Margarita Espada: the art of social change

"Like the yerba bruja plant freckling the hillsides of Puerto Rico, withstanding intense heat and almost unlivable conditions, adapting to whatever challenges threaten to harm it, Margarita Espada, too, has learned to adapt, to survive, to thrive." 

More

Dreaming of a Coquito Christmas by Suset Laboy

"My feverish obsession with making the best coquito took off 4 years ago. I had settled back in Nuyorico after a one year research stint in Puerto Rico. New (once more) to my Puerto Rican community in New York, I set to perfect the recipe of my foremothers. Scratch that. I set to one-up the Carmen Aboy Valldejulis’s in my life, and claim my Puertoricanness amongst my new Puerto Rican community. I would like to think that I succeeded in making the best coquito. Anyone who has ever made coquito will try to prove me wrong, but they are all just lying."

More (Centro Voces)

Rosie at Seabreeze

Rosemarie Gutierrez, a Rochester, NY Realtor, enjoys a bit of summertime fun on the Carousel at Seabreeze Amusement Park.  

How to dress your children for tomorrow's NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC -- or the one in your hometown.

Cómo vestir a los nenes para La Parada #PRparade by Marixsa of MamáBoricua en Brooklyn bog. 

Remembering Yolanda Sanchez

Yolanda Sanchez was a natural leader, tenacious, accomplished, and a very kind soul.

East Harlem’s Trailblazer Yolanda Sánchez Leaves a  Legacy (1932-2012)

Center for Puerto Rican Studies

PRdream mourns the passing of Yolanda Sanchez, 1932 – 2012

El Grupo Ecos Borincanos: Keeping Jibaro Music Alive!

El Grupo Ecos Borincanos played at this past weekend's Puerto Rican Festival in Rochester, NY; next, Market Street Park, Auburn New York, 6 pm!

Here's a clip of their rendition of Preciosa.

Zainnia Vegas and Her Lakota Grandmother Blackwolfe

Zainnia Vegas (left) is with beloved Lakota grandmother Blackwolfe on the prairie in South Dakota. Born to Irish/Blackfoot and Puerto Rican parents, Zainnia traces her Borikua heritage on her mother's side to the early migrations of Puerto Rican farmworkers and merchant marines to California and Hawaii -- where she still has family. She's never been to Boriken, but Ziannia is very proud of her Taino heritage.

Big John Astacio -- A fiercely proud Taino in Seneca Country

Mercedes Vazquez Simmons and son at the Rochester PR Festival for the Ruben Blades Concert

The lovely Mercedes Vazquez Simmons takes a break from her role as Founder & CEO of Pretty Girl Productions- Boxing Pretty Girl Promotions to enjoy the music of Ruben Blades with her son Taylor at yesterday's Puerto Rican Festival in Rochester, New York. 

Beautiful Faces: Rochester, NY's Puerto Rican Parade

A mother and daughter enjoy yesterday's 43rd Annual Puerto Rican Parade in Rochester, NY. 

Bristol, PA Keeps PR Jibaro Culture Alive!

Photo series from the 42nd Annual Puerto Rican Day Festival of Bristol, PA - 7.28.13.

Your Spanish Ancestors Were North Africans

Were your 'Spanish' ancestors European as most Puerto Ricans believe, or African -- North African, to be precise? 

It's an intriguing question. 

Chances are they were African. Here's why: 

1) The indigenous of the Canary Islands -- Guanche -- are genetically Berber, i.e., North African. Berber bloodlines predominate among the people of today's West North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria). Spain's Canary Islands lie off the coast of North West Africa and are geographically part of the continent of Africa. Recent genetic studies found a high percentage of Berber (upwards of 72%) mtDNA [direct maternal] lineages among Canary Islanders.

