Hispanic Heritage Month is almost over. From September 15th through October 15th, the USA recognizes the history and contributions of the Latino/a/x community during Hispanic Heritage Month. This year, I wanted to share a bit about each country in Latin América where I had the chance to visit. My primary reason was to highlight those countries that are not as visited, but also to share some other less known places in tourism-high countries. Today, I want to share my experiences visiting Honduras.
Nothing like the bright colors of the mercados of Latin América.
It is possible that what you have heard about Honduras is all related to violence, death, murders, drugs, and the political instability that feeds those social ills. Although it is true that Honduras has had a history of violence related to gangs and drugs, it is also true that the country is a beautiful place beyond the well known tourist destination of Roatán island.
I have been to Honduras twice. Both times I visited the capital, Tegucigalpa. My travels there were related to work: partnering with the United Nations HIV/AIDS Program, which at the time, was led by a good friend who has since passed. Visiting with a friend who lived there made a huge difference in how I experienced Honduras. However, this doesn’t mean that you will not experience a wonderful country if you go alone or as a tourist.
Tegucigalpa, or Teguz, as the locals call it, and Comayaguela, it’s twin city, are filled with surprises. Walking around the old town of Teguz was a great way to understand the people of the country. The streets are filled with stores, food vendors, and my favorite, bookstores! There is a small hotel district on the modern part of the city, where visitors can stay with low or no concerns about violence reaching them. (But always remember that all big cities have violence and crime, this is not exclusive to Latin American big cities.) The district has great cafés and bars which offer great places to meet locals and learn more about their culture. Every morning, I would walk to the little café near my hotel to get some delicious local coffee and just relax by taking in all the beauty of the district, it’s public art, and to watch as people made their ways to work, school, and engaged in their daily routines.
The ever-present contrast of old and new in Latin América.
The second time I was in Honduras, the people were hosting almost daily marches demanding their government to be more transparent and accountable to the people. Of course, I could not just stay by the sides while my siblings were doing the right thing, and I joined the marches and protests for a bit. This is not something I would encourage people to do, of course, as it could be very dangerous. But I was moved to doing it, and I knew I had the privilege of “passing” and not calling to much attention to my participation as a foreigner.
Visiting the mercados, or markets, should be on everyone’s list when traveling to Latin América. We visited a couple of them, and although I cannot remember their names or exact location, I do remember eating some of the best meals there. I was also excited to eat the traditional baleada, a must-have of the Honduran culinary tradition. It was also interesting to see the many fast foods restaurants dedicated solely to baleadas.
One evening, a small group of consisting of my friend, a few of her coworkers, and I took time to enjoy the nightlight. It was great visiting a local establishment with live music and dancing as well as good food. After this, we attended a wonderful concert from Honduran singer-songwriter Guillermo Anderson at the National Theater in Tegucigalpa. Anderson’s music spoke to my soul! He blends some trova with other traditional Latin American music, all with lyrics that speak to the reality of people’s lives, from falling in love to emigrating. I had never heard of Guillermo Anderson before this trip, and now I am obsessed with his music. His song “El encarguito” speaks of the yearning that we all have as we leave our countries and ask whomever can send something to us, to do so. Joining cultural events such as this are important when I travel because it shows me a side of the country which I would not know if I only stayed at hotels with no interaction with the arts scene of the places I visit.
Finally, I would highly recommend a day road trip to Valle de Angeles. This beautiful mountain town is a must-see for any person visiting the area near Tegucigalpa. Valle de Angeles is a quaint, rural town with cafés, craft shops, lowkey bars, and beautiful traditional Honduran architecture. It offers an opportunity to leave the hassle and bustle of the big city to join the quietness of rural life. The road itself is beautiful and a great way to experience a part of the country that very few get to experience. To my surprise, as we
The sprawling city of Tegucigalpa.
were approaching Valle de Angeles, we ran into a Puerto Rican restaurant with very traditional dishes from the Island! A veteran who was at some point stationed in Honduras and married a local woman, decided to stay after service, and they decided to open this restaurant as their way to bringing a piece of home for him, while also generating income during their retirement. Their food was delicious!
Honduras is a beautiful country, with wonderful people and places to visit. It is a shame that people have listened more to the news than to the people of the country. Although I knew I had to take extra precautions while visiting, I also got to experience a country that is thriving with culture, nature, and natural beauty. I can’t wait to visit once more, and I hope you get inspired to visit it too.
A view of my little settlement of Castañer, where I grew up, in the mountains where the municipalities of Lares (my birth town), Adjuntas (my hometown), Yauco, and Maricao meet.
I continue my journey of sharing with you all during this Hispanic Heritage Month a little bit about each Latin American country I have visited. Today, I want to invite you to come to my own home-country: Puerto Rico!
I was hoping to publish this yesterday, September 23rd, but unfortunately, as the saying goes: life happened. September 23rd is significant for many Puerto Ricans because it is the anniversary of the Lares Revolt, or as we know it, El Grito de Lares. You can read more about this event through the link embedded in the prior sentence, but here’s a short explanation.
In 1868, a group of people from Puerto Rico and Cuba were ready to raise in armed revolution against the Spanish Empire. There were coordinated efforts to overthrow the Spaniard government in both colonies, at around the same time. Unfortunately, the Spaniard government heard about the plans and things had to change. In Puerto Rico, the revolutionaries decided to go ahead with the revolt ahead of the original planned date. On September 23rd, a group from Lares, a town in the mountains of the Island, marched from the hacienda of Manuel Rojas and his family to the center of town. They proclaimed the Republic of Puerto Rico from the balcony of the Roman Catholic Church in the main plaza, and installed a temporary government. As they moved through the mountains to take on other towns and cities, the rebellion was squashed by the armed Spaniard forces, bringing to an end the dreams of a free country. Just a few years later, in 1898, when the Island was just admitted to the Kingdom of Spain as an official province, with representation in the Spanish Courts (Congress), the United States invaded and made Puerto Rico, first, a military colony, and later, an unincorporated territory. Or, in simple English: Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States.
Of course, I have my own opinions about the political realities of the Island. However, this post is about our culture, our island, and the wonderful places you can explore when you visit. If you want my opinions on the political realities, you can find some here on this blog or just by reading some of my posts elsewhere such as my social media channels.
A mural honoring our African ancestors in an ancient building in Old San Juan.
With all that out of the way, here is my beautiful Puerto Rico! Almost everyone who visits the Island stays only in San Juan, the capital city. Although the city has some beautiful, important, and historical places to visit, staying only there is a huge mistake travelers make. It is especially sad when travelers only stay in the Condado area, where most hotels and tourist traps are. If you only visit Condado and Old San Juan, you might as well just stay in Miami Beach, Cancún or any of the other clones of soulless blocks of concrete make for USAmericans’ entertainment. If you want to keep reading, you will know where to experience the real Puerto Rico.
I was born in the municipality of Lares, as a matter of fact. And so was famous singer-songwriter José Feliciano of “Feliz Navidad” fame. But that’s as much as we share with each other. However, the town of Lares itself is worth visiting. Not only because it’ll give you a clear idea of how is life in the mountains, but also because of the wonderful things you can find here. Right next to the plaza there is a famous ice-cream shop where you can have some of the most famous Puerto Rican delicacies in ice-cream form. Arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), coquito (a coconut based drink), rum, garlic, salted codfish, and a bunch of other familiar and unfamiliar flavors are just some of the ice-creams you can try at Heladería Lares. On the way to the town of San Sebastián from Lares, you can also see the beautiful flora of the Island, and even dip into one of the many great waterfalls on the side of the road.
I personally do not enjoy much of the eastern part of the Island. However, there is plenty to visit there. El Yunque is a rainforest that our Taíno ancestors venerated as it is the place where Yucahú, the Supreme Being, resides. El Yunque is also the natural barrier the Island has to stop the constant hurricanes that every year threaten the country. The islands of Vieques and Culebra can also be reached from the eastern side of the country. Although I am not of a beach person, I have enjoyed visiting both islands for different reasons. If the beach is your thing, Playa Flamingos in Culebra has constantly being rated as one of the top beaches in the world. A short small plane ride will take you from the mainland to either one of the Islands, as the ferries that carry passengers and cars are often out of service.
