatially (schools, workplace, etc.)?
WHEN are we going to do this? Timing is everything!
& most importantly,
WHY is this movement necessary? WHY should people participate?
Hey, if I had all the answers I would be out there leading, not challenging. What I do know is that we need a movement, not a bureaucracy.
And why should we do this? Because it is incumbent upon us as a people and a nation to fight for our dignity, if not our sovereignty. When should we do this? Now. It's not about "getting it right" and THEN making a move. Let's just go for it!
We had a promising start with the recent Boricua initiative, but that national effort seems to have since dissipated as folks got sidetracked by arguments over those very details you brought up.
Change happened in the 60s precisely because we took some chances and because the needs far outweighed the risks. They still do. The [majority of] our people (here are there) are still living under the poverty levels and we are still a colonized nation.
My suggestion is that we push to renew the Boricua initiative, that we support our civil rights organizations and progressive media, and that we demand that our elected officials step up to the plate.
Folks should continue to concentrate their efforts on the issues and in the locale they deem most important, but we should communicate with each other. We should also stop fighting amongst ourselves; and bickering and competing for crumbs. It is beneath us as a people.
Although for the most part, I agree with you, VB, I have to ask who is the "we" that you are talking about. There are so many different boricua/Puerto Rican communities that exist now with a wide assortment of agendas, only some of which I would consider progressive.
What it means to be Puerto Rican is different for me, a man born in the fiftes than it is for my nephew born in the eighties (both of us born and bred in the South Bronx). [Not everyone is from el Barrio, mijo]. And we are different from my mother's mother born in La Perla, or my pops born in Aibonito or even for my close friend, 15 year my junior, born in Caguas. Of course we share many things but there are also great differences because of age, class, geography, sexuality, gender, etc. I can go to the high school and say "The Puerto Rican people" to the young people there and they may raise their arms in the air but I would guess their actual concepts might be something quite different from what you or I know.
We are no longer simple boricuas. Actually, we never have been but that's another story. We are becoming an increasingly diverse community: different religions (not all of us are Catholic or even Christian anymore); different social and economic classes (yes, many of us are poor, but a lot of us are not); different politics (although I am grateful to say I have yet to meet a Republican PR); different sexualities and genders; and even different racial groups as more boricuas intermarry with other ethnic groups.
I think a good start is acknowledging that being Puerto Rican is more complex now. What does it mean to be a Puerto Rican now? I know it sounds like navel-gazing but those fundamental identity discussions have to happen if we want to forge a boricua-based political/social/cultural/economic movement. That's what I think Nicholas was asking.
Just to give you an example: I was at a conference where the Mexican speaker was doing a "Latinos are the future of America" speech. She said she supported Alberto Gonzales because he supported Latinos. I was horrified becaue I am against Gonzales and the continuing evisceration of US civil rights. It would be hard for me to work with folks whose vision is so different from mine, despite our shared Latinidad. So that shared latino vision thing isn't as simple as it seems.
I think the Boricua Initiative was focussed and that's why it was relatively successful. When you have a clear goal and a clear target, you can do things effectively.
I agree with you that communication is key. For us to unify as a people we need to be able to approach each other with real respect and consideration so that we can some kind of meaningful and intelligent dialogue with each other.
I also agree that we should organize locally and stop bickering about crumbs, which is the classic response of an oppressed people.
But I think Nicholas made a lot of cogent points and raised some hard questions that are not easy to answer. However not having the answers doesn't invalidate the questions or make them go away. Unless we start at least trying to answer them, we ain't going nowhere.
Mira mi cara Puertorriqueña Mi pelo vivo Mis manos trigueñas Mira mi corazón que se llene de orgullo Y dime que no soy Boricua
Some people say that I am not the real thing Boricua, that is cuz I wasn’t born on the enchanted island cuz I was born on the mainland north of Spanish Harlem cuz I was born in the Bronx some people think that I’m not bona-fide cuz my playground was a concrete jungle cuz my Rio Grande de Loiza was the Bronx River cuz my Fajardo was City Island my Loquillo, Orchard Beach and summer nights were filled with city noises instead of coquis and Puerto Rico was just some paradise that we only saw in pictures.