2) Records show the migration of Canary Islanders to Puerto Rico in successive waves beginning with Columbus' 2nd voyage in 1493 and continuing to the Spanish American War, 1898. Actually, the first Guanche to Puerto Rico were brought forcibly as slaves to replace the devastated Tainos. The later waves of Canary Islanders arrived as poor, rural Spanish colonial 'subjects' who migrated to Puerto Rico's agricultural regions in search of a better life. It is their music, food, dialect, community life and olive skins that make-up the "Spanish" component of the island's Jibaro culture.

3) Recent DNA sampling in Puerto Rico found strong evidence of mtDNA matches for Guanche genetics. In some sampled communities 55% of the residents contain the markers, while in others, particularly in the Western portion of the island, it's as high as 82%.
Tinguaro was a Guanche leader who defeated the Spanish conquistadors at a battle in the hills of Acentejo, Island of Tenerife, Canary Islands. The area is now called La Matanza de Acentejo because the Spanish returned and slaughtered all of the local Guanche people.

Puerto Rico's Canary Islands Connection

Canary Islanders contributions to the history and culture of Puerto Rico is vast. For example, Puerto Rican Spanish was shaped by the dialect of the Canary Islander migrants. The Tiple and Puerto Rico's beloved Jibaro culture's "Spanish" contribution trace back to Canarios (also known as Isleños).

Furthermore, DNA sampling in Puerto Rico found strong evidence of mtDNA matches for Canary Islannds genetics. In some communities, 55% of the residents contain the markers, while in others, particularly in the Western portion of the island, it's as high as 82%. 

Even the name Puerto Rico is from the Canary Islands, i.e, the port in San Juan was named after GrandCanary's Puerto Rico. And many of the island's cities were founded by Canarios. 

Mountains of Gran Canary. 

Los Canarios de Puerto Rico (documentary film in Spanish)

Part 1

Part 2 

Part 3

Taino in the Southeast US pre-1492

[Taino Indians lived at least as far north as the Smoky Mountains. ¿Como? ¿Puertorriqueños en América del Norte antes de que Cristóbal Colón? ¡Por seguro! Forensic geologists and Native American scholars are opening the flood gates of new knowledge about North America’s past.]


The petroglyphs from Arecibo, PR and Atlanta, GA both portray a Taino guardian spirit.

Puertoricans came to North America before Columbus, March 12, 2013, Examiner.com 

Luz Suarez de Highfield

Luz Suarez de Highfield is a St Croix native and bilingual teacher who serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the US Virgin Islands University.

Jack Delano's Puerto Rico Photo Series 1941-89

A Masterwork Spanning 40 Years and One Island by David Gonzalez.

60 Minutes: Justice Sotomayor prefers "Sonia from the Bronx"

Interviews with Supreme Court justices are rare. But tonight even more so because in 223 years, there has never been a justice like Sonia Sotomayor. 

Among other things, she's the first Hispanic on the Court, she's the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants who settled in the Bronx -- that New York melting pot that pours out streetwise kids and American success stories.

Sotomayor, now 58 years old, calls the streets of her childhood, "My Beloved World," and that's the name of her new memoir. In her first broadcast interview, she told us that the neighborhood gave a poor girl, with a serious illness, a chance to serve and an opportunity to become one of the most powerful women in America.

Scott Pelley: This is where you grew up?

Sonia Sotomayor: In a public housing project. I lived in this one on the corner. Hold on.

Sonia Sotomayor (in Spanish): Hello. How are you?

Neighbor: Welcome to your old neighborhood.

Sonia Sotomayor (in Spanish): Thank you.]

You could believe she never left. They remember and she's never forgotten. Seems the only difference is the security detail which she really never needed in the Bronx.

Scott Pelley: You know, your brother told us that more than once in this neighborhood he got beaten up.

Sonia Sotomayor: Yep. And more than once I beat up the person who beat him up.

Scott Pelley: You stood up for your brother.

Sonia Sotomayor: Oh, you asked me the other day if I was a tough cookie, and---

A tough cookie who never crumbled at a setback.