On the mainland, the town of Loíza can show you our deep connection with Mother Africa. Loíza is a town full of culture, rhythm, music, dancing, and delicious foods from our African ancestors. It is quite common to see tambores (drums) being brought out of any house, and immediately a party will start. Everyone will gather around the drums and listen carefully as they communicate with the Orishas who accompanied our ancestors from Mother Africa to the Caribbean. Bomba and plena, two of our African-inspired dances can be experienced here more often than in other parts of the Island. The area of Piñones, just west of Loíza, is a couple of miles of coastline covered with kiosks and food trucks where you can try all sorts of delicious small bites from our culinary traditions.
The Three Kings Hill, entrance to the Pork Highway in the town of Cayey.
On the way south through the town of Cayey, you can find what some have called the “Pork Highway.” This stretch of mountain roads is filled with roasted pork eateries. The Puerto Rican diet is based mostly on pork, and roasted pork — lechón asado — is king here. At the bottom of the road, you can find The Hill of the Three Kings, a monumental sculpture to the Wise Men — or Three Kings — from the Christian tradition, who are said to have visited the infant Jesus at his home to bring presents of gold, myrrh, and incense. Christmas is long in Puerto Rico, starting with the USAmerican holiday of Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday of November) and running through eight days after the Feast of Epiphany on January 6th. The celebration of the Three Kings — Reyes Magos — is the biggest Christmas party in the Island. A visit during this time of the year is highly encouraged.
I was born and raised in the mountains, so this areas is very close to my heart. I already mentioned Lares, but there are so many other wonderful places to visit around the central mountains range. My hometown of Adjuntas has much to offer. Visitors can see the wonderful work of community initiatives such as Casa Pueblo, a world leader in advancing solar power for underserved communities. The organization also has other initiatives as a coffee farm, organic coffee production, a butterfly farm, and El Bosque del Pueblo, a forest that was reclaimed from the nation’s government and private hands who wanted to mine precious minerals at the expense of the rivers and creeks that run through the area. Moreover, my hometown has lakes, creeks, and rivers you can explore, and the second highest peak in the mountains, Cerro Guilarte, where you can spend a day of hiking. The municipal government also hosts a weekly folk art market at the main plaza (full disclosure, my sister is a town councilmember), and you can find the best bakery goods at a bakery on one side of the plaza while the best pizza in town on the other side. OK, I know I have spent a lot of time here, but I know and love my town, so I had to give it a bit more shout outs!
There are other wonderful places to visit throughout the mountains. Aibonito has the Festival of Flowers. For those who are religious, Maricao has a shrine to the Virgin Mary that is very well known. Las Marías hosts the annual Festival of the Sweet Orange. Jayuya has the highest point in the mountain range, Cerro Punta, the Museum of the Cemí showing indigenous artifacts, and you can hike down to a river with a pretty well preserved collection of indigenous petroglyphs carved into a big boulder known as Piedra Escrita (Written Boulder.)
La Cruceta del Vigía, Ponce, from which you can see the whole city and some of the islands off the southern coast of the country.
In the south, the city of Ponce offers from much to visitors. The area of Serrallés Castle has the aforementioned “castle” — in reality, a huge mansion for the Serrallés family, who were early rum producers –, a Japanese Garden, and the Cruceta del Vigía, a lookout where you can catch a pretty impressive sight of the whole area all the way to some of the islands off the southern coast. The main plaza is also worth visiting. You can shop around the downtown area for folk art as well as for guayaberas, our traditional male shirts. The historic Fire Station is a jewel in the middle of the city. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe displays an ancient icon of this advocation of the Virgin Mary that comes from the town of Guadalupe in Murcia, Spain, from which the Mexican advocation takes its name and likeness. (Yes, the Virgin of Guadalupe comes from Spain. The story of the Mexican apparition is much later, and the advocation comes because the bishop who heard San Juan Diego first, saw in the image a Virgin that reminded him of his hometown.) The Museum of Art of Ponce is another jewel in the south, with the largest collection of art in all of the Caribbean. Still in the southern part, you can visit the beaches in Guánica, while also walking along the boardwalk right on the bay where the USA soldiers invaded the island. In Lajas you can visit, stay, and certainly eat, at La Parguera, a great beach neighborhood with a long history of fishing and community development. It is here also where you can witness the wonders of nature in their bioluminescent waters. If you are lucky enough to be there in a new moon night, you can take a boat to the area where these microorganisms make the dark waters look bright blue with their light.
The lighthouse, cliffs, and beach in Cabo Rojo.
The western part has the town of San Germán, which is deemed the “Mother of Towns”, as it was from here that most of the south, central, and western towns and cities were established. There you can also walk through ancient stone roads, and look at colonial architecture still used today. The Porta Coeli, an important museum of religious art, is located here, as well as the oldest private, religious university in the Island, the Inter American University, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA. Cabo Rojo is another beach town. As I said, I am not big on beaches, but Cabo Rojo has the only beach I actually like: Playa Sucia or La Playuela. To get there, you will drive through the salinas, a natural pool of salt water where salt is harvested, and which sometimes looks pink because of the microorganisms that overgrow here during certain times of the year. The cliffs by the old lighthouse are worth visiting, but with plenty of caution as many people have dater nature here, which is never a good idea. Mayagüez is the largest town in the western part. I had the chance to live here while in boarding school in high school, and college. The second largest campus of the University of Puerto Rico is here. The center of the town offers lost of entertainments yearlong, but Christmas is probably the best time of the year to visit Mayagüez. There are always parties on the main plaza, and lots of bars and restaurants offering live music — usually with local artists who might be students at the local UPR campus –, theater productions you can catch at the majestic Yagüez Theater. Rincón, a beach town next to Mayagüez, attracts amateur and professional surfers from throughout the world. The town just recently remodeled the park around the lighthouse, and you can come here to spend a relaxing time, dance to the live music, and catch a sight of the whales that come to this area every year.
The National Monument to El Jíbaro. The jíbaro refers to people from the mountains, usually laborers, who toil the land, work hard, value cooperation and community, and keep a humble semblance. Many urbanites rejected the jíbaro, and some still look down at us. I am proud to come from this culture and these people, and forever will be proud to be a jíbaro myself.
As you drive north, the cities and towns of Aguadilla, Isabela, and Quebradillas offer pristine beaches and a relaxing atmosphere. In Quebradillas you can also find the ruins of the old train that crisscrossed the Island. In the area of Guajataca, the old tunnel offers a pretty cool experience of stepping into history as you walk through it.
These are just some of my favorite places to visit in my Island! Of course, I had to leave so much more, which is equally beautiful. There are haciendas, and parks, and caves, and mountains to hike, and foods to try, and festivals to attend. As you can read, if your visit to the Island only consisted on staying in San Juan, you missed 99% of what makes Puerto Rico, the Enchanted Island of the Caribbean.
Hispanic Heritage Month starts tomorrow, September 15th through October 15th. It was set during this
time as many Latin American countries celebrate their independence sometime during that period. (But not ALL countries do, and my own country, although part of Latin America, it’s still a US colony, so no independence yet for us.) Here are a few notes for those of you who want to observe this celebration in your agencies, groups, churches, clubs, etc.:
– The name of the heritage month is “Hispanic” Heritage Month. We didn’t select it, it does not represent the entirety of the communities, and not all Latinos are Hispanic, etc. …. BUT… it’s the name of the month as it was instituted by the USA federal government. Don’t come up with other names that do not represent the history of our struggle and the history of how this heritage month came to be. That doesn’t stop all of us from advocating for a change. Using the official name as it is right now just helps maintain a connection with our past as we move forward. The most important thing you can do is to add descriptions of the communities you want to celebrate. For instance: “This Hispanic Heritage Month, our agency wants to highlight the contributions of Indigenous and Black people of Latin America by offering x, y, z.” Hopefully, one day — and as a result of our collective advocacy — this will be “Latin America Heritage Month.”