What does it mean to live in between? What does it take to realize that being Boricua is a state of mind a state of heart a state of soul.
No nací en Puerto Rico Puerto Rico nació en mi!
Mira a mi cara Puertorriqueña Mi pelo vivo Mis manos trigueños Mira a mi corazón que se llene de orgullo Y dime qua no soy Boricua
I have often wondered why it is that Puerto Ricans, unlike other groups, do not have strong networks and business relationships. The reason why our neighborhoods are being taken away is precisely because we lack those networks. Where is our unity? Perhaps we need some naval gazing. We definitely need some introspection.
As a teacher I try to integrate cultural experiences into my teaching. I bring my immigrant students, international students and students who are native speakers of English to El Barrio and the Bronx. I frequent Puerto Rican establishments and businesses. Even when I was teaching in Japan I tried to represent Puerto Rican culture to the best of my ability.
I regularly bring my students to festivals, mural walks, parades, cuchifrito places, bodegas, museums, restaurants, piragua carts, coquito carts. You name it I have brought them to it. Until recently I have never had a problem.
This Wednesday was the first trip to El Barrio with a group of international students from NYU. Half of our number were going to West Harlem and I volunteered to lead the other half of Taiwanese, Korean and Italian students to East Harlem. You can imagine that it was a hard sell in the first place. I had to give a list of objectives, and justify such a trip. It began wonderfully. The students were lucky enough to meet De La Vega right in front of his shop and it was 10:30 in the morning. He was a doll. He gave out posters, students snapped up some souveniers and were very impressed with his work as we walked around the neighborhood.
The vocabulary used (courtesy of many electronic dictionaries) included: welcoming, colorful, lively, romantic. Their words, not mine. They had a FABULOUS time. I believe they understood the charm of the neighborhood and why we love it. I even ran through an open hydrant with a sprinkler cap on in a white skirt.
It was all fabulous until we got to 106th. The Conservatory Garden and El Museo del Barrio, hits! The graffitti wall of fame a hit! St. Cecilia's, a 125 year old church, colorful brownstones, hits! Even in the heat the students took pictures and were fascinated.
The day before I tried to call and speak to the manager of La Fonda Boricua to see if there would be space enough for approximately 35 to 45 people. I figured at 11:30 I would throw them some business, and repeat it with upcoming groups and trips. Why shouldn't I do this for a Boricua owned business?Apparently, that was not something that was welcomed. The manager was very nasty on the phone. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, figured he must have been stressed out and decided to try again when we got there.
The students were tired and hungry, it was hot and I wanted them to taste Puerto Rican food so badly. The Italian dancers had left for their lesson. The group dwindled to 25 students and 3 teachers. I asked if they had room for us, and how much it would be per person for the lunch special. They said they had room, said it was 6 dollars each and we entered.
The restaurant was practically empty. We only took up one side of the place and there was room for 40 more people, more at the bar. Here is where it got really bizarre. The manager comes up and is indignant.He wants to charge us 10 each not including tip or drinks or tax! If I sat at the bar he would have charged me five or six. At a table alone 7. His tone, his behavior, his attitude, he didnt want to negotiate, stormed off and said we were taking food from the "regulars".
I eventually got my colleague to speak to him. The spectacle of a white woman speaking strongly to him was enough to get him to back down a little. Speaking Spanish didn't get me anywhere. Pleading and asking him to help me give them a unique experience didn't get me anywhere. He didnt care how hot it was outside, that he was embarassing me and making our people look bad. Like a shark he smelled blood in the water. The UPS guy eating alone in a booth made a joke about how many "chinos" I hang with. I was completely disgusted. I ordered a soda and sat fuming until the students, who agreed to the price of 10, finished eating.
