| Boricuas: Influential Puerto Rican Writing |
What is Puerto
Rican culture? What makes Puerto Ricans special?
"Puerto Rican people has no history, no culture, no identity," Santiago
was told. Proud to be Puerto Rican, but couldn't say why. Feeling a
sense of
worthlessness and determined to find the answers he knew
were there.
He was
driven to books where he discovered self.
What struck me
most
about this book is it's universal contents.
Any minority can identify with
Santiago's experience. He delivers some
sound
fundamentals about the importance
of knowing who you are, in an
anthology of Puerto Rican writers.
"Boricua is what Puerto Ricans call
one another as a term of
endearment,
respect, and cultural affirmation; [it]...tells the
origin and history of the
Puerto Rican people."
The following poem is a piece from this book called "Child of the Americas" by Aurora Levins Morales.
I am a child of the Americas,
a light-skinned mestiza of the Caribbean,
a child of many diaspora, born into this continent at a crossroads.
I am a U.S. Puerto Rican Jew,
a product of the ghetto of New York I have never known.
An immigrant and the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants.
I speak english with passion: it's the tongue of my consciousness,
a flashing knife blade of crystal, my tool, my craft.
I am Caribena, island
grown. Spanish is in my flesh,
ripples from my tongue, lodges in my hips:
the language of garlic and mangoes,
the singing in my poetry, the flying gesture of my hands.
I am latinoamerica, rooted in the history of my continent:
I speak from that body.
I am not african.
Africa is in me, but I cannot return.
I am not taina. Taina is in me, but there is no way back.
I am not european. Europe lives in me, but I have no home there.
I am new. History made
me. My first language was spanglish.
I was born at the crossroads.
I am whole.
Clara E. Rodriguez in her contribution to this anthology. "Puerto Ricans: Between Black and white." States as succinctly as I've ever heard it: "In Puerto Rico, racial identification is subordinate to cultural identification, while in the U.S., racial identification...determines cultural identification." In other words the American obsession with race determining culture (the one drop of [Black] blood principle), runs counter to the ideals of Puerto Rican culture.
The experience of Puerto Ricans in New York City points up...the chasm that exist between whites and Blacks...for within the U.S perspective, Puerto Ricans racially speaking belong to both groups; however, ethnically they belong to neither...Puerto Ricans are neither white nor Black.
...physical and social appearance are the measures used to classify instead of biological-decent classification.
Santiago's personal contribution to this anthology "Black and Puerto Rican, focus along the lines of a worldly perspective. On the reality of being Puerto Rican, looking Black and living in the U.S.
There is no way to be Black and Puerto Rican at the same time. What? Despite the many times I've heard this over the years, that statement still perplexes me....my color is a blend of my mother's rich, dark skin tone and my fathers white complexion...despite other peoples confusion, I don't feel I have to choose one or the other. To do so would be to deny a part of myself....Growing up in East Harlem I was also aware that I didn't "act Black," according to the Afro-American boys on the block.
My lighter-skinned Puerto Rican friends was less of a help in this department. "You're not Black."...you're a boricua, you ain't no moreno [Black]."
My grandparents on my mothers side were Black as carbon...[but] they are not officially considered Black [in Puerto Rico].
Santiago give a general explanation, as to why this is so. He doesn't go into the finite details. Read Clara E. Rodriguez "Puerto Ricans: Between Black and White" for a first-rate education on why in Puerto Rican culture, Puerto Ricans are not measured by U.S standards.