– Although all Mexicans are Latinos/as/xs not all Latinos/as/xs are Mexican. This is the most visible ethnic Latin group in our region, but we can say something similar, with other communities, in other locations. Please know that our community is diverse. When you organize your agency’s HHM celebration around one cultural tradition only, you are telling me two things. First, you don’t care about me as a Latino with roots in a different culture than the one you’re highlighting. Second, you don’t know much about our communities or your own communities, where people might come from any of the many Latin American countries.
– Please, make your celebrations as broad and inclusive as possible! Not all Latin people speak Spanish. Some Latin folk speak English as their primary language. French, Creole, Portuguese, and hundreds of indigenous languages are also Latin American languages and cultures. Keep that in mind, especially when trying to highlight the communities in your area. Don’t patronize us by haphazardly translating things into Spanish with Google translate. Also, be carful with asking a heritage speaker to do the translation! Spanish alone has so many dialects, and many heritage speakers learned from their parents who might not have had the opportunities to have formal education, and thus, do not know the intricacies and nuance of the different dialects. Usually, they have very regional dialects which might hinder clear communication with people from outside their regions. Moreover, heritage speakers — who must be celebrated for their work to preserve the language — are most familiar with spoken Spanish, and not with written Spanish. Celebrate diversity in speech and dialects, but also recognize that there is a standard version of one of our languages — Spanish — that is understood across dialects. Only professional translators who have spent their professional lives doing this will produce good content that is understood across cultures. I also know of a at least another Latin American language, Mayan, that also has many dialects, some of them not even mutually intelligible. So, only translate things when it makes sense for those things to be translated.
– Our music is as diverse as we are. Salsa, tango, merengue, cumbia, bachata, reggaeton, rock en español, plena, and myriad others. Don’t rely only on one type of musical style. HOWEVER, keep in mind that some genres of music — reggaeton which is one my favorite styles, so don’t take this as a negative comment on the genre, and Spanish trap, for instance — contain words or phrases that might be extremely offensive or very vulgar in some dialects. Please vet your music selection with people who speak the dialect of the musician. This way, you will have music that is inviting, instead of having music that might be liked by some people while being offensive to other audiences. Don’t play the music of the popular artist just because they just modeled for Vanity Fair (ha! Some of you will get the reference… and also, I love BB’s social commentary and some of his music, so don’t come for me. I am just using some general examples.) Every time I hear reggaeton music with vulgarity in its lyrics playing at supposedly “family friendly” event sponsored by an organization, I know the people there do not know my dialect and the cultural nuance of the use of curse words and vulgarity across different Latin American cultures. Again, vet your music selection with the people who speak the dialect of the singer.
– Look for as much representation of Latin American cuisine as possible! Generally speaking, south of the middle of Central America, no Latino cuisine uses hot spicy chiles! Perhaps your Argentinian best friend loves hot spicy food, or your Cuban spouse does; but that doesn’t mean Argentinian or Cuban cuisines are spicy hot cuisines. The staples of our cuisines vary also. Of course you are very familiar with the Mexican tortilla. But, did you know the Central American tortillas are thicker and don’t compare with the Mexican ones? Did you know that plantains are the staples of Spanish and Black Caribbean cuisine and that we never, ever use tortillas in our dishes? Did you know that in most South American countries bread is king? Also, find local Latin American restaurants of ALL types of cuisines, not just one. Around the area where I live in Pierce County and south King County in the state of Washington, for instance, there are Peruvian, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Argentinian, Colombian, Guatemalan, and Honduran restaurants. Order from them!
– Latinoness does not equal immigration. Do not center your events only on immigration issues! Sure,
that is the biggest reality of our community. But Puerto Ricans are Latino/a/x and we — on paper — do not face this challenge. Cubans and Venezuelans also do not face these challenges in the same way. Tejanos, Californios, Nuevo Mejicanos… and many other groups of Latin folk from the lands stolen from México are as Latino/a/x as we are and they do not face immigration challenges. Expand the issues you work on and you highlight in your celebrations. We have other challenges as well, such as lack of access to well paid jobs, racial and ethnic discrimination, anti-Blackness, lack of access to stable housing, etc. Additionally, we are not our challenges! We have contributed tremendously to USAmerican culture from the very beginning. Celebrate ALL of our contributions also, and don’t see us merely as recipients of your charity.
– Latinidad is not race. Mestizaje is not the only expression of Latinidad. Indigenous peoples are still here and thriving throughout Latin America and many of them here in the USA in spite of the many ways we have tried to erase them and their cultures. Black Latinos/as/xs exist… and they come from every single country in our beloved continent. Highlight their influence, their contributions, their resiliency and their Latinidad! Asian Latinos/as/xs also exist! Their contributions to our histories, cuisine, cultures, music, etc., is undeniable. Plus, Asian-Latino cuisine is the best. Ask any Peruvian! Don’t hide this rich history! Latin folk of Arab and North African heritage also exist! And when it comes to religion, at least two Latin American countries are almost majority Evangelical/Protestant: Guatemala and Puerto Rico. Don’t assume we are all familiar with Roman Catholic traditions and rituals. Almost half of Latin folk in the USA are Protestants or Evangelicals, and there are many, MANY Latin folk of other religious traditions: Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Spiritists, Santeros, Vodoo practitioners, atheists, agnostics, and everything you can think of.
– This note is for my Latino/a/x siblings: pay attention and be in solidarity! Who is not being represented and who is being left out? Are you an advocate for ALL of our cultures and traditions? Are you calling folk in to reflect on how they have centered only your or my culture and not the cultures of the other Latin folk who live in our communities? Speak up and advocate for each other as you also celebrate your own individual cultural heritage. It’s all about celebrating our diversity, not helping the people and institutions with power blend us into one thing. Make ’em learn about us! Don’t conform to their expectations!
– When in doubt: ASK!!!! Ask your colleagues what would be meaningful for them. If they are all from one single heritage, honor that and also, seek out others in your community from other cultural backgrounds so you can be more inclusive. We LOVE sharing our traditions, our stories, our cultures, our foods, our memories of back home, our histories, etc. Invite us to be partners in the celebration, and don’t do something for us, do it WITH us.
Have a wonderful celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and remember we are still here after October 15th!
One of the places I love to visit when I go to Yucatán is the Grand Museum of Maya Culture. Each time I visit, I learn something new or pay closer attention to something I missed the last time I visited. A few weeks ago, when I visited, I paid closer attention to a note about the concept of time in the Maya culture. It explained that the Mayas understand time as cyclical. This is one of the reasons why spheres were used to mark time – the Mayan Calendar. A linear time makes no sense in the Maya culture. The future is behind us, the present is unknown, and the past is right before us. The future is behind us because we do not know how that time will be used and what it will bring. The present is unknown because it is happening as we live, and therefore, we cannot actually see it until it is in front of us. The past is clearly in front of us because we remember.
Each culture has a concept of time that works for them. Everyone knows the USAmerican adage: “time is money!” The whole USAmerican culture is fixated on this cultural reality. Although I have not studied the origins of this, I assume it comes from the Protestant work ethic. According to some early Protestant theologians – specifically, Calvinists – labor is not only honorable, but it also shows whether you have been chosen by God. People in Calvinist societies wanted to show everyone that they had been chosen, and thus, they worked hard to demonstrate that they had been chosen.
Sociologist Max Weber was the person who defined this concept. In his work, Weber argued that this approach influenced the way in which the earlier Anglo settlers of what became the USA were able to succeed. Since then, this approach has permeated USAmerican society. “Time is money” is just a different way of saying that you must not “waste” time; you must use every minute of your life on a task that is productive. Time is seen as something linear, and you complete one task after the other in a linear way, in order to be as productive as possible. You can control time, and it is a limited resource that should not be wasted. I just learned that this perspective is called “monochronic.”
According to the definition I found, “In monochronic societies, people take time seriously, adhere to a fixed schedule, and value the sequential completion of tasks.”[1] This perspective flourished during the Industrial Revolution, as it made sense for this period of history when the main goal was to produce as much as possible.