The manager pulled my colleague aside after we left and said he would have been more accomodating had we called in advance. She corrected him and said that the female he had first spoken to had indeed called the day before and was spoken to in a nasty way. She also told him that she would not bring her students from Interboro, or NYU there, neither would the male teacher bring his high school students there. He had just lost a lot of word of mouth, and a lot of potential business. When we left, the trays in the front were still full.
So why is it that we have no unity as Puerto Ricans? Why is it that we don't have the networks other ethnicities have? It is because we don't have a consciousness of how to treat each other or "others". Greed and the temptation of instant-gratification get in the way of planning and laying down a foundation to build upon.
I am from the Bronx, I have worked in Spanish Harlem, in New Lots in Brooklyn, and now in the Lower East Side. At some point or other my family has lived in those areas. Now that I have completed my masters degree and have begun my career/profession, these are the places where I want to spend my time and money.
The feeling of Spanish Harlem and the Lower East Side being "taken over" is disheartening. If my foreign students could recognize the "charm" and the "character" of the community parks, the casitas, the murals and atmosphere of Spanish Harlem in a short field trip, why can't we?
I was fighting back tears of embarassment and frustration in La Fonda. Next week, we are going to a Mexican restaurant on 116th. The owners jumped up and down to help me plan, to set a menu and give me "respecto y dignidad". It didn't matter that I was young and female. They understood it was business, and welcomed us as "regulars".
Money is power. We have learned that lesson when it is used as a weapon against us. We need to use it for our own benefit.
Thank you VirtualBoricua for this blog. Hopefully more Boricuas will show up and contribute.
I love that poem! This is so true for me.
"No nací en Puerto Rico Puerto Rico nació en mi!"
What we first need to realize is that the main bond that PR have in common with other Latinos is the spanish language which stems from being colonized by spain. The term hispanic/latino was created to fit a whole group of spanish speaking people for marketing purposes and for the census. That term latino was created to denationalize latinos and put us into a minority group. There are some similarities between Boricuas and other Latinos but there are also many differences.
Boricuas don’t have to deal with la migra. So should we forget that our parents were once immigrants and exploited by means of low wages when they first came here? Mexicans are the largest of the Latino groups here in the US. Mexico is also a bigger country than PR. There are many Mexican Americans here that can identify with our struggle and help us in our mutual causes.
Our enemy is the same! A Eurocentric bias and racist system. We need to align ourselves with people that are on the same page as us no matter what color they be. Cuz, we know not ALL Boricua's are gonna be down for change. Even our island is divided by those that want statehood, commonwealth and independistas. So we need to outline what our common goals are. Which, I have done in my blog and I provide the link below.
We first need to recognize that the media is a capitalist ploy used to keep people of color oppressed and white privilege alive. The majority of our leaders are puppets for whatever current admin is in office at the time. They are not for our cause. The human cause. Though, I would like to say that Nydia Vasquez, Jose Serrano, and Luis Gutierrez are among the only PR politicians that I do agree with.
We can not get anywhere as a people if we don’t know who we are. All PR should know who Pedro Albizu Campos is! So education of our roots is a must. PR are in the situation we are in not because we are dumb but because we have been colonized and oppressed for centuries. We have been divided and conquered and now is the time to unite with PR and form alliances with other groups of color. We need to build our own networks. We can not wait for the govt to fix our streets or help us in times of need. Look at what happen with the poor Survivors of Katrina.
We are a beautiful people. We can exploit our culture/history for the empowerment of our people. The work that needs to be done needs to be done on a social level. Not only a political one. We need to re educate our gente to the realities of being a PR.
RE: My blog. I just started my own blog a few weeks ago so it is a lil plain looking. However, my first post deals with exactly what I want to see done in all poor people of color communities across the US. This is my vision for how we can work within this system to create positive changes in our communities.
