Blog Post #3

Blog #2 What are two things that you learned about the Puerto Rican community and culture that you didn’t know before?  How have your previous assumptions and expectations been resolved? What are two ways that you will take responsibility for the community?

The Puerto Rican people's deep-rooted spirit of independence is the most significant lesson I learned from the trip. Based on my previous readings and research, my impression was that independence was a fringe political movement, and that people on the island had begrudgingly accepted their status in the United States. I had followed the latest independence referendum when it took place in 2017, and the results seemed to confirm my assumptions. However, the fire of independence was present in most of the "Boricuas" I met and worked with. It was manifested in their admirable work to better their communities and island. Individuals like Licia and Lidia made self-sufficiency their mission, and that is a reflection of a desire for a Puerto Rico free from dependency. As an American citizen naturalized from a foreign country, I feel solidarity with the Puerto Rican to carve their own path and celebrate their own culture and people rather than be a part of a larger entity that largely disregards them. I will support Puerto Rican independence in any capacity that I am able to.

Another aspect of Puerto Rican that I discovered was the celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican influence not just in that particular community, but in all Puerto Ricans. The mask of the vejigantes originated in Loiza, yet I saw them everywhere from San Juan to Luquillo. Bomba too is a product of the Afro-Puerto Ricans of Loiza, but those not from that town (like Nani) knew the bomba regardless. The culture of Puerto Rico was so incredibly rich and syncretized, in a way that contrasted with the mainland United States. The U.S. is a called "melting pot", but a mosaic would be a more accurate description; the cultures of different communities largely stay in those communities. Puerto Rico, by contrast, is a true melting pot. I will try to support the Puerto Rican community in the celebration of their culture here on the mainland, such as through events or the Puerto Rican Day parade.