On the other hand, there are polychronic societies. In these societies “people perceive time as more fluid, where multitasking and interruptions are normal. Time aligns more with the sun, the moon, and Mother Nature than it does with the hands of a clock.”[2]
In Latin America, our societies tend to be polychronic. This, of course, is a generalization. The Protestant work ethic and the USAmerican obsession with making money have definitely influenced most Latin American societies. Nevertheless, our cultures tend to be more polychronic, understanding time in more flexible ways than European and most North American cultures (with the notable exception of México.)
When I first moved to the mainland USA, the understanding of time was one of the greatest cultural shocks. I couldn’t quite comprehend what I understood to be an obsession with timeliness, cutoff times, hard deadlines, etc. I would be flabbergasted at how little quality time people spent in each other’s company. To this date, I still cannot comprehend how many of my USAmerican friends can be exactly on time for something. I do have a theory that they probably just arrive super early and park nearby until the clock marks two minutes before the scheduled time, and then they just walk up to your door. I don’t know! I haven’t cracked the code yet…
As I spend more time in the USA – I have officially lived longer in the USA than in my own country – I have adapted to some cultural and professional norms, mores, and customs. I understand that certain people need me to show up right on time, or sometimes even a few minutes earlier. I try as hard as I can to comply with the expectations. However, culturally, I am definitely wired to see time as a flexible reality.
In my own culture, when it comes to spending time with others, it is not about “being on time” but about the quality of time you spend with someone. Since time is flexible, it is expected that you prioritize companionship more than setting up specific times to start and end. There is a running joke that Latino folk – and in my case, Puerto Rican folk – spend pretty much the same amount of time saying goodbye as the time they spent visiting with you. Of course, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is quite close to reality.
Since time is flexible, it also means that you can work on many different tasks at once; or have timelines that look nothing like the linear timelines that are common in corporate settings. A Latin person will most likely go back and forth between projects and within stages of that project. There is no need to follow a specific timeline because it is not necessary. You will have the product finished when it is finished, and it will be a quality product because you gave it the attention that it needed regardless of whether it was “on time” or not. This causes much frustration among multicultural groups! It is especially hard when those groups are made up of people who have adapted to the USAmerican understanding of “time is money” but come from polychronic backgrounds. In these instances, the majority USAmerican coworkers use the example of the people who follow their understanding of time to dismiss the very real different understanding of time of the others in the group.
It turns out that social scientists and researchers in the field of business have already studied these interactions. I read an article online[3] that describes project management from these different perspectives and how multicultural workgroups can manage to be successful.
I will not go into the details of that paper. However, I would like to present some of my own perspectives and understanding of how to approach this reality of differences in understanding time.
First, I think it is important to recognize that “different” does not mean “better” or “bad.” It just means… DIFFERENT! Different societies and cultures have different ways to approach time. We must understand that our own understanding of the world around us is shaped by our histories, social locations, personal experiences, and myriad other things. It is wrong to expect others to behave like me, even in professional settings. It is also wrong to assume that everyone must conform to my understanding of the world. Accept and embrace differences.
Second, it is always best to foster a culture of communication and trust in the workplace – or any other place! This will help communicate effectively when these differences show up. It also helps with setting communal expectations that are born of the collective ideas and different approaches brought in by the members of the group. When there is trust and communication, people will feel empowered to share their own understanding of time, and a good project leader will help negotiate a workflow that makes sense for the group. This brings me to the next point.
Flexibility is key. What works today might not work tomorrow. Once a workflow has been established for a project, it cannot be assumed that the next project will follow the same timeline or workflow. Good project leaders will need to go back to the drawing board and go over the whole process of listening, learning, negotiating, and adapting a new workflow that works for that group and that project in particular.
These strategies can also work in personal relationships. I understand my friends’ perspectives on time, and I honor them the best I can. They also understand my own understanding of time, and you will never see one of my USAmerican friends showing up at my house for a party at the exact time I invited them! This sounds silly, but it’s true! In my Latinoness, I think I will have everything ready by the exact time I invited my guests, but there’s always something that makes it not possible to be right on time. Thankfully, my friends understand this, and they know they should show up at least ten minutes past the time I asked them. They also know that I value their company more than I value ending a party “on time” – whatever that means in this context – so they are never rushed to leave my home at a particular time.
To finish this article, I want to leave you with a smile on your face. A few years ago, FLAMA, a Latino YouTube channel, posted a really great video titled “Perception of Time – Latino Field Studies.” Please watch it, for a laugh… and to understand better what I have just written about!
When Hispanic Heritage Month was established it was with the idea of recognizing the contributions of Hispanic-Americans (as our community was known) to the United States. Since the term “Hispanic” was a government construct to group a very diverse group of people, other concepts such as “Latino/a” have been used. We understand that not all Latinos/as are Hispanics, and that any terminology used to group our community is going to fall short. Latin America is an extremely diverse region. Our ancestors are Indigenous, African, European, Asian, and of every combination thereof. There are hundreds of different languages spoken throughout the region in addition to Spanish, Portuguese, and Creole. Our histories, cuisines, faiths, values, and every aspect of culture are different. Hispanic Heritage Month is supposed to celebrate this diverse group of peoples, highlighting our contributions to the larger US society, of which Latinos/as have been a part since before the United States was formed as a country.
Yet, for some groups within the Latino/a community, Hispanic Heritage Month can be a reminder of how cultural hegemony erases diversity and identity. The challenge of celebrating a diverse community that does not fit the clear, simple, and binary definitions of the majority Euro-centric American culture reduces Hispanic Heritage Month to a celebration of whichever Latin American cultural heritage is most prominent in a particular context. The month that was meant to celebrate our diversity is reduced to the celebration of the Spanish-Caribbean in the eastern seaboard of the USA, or of Mexican-American communities in the Southwest and West. This cultural hegemony makes invisible large portions of our communities.
Cultural Hegemony Gets Personal
I speak to this from personal experience. When I first moved to the mainland USA it was to the eastern coast. As a Puerto Rican, it was easy for me to find representations of my culture anywhere I went. I didn’t have to adapt my dialect too much and for the most part, people understood when I said “habichuela” or “bizcocho” or “guagua.” The historic large diasporas of Spanish-Caribbean peoples to the easter parts of the USA means that our cultures, dialects, and cuisines are more prevalent. Other people of Latin American descent usually must adapt to these Spanish-Caribbean cultures (Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.) Once I moved to the West coast, things were totally different. Out here, the prevalent cultures are Mexican and Mexican-American. People from all over Latin America and of any Latin American heritage must adapt to these cultures as they have been adopted by the Euro-American majority as the standard or default definition of “Latinidad.” More concerning is the expansion of this standard definition and its adoption by politicians, nonprofits, businesses, and many other groups.
The invisibilization of non-Mexican Latin people has profound consequences both for our communities and for society at large. Spanish is reduced to one dialect and one accent (usually norteño or chilango) at the expense of the plethora of dialects spoken throughout Latin America and the many variations of the Mexican dialect. Latino Indigeneity is reduced to Aztec and Maya identities at the expense of Mapuche, Arawak, Taíno, Guaraní, Garifuna, and the thousands of indigenous groups that still inhabit Latin America. The Afro-Latino/a identity is forgotten as “mestizaje” – the mixing of European and Indigenous identities – is made the standard of Latinidad. And Protestant, Evangelical, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Santero, Espiritista, and other faith traditions practiced by Latin folk are hidden in favor of a particular Roman Catholic experience that doesn’t even consider the beautifully diverse experiences and traditions of non-Mexican Latin Catholic communities. For instance, growing up Protestant, I never observed “Día de los Muertos”, or sang to “La Virgen de Guadalupe” on December 12th. Although I recognize and honor the importance these celebrations have, they do not define my Latinidad, nor do they define Latinidad for at least half of Latinos/as in the United States.
The Mexican cultural hegemony promoted by white supremacy is not only impacting non-Mexican Latin folk. This cultural hegemony also impacts other Mexicans. My husband is Mexican, from the state of Yucatán, and of Maya indigenous identity. In the white supremacist, cultural hegemonic definition of “Mexican” and of “Latinidad”, his accent, his cuisine, and his traditions do not fit. From time immemorial, the Maya people of Yucatán have celebrated “Hanal Pixan”, a month-long observance to welcome back and honor those ancestors who are before us (in Maya tradition, the past is before us, while the present is behind us because we cannot see it.) During this time, families prepare altars, present food and drinks as offerings, and have rituals of welcoming for the ancestors. On three different dates throughout the month a special tamal called “pib” is prepared and eaten with those ancestors. Hanal Pixan has been merged to
some extent with the Roman Catholic tradition of All Souls and All Saints Days, while keeping much of its Mayan roots. But you would never find a hint of this Mexican cultural tradition presented in any of the “Hispanic” celebrations of “Día de los Muertos.” Once again, cultural hegemony erases a part of our identities.