Please check it out and let me know what you think.
http://divinerighteous.blogeasy.com/
Or we can follow a similar platform to the movements of the past. That of the Young Lords Party.
I could not agree more that we suffer from political constipation. The question then becomes how do we turn that around? How do we instill a sense of empowerment among Puerto Ricans.
I suggest that we find a way to use the one thing that we all have in common; a shared pride in our culture. Make it shameful for our people to not do our part to better our situation. A grass roots effort is what is needed here. There is a saying that all politics is local. That couldn't be more true in this case case.
We need turn the tide of thought that permeates the island. Rather than wondering whether we can stand on our own two feet what we need is to get to a place where we start discussing how. A paradigm shift is needed which in my opinion is the most difficult part of the process.
We are seriously lacking in confidence. We have been trained to believe that we can only make it with the help of big brother. I'm not surprised given our history that the majority of people on the island feel the way we do. What is necessary is a shift in that thought process.
If we can do that then we have the beginnings of something historic.
I disagree that forming an alliance with Mexicans would be smart. It would not and thus far being lumped with them has gotten us no where. Just because they have high population numbers does not mean power...all it means is alot of people. With the immigration issue being one that has anger many Anglos and will not die anytime soon, this would not be a smart thing to do. We need to do as Rosie Perez did.. embrace and announce who we are as Puerto Ricans. Understand OUR history and flourish from there. Aligning ourselves with Mexicans is a kiss of death. We are Puerto Ricans...not Hispanics or Latinos.
10 comments:
I agree that we suffer from a form of "political constipation" but aside from a movement, I feel first and foremost that we need a plan for such a movement: WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN & WHY
WHO's going to step to the plate to make such a movement happen? Who's already involved, there are countless numbers of us already involved in the struggle, but are we communicating our message effectively, are we communicating with each other? Who's even responsible for the mess we're in to begin with?
WHAT's the problem we intend to deal with? Is political constipation really the problem, or just one part of it? WHAT resources are available to combat those problems that have been identified? WHAT form will this movement take? WHAT's really at stake?
WHERE are we going to concentrate our efforts and resources, both geographically (nation wide, state wide, or city wide) and spatially (schools, workplace, etc.)?
WHEN are we going to do this? Timing is everything!
& most importantly,
WHY is this movement necessary? WHY should people participate?
Hey, if I had all the answers I would be out there leading, not challenging. What I do know is that we need a movement, not a bureaucracy.
And why should we do this? Because it is incumbent upon us as a people and a nation to fight for our dignity, if not our sovereignty. When should we do this? Now. It's not about "getting it right" and THEN making a move. Let's just go for it!
We had a promising start with the recent Boricua initiative, but that national effort seems to have since dissipated as folks got sidetracked by arguments over those very details you brought up.
Change happened in the 60s precisely because we took some chances and because the needs far outweighed the risks. They still do. The [majority of] our people (here are there) are still living under the poverty levels and we are still a colonized nation.
My suggestion is that we push to renew the Boricua initiative, that we support our civil rights organizations and progressive media, and that we demand that our elected officials step up to the plate.
Folks should continue to concentrate their efforts on the issues and in the locale they deem most important, but we should communicate with each other. We should also stop fighting amongst ourselves; and bickering and competing for crumbs. It is beneath us as a people.
Although for the most part, I agree with you, VB, I have to ask who is the "we" that you are talking about. There are so many different boricua/Puerto Rican communities that exist now with a wide assortment of agendas, only some of which I would consider progressive.
What it means to be Puerto Rican is different for me, a man born in the fiftes than it is for my nephew born in the eighties (both of us born and bred in the South Bronx). [Not everyone is from el Barrio, mijo]. And we are different from my mother's mother born in La Perla, or my pops born in Aibonito or even for my close friend, 15 year my junior, born in Caguas. Of course we share many things but there are also great differences because of age, class, geography, sexuality, gender, etc. I can go to the high school and say "The Puerto Rican people" to the young people there and they may raise their arms in the air but I would guess their actual concepts might be something quite different from what you or I know.