Sonia Sotomayor: I am the most obstinate person you will ever meet. I have a streak of stubbornness in me that I think is what has accounted for some of my success in life. There is some personal need to persevere, to fight the fight. And if you just try and be stubborn about trying you can do what you set your mind to.

Sonia Sotomayor set her mind to being a judge at the age of 10. And three presidents agreed. Appointed to a federal court by the first George Bush, she was promoted to the Appeals Court by Bill Clinton. And in 2009 selected for the Supreme Court by President Obama.

Scott Pelley: Your first day working here: terrifying?

Sonia Sotomayor: Overwhelmingly terrifying. I was so anxiety ridden. I was so nervous that day that my knees knocked. And I thought everybody in the courtroom could hear them knocking.

Scott Pelley: Well, come on. You'd been a federal judge for more than 15 years at that point.

Sonia Sotomayor: I had not been a Supreme Court justice. It's a very different stage.

On this stage she's one of the most vocal questioners. And her vote most often falls on the liberal side. She helped uphold the Health Care Act and strike down tough illegal immigration statues. Back in the Bronx as a girl, she set her heart on being a cop --inspired by Nancy Drew novels and TV. But by the age of 8, the plot of her life was rewritten by diabetes.

Scott Pelley: The doctors told you because of your Type 1 diabetes--

Sonia Sotomayor: --Type 1 diabetes. At any rate--

Scott Pelley: --you couldn't be a cop.

Sonia Sotomayor: Yes, I couldn't be a cop. I figured out very quickly, watching "Perry Mason," that I could do some of the same things by being a lawyer.

[Perry Mason: Objection]

Scott Pelley: So, we are sitting in the Supreme Court today because you read "Nancy Drew" and watched "Perry Mason" on TV? CBS 60 Minute Interview (12:00 minute video)

Florida's Fast Growing Puerto Rican Population

Believe it or not, pero Cubans account for little more than a quarter (28%) of Florida's Latino population -- and shrinking! That is, 3 of 4 Floridian Latinos are now nonCuban. Puerto Ricans are the state's 2nd largest Latino group at 850,000 (2010 census) and growing rapidly (migration/youth). 

The Sunshine State's Puerto Rican population grew 75% between 2000 and 2010, mostly in Central Florida, and they now make up 13% of Orange County and 27% of Osceola County. Barring another Mariel boatlift or exodus, the 2020 census may show Puerto Ricans eclipsing Cubans in La Florida.

Interactivemap: Census 2010: Puerto Rican population in Florida

Christopher Lee Rios (aka Big Pun): 11/10/1971 – 2/7/2000

Christopher Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was a Puerto Rican rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s.

He first appeared on albums from The Beatnuts, on the track “Off the Books” in 1997, and on Fat Joe’s second album Jealous One’s Envy in 1995, on the track “Watch Out”, prior to signing to Loud Records as a solo artist. Big Pun’s career was cut short in 2000 at age 28 when he died of a heart attack.

More

Big Pun - Wikipedia
Big Pun - The Internet Movie Database
Christopher Rios, 28, Rapper Recorded Under Name Big Pun - Obituary NYTimes 2/9/2000
Big Pun: The Legacy documentary - YouTube
Big Pun Biography - Big Pun Forever

Quiara Alegría Hudes: Playwright, Author

Quiara Alegría Hudes is an award-winning author of plays, musicals, screenplays and other literary works.

Though her works are varied in style, she combines an intellectual curiosity with a humanistic vision to tell new American stories.

Her work for musical theater includes Broadway’s Tony Award-winning Best Musical In the Heights (Tony Nomination for her book, Pulitzer Prize finalist, Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics Circle Award) and the children’s musical Barrio Grrrl! (book and lyrics, Helen Hayes nomination for Theater for Young Audiences).

More

Quiara Alegría Hudes website
Worth listening - Courier-Post