The Causes and Roots of Cultural Hegemony
There are many causes for cultural hegemony. Our own brains try to minimize the use of energy by categorizing things around us in the simplest ways. Culturally, we try to group people as to make it easier for us to understand them. White supremacy in particular has been really great at minimizing differences by grouping folk as “white” and “black” and then assigning value to each category, with lighter skin being more valuable than darker skin. This tool of control offers Latinos/as, who are of every race, a mirage opportunity to “become white” and thus, access power. The lighter our skin, the closer we are to being part of the standard definition of “American.”
It is in this context where we find the first clues to this cultural hegemony imposed in Latinidad. First, the powers-that-be decided that “Hispanic” was a good enough category for people of Latin American descent. This was regardless of their racial background or historical heritage. Whether a person was indigenous to these lands or an Austrian Jew who found refuge in Argentina, now both were classified as “Hispanic” for the mere fact that Spain conquered most of what is today Latin America. Second, when the communities reacted to this misnomer, they came up with “Latino”, and if they were progressive enough, “Latino or Latina.” This at least alleviated the reality of those who, having cultural roots in Latin America, did not have or do not want to be associated with Spanish heritage. The Euro-American majority decided how our community was going to be named, regardless of centuries of self-identification within our communities. Finally, the acceptance of mestizaje as the standard of Latinidad served the purpose of ensuring that Latinos and Latinas thought of ourselves as “almost white” people in the context of the United States. (Please know that this concept is used very differently within Latin America. But I will not be discussing this in this essay.) Erasing Afro Latinidad can only serve the white supremacy agenda, not advance the Latino/a community.
On the other hand, once the stage was set to have a homogenous definition of Latinidad, it was easier for one dominant Latin culture to ignore the rest.
Throughout the years, Mexico has been extremely successful in developing its media presence throughout Latin America. The richest man in Mexico also happens to be the most successful telecommunications executive in Latin American, Carlos Slim Helú. América Móvil, his telecommunications empire, has an almost monopoly of the communications world throughout all of Latin America with the notable exception of Cuba. The Mexican theater and film “Golden Age” marked the scenic arts in ways that no other country was able to do. Today, Mexican novelas (soap operas) and movies dominate most of the TV market throughout the continent. Pretty much any Spanish language singer – and sometimes actors – who wants to have a successful career knows that they must gain over the Mexican market, no matter how successful they might be in their countries of origin and neighboring countries.
As a result of the success of Mexican cultural exports – films, novelas, music, cuisine, etc. – there is no corner of Latin America that has not been exposed to the Mexican dialect (on its norteño and capital city versions), foods, and music, among others. Thus, although pretty much any Spanish-speaker can understand Mexican Spanish, people in Mexico and people of Mexican descent elsewhere have not had the chance to be exposed to our dialects. Therefore, although there are plenty of words in Spanish to call a cake – bizcocho, torta, queque –, pastel has become the “standard” in the USA. If they are only familiar with Mexican Spanish, someone will be very confused when a South American asks them for a torta and find out that they meant a cake, and not a sandwich. That’s because torta is the South American Spanih word for cake, while in Mexico they call cakes, pastel. There are plenty of examples like this, as words for beans (judías, habichuelas, caraotas), pepper (ají, pimiento), banana (guineo, cambur, banano), jacket (chompa, cazadora, abrigo) and many others are Mexicanized and the many different ways in which they are called elsewhere are forgotten.
This is not on the Mexican people’s backs. I am not advocating for the elimination of Mexican dialects in public or private use, nor am I complaining about Mexico’s success in investing in its own arts and cultural programs. On the contrary, I admire the fact that, with the USA being so relentless in spreading American English as the lingua franca, and American music and films as standards, Mexico has successfully overcome this by continuing to produce high-quality content in Spanish in pretty much all the art forms. What I am doing is explaining the reasons why it is so common for the Mexican dialect to be the “standard” for Spanish in the United States.
The white supremacy structures in which the USA operates make it easier for homogenization to take place. It also makes it easier for the rest of us to be invisible during a month that is supposed to highlight the contributions of all our cultures, histories, and identities.
A Possible Solution
Is it possible for this cultural hegemony to be overcome? I believe it is!
If we want to go back to the origins of Hispanic Heritage Month we can hold on to the core of its purpose: to celebrate the contributions of Hispanics and Latinos/as to the USA. It is absolutely perfect to include tacos, tamales, norteño music, and Mexican folk dances in your Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations. And it is equally important to expand this and include other cuisines, dances, histories, and symbols of more Latin American communities. Here are some ideas on how your agency, nonprofit, church, workplace, or any other group can expand their offerings to celebrate our comunidad.
Don’t assume. Ask! It is so simple. Even if you are of Latino heritage, ask around to find out more about the Latino/a community in your area. Even if there is one specific national heritage more prominent than others, I assure you that you will find people of all sorts of Latina/o cultural heritage around. Ask them what would be meaningful to include in any celebration of our cultures.
Learn. Read books from authors of every national background. Follow news from throughout the region so you know what’s affecting local communities with ties to those regions. Read about the history of colonization of USA in our countries of origin so you can understand the patterns of migration of our communities. Watch documentaries about our region and our countries of origin. Attend events created by and for Latinos/as, especially if they are from cultures outside of whichever is the majority Latin culture in your context.
Expand the celebrations. Find out who is the small business owner of a restaurant from a Latin cuisine that is not from the majority Latin community represented in your area. Order from them instead! Introduce even other Latinas/os to cuisines different than theirs. A business can have a whole catered event with different empanadas from all throughout the continent! The same for dances and performances. Bring in tango dancers, include bachata and salsa in your parties, teach a cumbia class during one of the events. (As reggaeton becomes more and more prominent in Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, I highly recommend checking with people who speak the dialect of the signers, as many of the lyrics can be extremely crass, offensive, and vulgar to specific communities. Also, not all reggaeton lyrics are like this, and I personally enjoy the style, so this is not a judgment on the genre, just a recommendation to make spaces more accessible and safe for all.)
Have fun! Among the many things that unite all our communities is how boisterous, energetic, and fun we are! Whether we call it pachanga, farra, parranda, juerga, fiesta, pary, bembé or whatever other word we have for it, Latin parties are filled with joy and celebration. There might be a time to start, but you never know when the party will end. Have flexibility with your celebrations and let the community enjoy its time together.
Reclaiming La Herencia Hispana y Latina!
Latina trans activist Sylvia Rivera once said, “We have to be visible. We are not ashamed of who we are.” She was referring to the trans community and the LGBTQ community in general. Nevertheless, Rivera was a proud Latina woman too. She never hid her Venezuelan and Puerto Rican heritage. At times, the invisibilization of so many Latinidades makes us ashamed of being public. Many of us switch our accents or use dialects that are not natural to us. Often, we stay silent about our own heritage lest we make those in the majority uncomfortable. That is not the solution to cultural hegemony.
The solution to cultural hegemony is being visible, vocal, and proud of our individual cultural heritage and the many mixes of heritages created in the United States. Our Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations should be expansive and always expanding. It should show every aspect of Hispanic and Latino cultures. Hispanic Heritage Month should be a time to celebrate our diverse Latin heritage in all its extravagance. Let’s bring Garifuna dances, and serve Bolivian salteñas; let’s pour Chilean wines, and enjoy Guatemalan parrilladas; let’s dance to the rhythms of African drums in Puerto Rican bomba and Peruvian landó; serve sopa paraguaya and Dominican mangú… Let’s make every effort to create welcoming and diverse celebrations that honor the richness of our Latin cultures. Let’s proudly and very visibly reclaim our herencia!