We are no longer simple boricuas. Actually, we never have been but that's another story. We are becoming an increasingly diverse community: different religions (not all of us are Catholic or even Christian anymore); different social and economic classes (yes, many of us are poor, but a lot of us are not); different politics (although I am grateful to say I have yet to meet a Republican PR); different sexualities and genders; and even different racial groups as more boricuas intermarry with other ethnic groups.
I think a good start is acknowledging that being Puerto Rican is more complex now. What does it mean to be a Puerto Rican now? I know it sounds like navel-gazing but those fundamental identity discussions have to happen if we want to forge a boricua-based political/social/cultural/economic movement. That's what I think Nicholas was asking.
Just to give you an example: I was at a conference where the Mexican speaker was doing a "Latinos are the future of America" speech. She said she supported Alberto Gonzales because he supported Latinos. I was horrified becaue I am against Gonzales and the continuing evisceration of US civil rights. It would be hard for me to work with folks whose vision is so different from mine, despite our shared Latinidad. So that shared latino vision thing isn't as simple as it seems.
I think the Boricua Initiative was focussed and that's why it was relatively successful. When you have a clear goal and a clear target, you can do things effectively.
I agree with you that communication is key. For us to unify as a people we need to be able to approach each other with real respect and consideration so that we can some kind of meaningful and intelligent dialogue with each other.
I also agree that we should organize locally and stop bickering about crumbs, which is the classic response of an oppressed people.
But I think Nicholas made a lot of cogent points and raised some hard questions that are not easy to answer. However not having the answers doesn't invalidate the questions or make them go away. Unless we start at least trying to answer them, we ain't going nowhere.
Ode to the DiaspoRican
Mira mi cara Puertorriqueña
Mi pelo vivo
Mis manos trigueñas
Mira mi corazón que se llene de orgullo
Y dime que no soy Boricua
Some people say that I am not the real thing
Boricua, that is
cuz I wasn’t born on the enchanted island
cuz I was born on the mainland
north of Spanish Harlem
cuz I was born in the Bronx
some people think that I’m not bona-fide
cuz my playground was a concrete jungle
cuz my Rio Grande de Loiza was the Bronx River
cuz my Fajardo was City Island
my Loquillo, Orchard Beach
and summer nights were filled with city noises
instead of coquis
and Puerto Rico was just some paradise
that we only saw in pictures.
What does it mean to live in between?
What does it take to realize
that being Boricua
is a state of mind
a state of heart
a state of soul.
No nací en Puerto Rico Puerto Rico nació en mi!
Mira a mi cara Puertorriqueña
Mi pelo vivo
Mis manos trigueños
Mira a mi corazón que se llene de orgullo
Y dime qua no soy Boricua
Mariposa ® 1995 a.k.a. Maria Teresa Fernandez
I have often wondered why it is that Puerto Ricans, unlike other groups, do not have strong networks and business relationships. The reason why our neighborhoods are being taken away is precisely because we lack those networks. Where is our unity? Perhaps we need some naval gazing. We definitely need some introspection.
As a teacher I try to integrate cultural experiences into my teaching. I bring my immigrant students, international students and students who are native speakers of English to El Barrio and the Bronx. I frequent Puerto Rican establishments and businesses. Even when I was teaching in Japan I tried to represent Puerto Rican culture to the best of my ability.
I regularly bring my students to festivals, mural walks, parades, cuchifrito places, bodegas, museums, restaurants, piragua carts, coquito carts. You name it I have brought them to it.
Until recently I have never had a problem.
This Wednesday was the first trip to El Barrio with a group of international students from NYU. Half of our number were going to West Harlem and I volunteered to lead the other half of Taiwanese, Korean and Italian students to East Harlem. You can imagine that it was a hard sell in the first place. I had to give a list of objectives, and justify such a trip. It began wonderfully. The students were lucky enough to meet De La Vega right in front of his shop and it was 10:30 in the morning. He was a doll. He gave out posters, students snapped up some souveniers and were very impressed with his work as we walked around the neighborhood.