None. I am not writing about food, though. I am writing about power, power dynamic, and how language fails us to explain these concepts and what it is that communities of color demand from our white colleagues and fellow humans. This is a semi-long opinion essay. Here I discuss several concepts and ideas, starting with language in general, some theological concepts, and finally, various sociological concepts related to social dynamics and power. If these things interest you, this will be a fun read. (Or maybe I have a weird sense of humor…)
Language is probably the most important human invention. It is so important that many anthropologists consider language to be the human invention that helped differentiate our ancestors from other primates. Language is important and one of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal. Nevertheless, like any human invention, language is not perfect. Although language helps us to communicate as clearly as possible, there are still limitations. Many of these limitations can be seen more clearly when it comes to explaining, describing, and understanding immaterial concepts.
As many communities in the United States engage in difficult conversations about racism, anti-blackness, power dynamics, social interactions, and other relevant realities, I thought of sharing my ideas on how language fails us to describe power dynamics.
In many occasions, humans make use of the tools we have within our languages to make sense of difficult immaterial concepts. It is common for us to use similes, metaphors, analogies, and other linguistic tools to explain difficult concepts. Allow me to use some examples from a field I am quite familiar with: Christian theology.
Perhaps one of the most difficult theological concepts to explain is the Trinity. In the history of Christian theology the concept of the Trinity has been tried to be defined and explained by both Trinitarian Christians and those who object to this understanding of God. If you were raised in any form of Christianity, the concept of the Trinity was presented in simple, easy to understand analogies… that probably were far from what the theological concept of the Trinity really is. You probably heard about the Trinity being like water, which can be liquid, solid, or gas and yet it’s still H2O. Or perhaps you are more familiar with the egg analogy, where the yolk, white, and shell are all part of the egg yet not the whole egg. The analogies are many, and none actually explains what the Trinity is without falling into some sort of heresy, according to historical Trinitarian theology.
A good, simple theological explanation of the Trinity is this: a theological mystery that explains the relationship between the three Persons who make up the reality of God as Parent, Incarnate Expression, and Holy Spirit, all three being one while also being separate from each other but never subjected to each other, they each exist from eternity to eternity and are coequal with each other. Simple, right? Ha! Now you can understand why the tools our languages have to express complicated immaterial realities always fails us. There is no simple way of expressing this theological concept and thus, most theologians hold on to the simplest of explanations: the Trinity is a mystery. Period.
Thankfully, if unless like me, you are not a theologian, this mental gymnastics is not going to affect your life. Nevertheless, there are immaterial concepts that are difficult to explain in simple words and yet affect our daily lives. This is where the concept of “the pie” comes into play.
Power dynamics in the USA live in the context of a complicated history. I will not go into historical details, but I believe we can agree on certain general points that are accepted for most people. First, the USA has a history of racism with which it has not dealt appropriately. Second, racial relations – as well as other power dynamics – permeate pretty much every interaction among people in every social context, from shopping to parenting to education and politics. I would argue that even those hegemonic contexts in which everyone belongs to the same perceived racial background are not exempt from these racial realities. White people assume their superiority based on their socialization regardless of whether they have the chance to interact with people they have been socialized to believe are inferior. On the other hand, communities of color are always aware of these social and power dynamics regardless of whether we are in the presence of white folk or not. In fact, it has been my experience that even in non-academic, family interactions where all are Latino people, we implicitly or explicitly engage in conversations strategizing how to survive and thrive in the majority white contexts in which we interact. Take for instance, when my own family engages with the youngest members of our family to encourage them to be successful in school and life… making use of the patterns, systems, strategies, goals, and mores established by the white majority. We do not have to name the systems and who developed them in order to engage in conversations on how to move within them. Finally, a capitalist and an historical European, Protestant work ethic permeates these power dynamics. Those who can adapt to this socio-religious-economic ethic will have more chances of survival than others.
Here comes the “pie chart” that characterizes most conversations about resources. Power is, in my opinion, another resource. It can be used by those who have it in order to advance, or to access opportunities, or to affect change – good and bad – in society. The problem is that, what I call “the pie understanding of sharing power” negatively affects the way in which we engage in conversations about what it is that minority communities demand from the majority.
In the European Protestant work ethic, resources determine success. The person with more resources has earned the favor of God, therefore, it is their right to continue amassing power. Moreover, since power is a resource granted by God, and salvation is an individual transaction between a human and their God, it is expected that individuals continue finding ways to gather power, even at the expense of others who will lose their power. This is, I believe, at the core of capitalism. This is also a self-preserving system. The more power you have, the more you show that God has favored you. Therefore, you need to continue amassing power in order to show how much God has favored you. Those with no power have the option of finding ways to obtain power, and with it, show that God has also favored them. Since power can be amassed, those who have it present themselves as an example of how you, too, can receive and amass power if you only work hard enough for it. The problem comes when everyone starts thinking that power is finite. There are several ways to obtain power, but in this context only two are relevant: you earn power by buying it from others, or you fight for it at the expense of others who will lose it to you. Or in simple terms: some people will have large pieces of the pie, others will have slimmer pieces, and others will have no pie whatsoever.
Therein lays the problem with the pie analogy for power. There is no pie! None!
The recent conversations on racism have revolved around how to divvy up the pie. It seems like for the most part, people think that communities of color and other minoritized peoples have been trying to get a piece of the pie that majority groups have been cutting for themselves. To many people who noticed that their pieces of pie were larger than that of others, this is a problem they want to fix by either redistributing the pieces of pie, or – in my opinion, the ones that are a bit more advanced in their understanding of the complex racial realities we live under – they try to share their own pieces in order to show solidarity. Both of these approaches are honorable, as those with pieces of the pie have never experienced any other way to interact with their power. They are, in my opinion, a bit closer to understanding the demands of oppressed communities. Nevertheless, I reaffirm: there is no pie.
The pie analogy is one of the ways in which language fails us. It tries to simplify a very complex concept in order to make it more digestible (yup, pun intended!) Power is, like the Trinity, a complex, immaterial concept that cannot be explained in simple terms. Just like the Trinity is neither an egg nor water, power is neither a pie nor a table in need of more chairs to accommodate minoritized communities. Although these concepts can help us start the conversation, they cannot be the ones used to engage in deep, comprehensive, and serious conversations about systemic change and power relations.
Marginalized, minoritized, and oppressed communities are not asking to share the pie. In fact, for many of us, is not even about being able to bake a pie! At the heart of the matter is what types of systems are needed to share power in order to identify the needs of the whole. It is also about coming up with solutions that address the very complex realities in which we live. It is about sharing power in all of its complexity, without taking power away from anyone. That is something the pie analogy doesn’t address. Moreover, it is this flawed analogy of the pie the one that makes it scary for the majority to engage in conversations about power dynamics. The thought of losing a piece of the pie is scary, especially when you have been socialized to believe that the piece of the pie is the seal of favor and success from your God.
Language will continue being the most important tool in human history. It is also important to know how to make use of it. Language affects the way in which we interact with each other and whether we can advance in our understanding of each other’s needs and wants. Using analogies will help us start conversations, but it cannot be the end of it. In fact, when an analogy doesn’t help frame the conversation in the best way, perhaps it is time to stop using it. My suggestion is to stop framing the conversation in relation to how the pie is to be sliced and shared, and instead talk about the nuances of shared power and systemic structural changes that will allow for more people to collaborate. The conversation can be framed in ways to collaborate and learn from each other. Instead of scaring people by suggesting that they will lose something in order to share with others, let’s start talking about the infinite amount of resources that exist in our social contexts to help collectively solve complex problems. Besides, I have never liked pies anyway…
I don’t remember when was the last time I posted something to this blog. I do know that it’s been a very long time, and that much has happened since then. At some point I thought I would just leave this blog there, untouched, with a series of mementos that were put into writing. But among the many things that have happened in the time since my last post, is the disruption of our lives to such an extent that I needed to write again.
It’s already been months since a novel coronavirus disrupted our lives. By now, I have been working from home for almost a month. My husband is also home for about the same length of time, due, first to a cough that kept him away from work and then because the restaurant where he works laid him off after having to close that location during the pandemic. Adjusting to this new reality has been rough, to say the least. It’s taken us some time to adjust and find our new routines.