The vocabulary used (courtesy of many electronic dictionaries) included: welcoming, colorful, lively, romantic. Their words, not mine. They had a FABULOUS time. I believe they understood the charm of the neighborhood and why we love it. I even ran through an open hydrant with a sprinkler cap on in a white skirt.
It was all fabulous until we got to 106th. The Conservatory Garden and El Museo del Barrio, hits! The graffitti wall of fame a hit! St. Cecilia's, a 125 year old church, colorful brownstones, hits! Even in the heat the students took pictures and were fascinated.
The day before I tried to call and speak to the manager of La Fonda Boricua to see if there would be space enough for approximately 35 to 45 people. I figured at 11:30 I would throw them some business, and repeat it with upcoming groups and trips. Why shouldn't I do this for a Boricua owned business?Apparently, that was not something that was welcomed. The manager was very nasty on the phone. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, figured he must have been stressed out and decided to try again when we got there.
The students were tired and hungry, it was hot and I wanted them to taste Puerto Rican food so badly. The Italian dancers had left for their lesson. The group dwindled to 25 students and 3 teachers. I asked if they had room for us, and how much it would be per person for the lunch special. They said they had room, said it was 6 dollars each and we entered.
The restaurant was practically empty. We only took up one side of the place and there was room for 40 more people, more at the bar. Here is where it got really bizarre. The manager comes up and is indignant.He wants to charge us 10 each not including tip or drinks or tax! If I sat at the bar he would have charged me five or six. At a table alone 7. His tone, his behavior, his attitude, he didnt want to negotiate, stormed off and said we were taking food from the "regulars".
I eventually got my colleague to speak to him. The spectacle of a white woman speaking strongly to him was enough to get him to back down a little. Speaking Spanish didn't get me anywhere. Pleading and asking him to help me give them a unique experience didn't get me anywhere. He didnt care how hot it was outside, that he was embarassing me and making our people look bad. Like a shark he smelled blood in the water. The UPS guy eating alone in a booth made a joke about how many "chinos" I hang with. I was completely disgusted. I ordered a soda and sat fuming until the students, who agreed to the price of 10, finished eating.
The manager pulled my colleague aside after we left and said he would have been more accomodating had we called in advance. She corrected him and said that the female he had first spoken to had indeed called the day before and was spoken to in a nasty way. She also told him that she would not bring her students from Interboro, or NYU there, neither would the male teacher bring his high school students there. He had just lost a lot of word of mouth, and a lot of potential business. When we left, the trays in the front were still full.
So why is it that we have no unity as Puerto Ricans? Why is it that we don't have the networks other ethnicities have? It is because we don't have a consciousness of how to treat each other or "others".
Greed and the temptation of instant-gratification get in the way of planning and laying down a foundation to build upon.
I am from the Bronx, I have worked in Spanish Harlem, in New Lots in Brooklyn, and now in the Lower East Side. At some point or other my family has lived in those areas. Now that I have completed my masters degree and have begun my career/profession, these are the places where I want to spend my time and money.
The feeling of Spanish Harlem and the Lower East Side being "taken over" is disheartening. If my foreign students could recognize the "charm" and the "character" of the community parks, the casitas, the murals and atmosphere of Spanish Harlem in a short field trip, why can't we?
I was fighting back tears of embarassment and frustration in La Fonda. Next week, we are going to a Mexican restaurant on 116th. The owners jumped up and down to help me plan, to set a menu and give me "respecto y dignidad". It didn't matter that I was young and female. They understood it was business, and welcomed us as "regulars".
Money is power. We have learned that lesson when it is used as a weapon against us. We need to use it for our own benefit.
Not sure what any of that has to do with political empowerment for Puerto Rican, but thanks for sharing.
First of all I want to say, "Hola mi gente!"
Thank you VirtualBoricua for this blog. Hopefully more Boricuas will show up and contribute.
I love that poem! This is so true for me.
"No nací en Puerto Rico Puerto Rico nació en mi!"
What we first need to realize is that the main bond that PR have in common with other Latinos is the spanish language which stems from being colonized by spain. The term hispanic/latino was created to fit a whole group of spanish speaking people for marketing purposes and for the census. That term latino was created to denationalize latinos and put us into a minority group. There are some similarities between Boricuas and other Latinos but there are also many differences.
Boricuas don’t have to deal with la migra. So should we forget that our parents were once immigrants and exploited by means of low wages when they first came here? Mexicans are the largest of the Latino groups here in the US. Mexico is also a bigger country than PR. There are many Mexican Americans here that can identify with our struggle and help us in our mutual causes.
Our enemy is the same! A Eurocentric bias and racist system. We need to align ourselves with people that are on the same page as us no matter what color they be. Cuz, we know not ALL Boricua's are gonna be down for change. Even our island is divided by those that want statehood, commonwealth and independistas. So we need to outline what our common goals are. Which, I have done in my blog and I provide the link below.
We first need to recognize that the media is a capitalist ploy used to keep people of color oppressed and white privilege alive. The majority of our leaders are puppets for whatever current admin is in office at the time. They are not for our cause. The human cause. Though, I would like to say that Nydia Vasquez, Jose Serrano, and Luis Gutierrez are among the only PR politicians that I do agree with.
We can not get anywhere as a people if we don’t know who we are. All PR should know who Pedro Albizu Campos is! So education of our roots is a must. PR are in the situation we are in not because we are dumb but because we have been colonized and oppressed for centuries. We have been divided and conquered and now is the time to unite with PR and form alliances with other groups of color. We need to build our own networks. We can not wait for the govt to fix our streets or help us in times of need. Look at what happen with the poor Survivors of Katrina.
We are a beautiful people. We can exploit our culture/history for the empowerment of our people. The work that needs to be done needs to be done on a social level. Not only a political one. We need to re educate our gente to the realities of being a PR.
RE: My blog. I just started my own blog a few weeks ago so it is a lil plain looking. However, my first post deals with exactly what I want to see done in all poor people of color communities across the US. This is my vision for how we can work within this system to create positive changes in our communities.
Please check it out and let me know what you think.
http://divinerighteous.blogeasy.com/
Or we can follow a similar platform to the movements of the past. That of the Young Lords Party.
http://palante.org/13%20Pt%20Program-Corrected.htm
paz
!!Para La Gente Siempre!!
I could not agree more that we suffer from political constipation. The question then becomes how do we turn that around? How do we instill a sense of empowerment among Puerto Ricans.
I suggest that we find a way to use the one thing that we all have in common; a shared pride in our culture. Make it shameful for our people to not do our part to better our situation. A grass roots effort is what is needed here. There is a saying that all politics is local. That couldn't be more true in this case case.
We need turn the tide of thought that permeates the island. Rather than wondering whether we can stand on our own two feet what we need is to get to a place where we start discussing how. A paradigm shift is needed which in my opinion is the most difficult part of the process.
We are seriously lacking in confidence. We have been trained to believe that we can only make it with the help of big brother. I'm not surprised given our history that the majority of people on the island feel the way we do. What is necessary is a shift in that thought process.
If we can do that then we have the beginnings of something historic.
I disagree that forming an alliance with Mexicans would be smart. It would not and thus far being lumped with them has gotten us no where. Just because they have high population numbers does not mean power...all it means is alot of people. With the immigration issue being one that has anger many Anglos and will not die anytime soon, this would not be a smart thing to do. We need to do as Rosie Perez did.. embrace and announce who we are as Puerto Ricans. Understand OUR history and flourish from there. Aligning ourselves with Mexicans is a kiss of death. We are Puerto Ricans...not Hispanics or Latinos.
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