One of the things I do now daily is take long walks around my neighborhood. Every day after I finish with work, I put on my jacket, hat, and walking shoes, place a little bottle of disinfectant on my pocket, grab the keys and head for a walk. It’s been really enjoyable to see things from a different perspective. I prefer to walk without any headphones. I want to enjoy the sounds around me. Cars passing by. Birds chirping as they welcome the first glimpses of Spring. People jogging or families walking together while chatting. The sound of a lawn mower in a sunny early evening. The orchestra of leafs and branches captivating my attention as I walk by. I see new things that I rarely if ever noticed when driving by the same places. Light. Colors. Forms. Beauty.
This afternoon during my walk I noticed sometime that made me stop on my walk. Although I rarely take pictures during my walks, I took the picture that accompany this writing today. These little flowers are some of my favorite. They are wild flowers that grow wherever they feel like growing. Wherever a bee or a butterfly or a beetle or the wind took their seeds, there they grow and blossom.
These past few months we have experienced how nature can drastically disrupt our lives. A tiny, microscopic living being — a virus — has come to disrupt our lives in such a way that nothing will feel or be the same again for us. Nature can disrupt our lives in this way; without notice. As a theologian — albeit, atheist by choice, but a theologian nonetheless — this feelslike creation. The disruptive nature of a world that is always being created, never stopping, always changing… It is the disruption of what we thought natural, orderly, comforting. This creation that along with the hurricanes that devastated my Island, and the earthquakes that finished it up, shake us up to the core and leave us in pain, grieving, mourning, pleading achingly for a moment of rest in the midst of all the chaos.
And then, on my walk, I find another sign of the always happening creation: a tiny plant breaks through the earth, and the grass that surrounds it, and parts of the human-made pavement that tried with all its apparent might to drown it. Nature disrupts again. It disrupts to remind us that, little and as insignificant as we might think it to be, it can burst through it all and still blossom.
I stopped. I touched this marvelous tiny piece of creation. I smiled to and with it. I acknowledged that just like the virus that has disrupted our lives, this too is creation. Nature disrupts us in ways we cannot imagine. It has done with in painful ways. It also does it in beautiful, inspiring, uplifting, and hopeful ways. Let it be. Let nature disrupt us with its beauty and passion. Let nature disrupt us with the reminder that it can burst out of the most unimaginable places to remind us that there will always be beauty and strength.
The news have reported that the current White House administration instructed the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from using seven words on their budget documents. With seven days left for Christmas, I decided to take the time to write a piece each day highlighting one of the seven words.
In the Christian tradition there is the sharing of the Seven Words. These are phrases that Jesus shared while being crucified. Many Christian churches share and preach on these Seven Words during their Good Friday liturgies. The Seven Words are the climax of what Christian theology calls “the story of salvation.” The last words that Jesus shares are: “it is finished” (John 19.30) and “into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23.46.) After these words, Jesus expires.
According to the timeline of events, after Jesus expires on the cross he is placed into the tomb and on the third day he is resurrected. This is the hope of the Christian person: no matter how difficult the journey is, no matter how painful the culmination of life is, there is always the hope of resurrection. This is the message of Holy Week.
Why am I writing about Holy Week on the season of Advent leading into Christmas? Because the Seven Banned Words of the CDC are a mirror of those other Seven Words of Holy Week.
The current federal administration has been crucifying the remnants of the facsimile of democracy that the United States had. With each carefully orchestrated move, the current administration tries to diminish the people’s confidence and trust on institutions serve the country. They are intentional in the use of words to describe the institutions that keep some resemblance of democracy. The administration’s furious attack on the free press, their obsession with political rallies a year after elections, their systemic appointment of people completely unprepared and unqualified to lead the agencies they are appointed to oversee, their deliberate construction of lies disguised as truth, the unashamed use of FOX News as state propaganda television, and a myriad other big and small actions that undermine democratic processes are just the tip of the iceberg. The United States democracy is being crucified.
Diversity
Fetus
Transgender
Vulnerable
Entitlement
Science-based
Evidence-based
These words represent all that society stands for when they are on their way to progress. French philosopher and founder of Sociology, Auguste Comte, wrote about the stages of human progress. In Comte’s theory, societies move towards progress. There are three stages of society: theological, metaphysical, and positivist. A theological society looks at an unknown occurrence and places all responsibility on unseen beings that control our destinies. Any possibility of progress is thwarted by the society’s fear of angering their mythological beings. A metaphysical society is in the middle stage. Societies in this stage begin to understand that there are certain things that have an explanation. The understanding of actions and their consequences are part and parcel of this society’s natural development. Neither one of these two types of societies is inherently corrupt or ignorant. You cannot know what you do not know. However, these are not ideal societies. The ideal society is one in which members are exposed to a systemic way of understanding truth. To this Comte called a “positivist society.”
Although Auguste Comte’s positivist approach to explaining society is not ideal, it does have merit, especially taking into consideration the banning of words in certain official documents by the current administration. A positivist society understands that humanity is on a journey forward. This journey cannot be contained, no matter how much the powers that be may try to stop it. Resurrection is the conclusion to the crucifixion. Progress is the conclusion to temporary repression.
Democracies are vulnerable entities. They can suffer from the ego of leaders who place power over service. Interestingly, Christmas is the time of vulnerability. In the Christian tradition, Christmas commemorates the birth of a vulnerable child, from a vulnerable family, who was threatened, even as a fetus, with destruction by its enemies – political, economic, societal, cultural, and religious, among others. Christianity proclaims that this child that was born transcended what humanity understood at that moment about the relationship between humanity and its divine sovereign. Some theologians propose that this transcending experience of God made Sophia, the common image of God as Wisdom, take the form of Christ in the person of Jesus, thus making God a transgender reality showing humanity how close the Divinity is to all of humanity. The diversity of opinions that ages of science-based social studies and evidence-based conclusions have shown us, is evidence that societies do tend to move forward towards progress and positivism. It is our responsibility, our duty, and even out entitlement as engaged members of a functional society, to be in solidarity with the vulnerable democracy that we are so desperately trying to save. Resurrection is the conclusion of crucifixion, even during the time of Advent and Christmas.
Yesterday I worked a twelve-hour workday. The day before I had worked for thirteen hours straight. The day before was nine hours. I had taken exactly two days off in four months since I started my new job. I have worked on weekends and even when I have given my staff a day off, I have gone to the office or worked from home to finish a project or start a new one. My staff is always supportive and they have, on more than one occasion, asked me to take it slow, to pace down, and even encouraged me to take a day off. The Board of Directors of my organization expects me to work hard, but they have also encouraged me to practice self-care, to take time off, and to work at a healthy pace. I can show you emails, texts, and social media messages I have gotten from staff and Board members encouraging me and reminding me of practicing self-care. Yet, I continue to work.
Why do I do this? Sure, I love what I do. I thoroughly enjoy administration, management, strategic planning, and all that comes with this. But there’s a second, equally important reason why I work so much… and it is not because I am a workaholic.
The first new world in learned when I moved to New York City in 2000 was “spic.” There was a definition attached to this term. The spic is a lazy person; they live off of government handouts, they despise work, they are irresponsible, the have moved in droves to New York City and had made the space less livable, less desirable, less safe. The spic didn’t speak English and didn’t want to assimilate to the evidently superior “American” culture.
People – especially USAmericans – have been enraged with President Trump’s comments about how Puerto Ricans have not done enough to help ourselves in light of the major natural disaster we have just experienced. For Trump, we are lazy people who do not want to work collaboratively. This is what he was taught about our community in the New York City of his early childhood. For the USAmerican public, for the most part, these are atrocious accusations. For the Puerto Rican community, these are just the same comments we’ve been hearing since our community started migrating to the mainland in the 1950s.
Although I commend and welcome the rage that Trump’s comments have sparked among my USAmerican friends, you must understand that his comments are not made in a vacuum. Trump is talking about the lazy spic that I have been told I am.
As a Puerto Rican living in exile, you are taught that you are part of a group of people who are, at once, “job stealers” and “lazy people.” How is it possible that we steal “American” jobs and don’t work enough at the same time, I have no idea.
Perhaps for many of you it was a surprise that the President of the United States depicted the people of Puerto Rico as lazy people who do not help ourselves. However, this is what we have heard as a community since the 1950s when our people started migrating in droves to the USA due to the economic realities of the Island cause, precisely, by the USA’s policies towards its colonies. It is this message the one that is still ingrained in my head, to the point that I work and work and work, lest someone accuse me of being lazy and not doing enough.
This is not something I am making up. Neither is this something that happened a while ago and certainly not in so-called “progressive” spaces. On the contrary. This thinking that Puerto Ricans, and Latino people in general, are lazy is still alive. Take, for instance, what happened to me for four years while I served a progressive congregation in one of the most so-called progressive cities in the USA. A woman who self-appointed as the leader of the church would call my office at random hours of the day, just to check that I was there, just to make sure I had come to the office that day. She wouldn’t want to talk to me. She just wanted to make sure that I was there. Her excuse was that she had heard I had not been active in the community, or doing enough home visits to the folk in the congregation. She used her self-appointed status as a leader of the church to let me know that “there were concerns” in the church that I wasn’t being effective. Of course, like any good oppressor, she couldn’t notice the flaw in her argument: I had to be in the office so I could demonstrate that I was doing my job of being in the community and visiting folk.
When you are confronted with this reality every day, you learn to navigate the system. You know that you must be perfect, perform beyond what people’s perceptions of your abilities are, and work twice as hard as anybody else. No wonder the great Nuyorican poet Pedro Pietri wrote about our community:
They worked
They were always on time
They were never late
They never spoke back
when they were insulted
They worked
They never took days off
that were not on the calendar
They never went on strike
without permission
They worked
ten days a week
and were only paid for five
They worked
They worked
They worked
and they died
They died broke
They died owing
They died never knowing
what the front entrance
of the first national city bank looks like
Juan
Miguel
Milagros
Olga
Manuel
All died yesterday today
and will die again tomorrow…[1]
Mi abuela Margot y mi abuelo Quino vivían justo frente al Río Guayo. El puente que une a la municipalidad de Adjuntas con la municipalidad de Lares está justo frente al que fuera su hogar. Era en este río en el que nos bañábamos en el verano. Cuando pasaba el huracán, era en este río donde nos hacíamos más familia y más comunidad.
Dice el dicho que después de la tormenta, viene la calma. Esto es quizás así; pero después de la tormenta también vienen los desafíos de cómo vivir sin las necesidades básicas a las que nos hemos acostumbrado. Después de la tormenta también vienen los días sin luz, sin agua, con comida limitada… vienen los días largos sin saber cuánto tiempo será antes de que la vida vuelva a la normalidad. Después de la tormenta viene el resuelve, como le llamamos en mi pueblo.
No es secreto que cada vez que hace un viento fuerte, la frágil infraestructura de Puerto Rico sufre. En mi barrio, digo yo que cada vez que alguien destornuda duro, la luz se va. El agua potable también es un reto. Esa viene cada dos días; a veces un poco menos seguida. Prácticamente casa cuenta con sus tanques de agua para recolectarla cuando está disponible y así mantener el suministro cuando se vuelva a ir. Cuando chiquito, teníamos acceso a una quebrada de la cual sacábamos agua para tomar. El agua para uso diario la traíamos también de allí, pero por tubos y con bomba que mi papá instaló. Había conexión al sistema de la AAA , pero no dependíamos de ella para abastecernos de agua.
Recuerdo que después de los huracanes, cuando tanto la luz como el agua se iban por semanas, trasladábamos algunas de nuestras rutinas diarias al Río Guayo. Allí, debajo del puente que une a Adjuntas con Lares, un grupo de mujeres – la mayoría de mi familia – sacaba barras de jabones, paletas, cestos y tablas para lavar ropa. Sentadas en piedras o en banquitos que sus maridos le hacían, las mujeres comenzaban a lavar las ropas de sus familias. Con cada estrujada de ropa, con cada movimiento de limpieza, comenzaban los chistes, las carcajadas, las noticias del día y los chismes de barrio. Con cada pieza lavada, se enteraba uno de los planes para las comidas comunitarias de más tarde, de las posibilidades de que la luz y el agua llegaran más tarde de lo esperado, o de dónde ya estaban vendiendo pan caliente…
La niñez recorría el puente y nos tirábamos al río. Las madres nos gritaban que nos quedáramos quietos porque algo nos podía pasar. Algún niño o alguna niña, siempre, nos arruinaba el día cayéndose entre las piedras y abriéndose alguna herida. En ese momento se paraban todas las actividades para darle consuelo primero y un buen regaño después – o quizás era al revés, no recuerdo – al niño o la niña lastimada.
Los maridos, mientras las mujeres limpiaban las ropas, se iban a seguir limpiando los caminos. Vivir en el campo significa dos cosas: siempre hay mucho árbol en la carretera cuando pasa una tormenta, y los caminos no han sido construidos de la mejor manera así que siempre estarán en necesidad de reparación. Recuerdo que mi papá se llevaba la guagua pick-up, su machete, su sierra y cualquier otra herramienta que fuera útil, coordinaba con otros y se iban por caminos que sabían que los gobiernos municipales y estatales no les darían atención. Así era como comenzaban a ayudar a que los vecinos se conectaran. Después del huracán, la comunidad se juntaba para levantarse.
En algún momento del día, cuando ya las ropas estaban limpias, se reunían las mujeres para cocinar. Las ollas eran de tamaño enorme, como para alimentar a un ejército. Se cocinaba lo que hubiese: arroz, habichuelas, gandules, bruquenas del río, chopas del lago, pollos, puerco, guineos, ñames, yahutía, malanga, chayotes, plátanos, huevos… En fin, lo que hubiese por allí se hacía de comida para todos y todas. Después de la comida salían las sillas y las mesas, el juego de dominó estaba listo. Esta era la parte favorita de mi abuela paterna: el juego de dominó. No había en todo Castañer una persona más fanática del dominó que mi abuela Margot. Sus hijos e hijas le temían en la mesa. Ninguna o ninguno la querían tener como pareja de juego, porque si perdías la mano de dominó, ella te desheredaba. ¡Doña Margot no jugaba con su dominó! Abuela gritaba, se emocionaba, se vivía el juego desde el comienzo. Verla jugar dominó con una estrategia nítida, desarrollada por años de devoción a su juego favorito, era toda una experiencia.
Para mí, de niño, el tiempo después del huracán era más como una película de acción y de aventura. Era el tiempo en que la familia y la comunidad se unían. Era el tiempo de jugar debajo del puente del Río Guayo y comer en familia. Era el tiempo de ver las estrellas en el cielo al final del día, cuando se abría el firmamento y se iluminaba el cielo raso con un millón de estrellitas que nos recordaban tanto la fuerza de la naturaleza como el tesón de un pueblo que se levanta su dolor para alcanzarlas.
Here comes the “pie chart” that characterizes most conversations about resources. Power is, in my opinion, another resource. It can be used by those who have it in order to advance, or to access opportunities, or to affect change – good and bad – in society. The problem is that, what I call “the pie understanding of sharing power” negatively affects the way in which we engage in conversations about what it is that minority communities demand from the majority.
The news have reported that the current White House administration instructed the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from using seven words on their budget documents. With seven days left for Christmas, I decided to take the time to write a piece each day highlighting one of the seven words.
Yesterday I worked a twelve-hour workday. The day before I had worked for thirteen hours straight. The day before was nine hours. I had taken exactly two days off in four months since I started my new job. I have worked on weekends and even when I have given my staff a day off, I have gone to the office or worked from home to finish a project or start a new one. My staff is always supportive and they have, on more than one occasion, asked me to take it slow, to pace down, and even encouraged me to take a day off. The Board of Directors of my organization expects me to work hard, but they have also encouraged me to practice self-care, to take time off, and to work at a healthy pace. I can show you emails, texts, and social media messages I have gotten from staff and Board members encouraging me and reminding me of practicing self-care. Yet, I continue to work.
SocioTheology 
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