I Define Myself

Once a month I am part of a group of friends which meets at Mudville Grille, a sports bar with many franchises in the Jacksonville Florida area, to challenge other groups in supplying correct answers to Trivia questions.  It's an activity mostly enjoyed by nerds and intellectuals.  I fall in to only one of those categories.  This is just a backdrop to the theme I would like to discuss in this issue of my blog.

I was showing my dear friends, both African American women, a photo of a pair of blue flamingos with (faux) pearls around their necks, that I had placed in the front yard of my house.  They seemed unaware of their political meaning so I explained that the blue flamingos signified turning Florida blue (Democrat) and the pearls was in my support of the new Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.  I was surprised by their polite but unenthusiastic reaction.  I could see by their body language that they were uncomfortable.  I heard a muttered unflattering response to the effect of "I am not too keen on her".  I was confused.  Why would these two intelligent women not be ecstatic of the possibility of the first female president of the United States?  And a black woman at that?

The chief complain was that she was not black.  The logic behind this reasoning was that to be black you have to have two black parents.  Vice President Harris' mother is Indian and her father Jamaican.  I questioned them "who said that?"  I was ignored.  I then asserted that as a Puerto Rican I come from three races; Spaniard (European), African and Taino (Native American).  To that I received a dismissive "That's you."  And they continued discussing the subject among themselves.  The next assessment to Vice President Harris' ethnicity was that she was at best 1/4 black.  And besides, according to the other friend, Ms. Harris at some point, had stated, "She did not want to be associated with being black."  I started googling to find when and where Ms. Harris had made such a statement.  I then heard, "You are not going to find that anywhere now that she is running for President."  That sounded a little like a conspiracy theory.  Again, I was perplexed.  I had reached the end of my patience and blurred out, "I have heard of black racisms among the black community, but this is the first time that I have actually witnessed it."  For the rest of the night they mostly spoke amongst themselves.  Followed by long silent pauses.  I was so disappointed.

My disappointment does not come from someone else having a different opinion from my own.  Being raised in New York City taught me to deal with many viewpoints and respect each person's individualism.  My disappointment came from being excluded from my own sense of self.  I grew up learning about the people that made me who I am.  The flirty Flamenco dances of the Spanish Gypsies, the heart stopping beats of African drums and the spiritual Taino connection to our island; have contributed in equal parts and therefore, I proudly claim my heritage in all of them.  From a young age, I became curious of every aspect of these unique groups, both contributions and detriments to humanity.  And somehow managed to blend them all nicely and accept that a person can appreciate and be a part of more than just one community.

I pray that we can find common ground and see pass the exterior of our prejudices.  I pray that people truly want peace on earth.  I pray that people truly learn to love their neighbor.  I pray that people realize that we can not continue to live off hate and greed.  There is a better way.   Whether you believe in the teachings of Jesus, Gandi, Martin Luther King Jr., Maya Angelou or any other pacifist that exists or none of the above; I pray that we accept one another and strive for a peaceful resolution to the troubles we are facing today because in doing so, we might just be saving ourselves.

Puerto Rico - An American State 113 Years in The Making; Part II

I will start this second segment with some very interesting and previously unknown, at least to me, historical facts concerning Puerto Rico's involvement in world affairs, political events and other tidbits .  And just for fun,  I will format it as a "Did you know" gossip column.

Did you know that?

• In 1607, Puerto Rico served as a port for provisions for the English ships, the Godspeed, Susan Constant and the Discovery who were on their way to establish the Jamestown Settlement, the first English settlement in the New World.

• In 1779, citizens of the still-Spanish colony of Puerto Rico fought in the American Revolutionary War under the command of Bernardo de Galvez, named Field Marshal of the Spanish colonial army in North America.  Puerto Ricans participated in the capture of Pensacola, the capital of the British colony of West Florida, and the cities of Baton Rouge, St. Louis and Mobile.  The Puerto Rican troops, under the leadership of Brigadier General Ramon de Castro, helped defeat the British and Indian army of 2,500 soldiers and British warships in Pensacola.

• Augusto Rodriguez, Lieutenant, United States Union Army, was Puerto Rican, a member of the 15th Connecticut Regiment (a.k.a Lyon Regiment) and served in the defenses of Washington, D.C.  He lead his men in the battles of Fredericksburg and Wyseford in the American Civil War.

• Since being granted U.S. Citizenship, in 1917, Puerto Ricans have been included in the compulsory draft whenever it has been in effect and more than 400,000 Puerto Ricans have served in the United States Armed Forces. Puerto Ricans have participated in all U.S. wars since 1898, most notably World War I, World II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as the current Middle Eastern conflicts.  During the first two wars, Puerto Ricans served as segregated units, subject to racial discrimination and lead by "continentals", non-hispanic, English speaking commanding officers.  The majority of the troops spoke only Spanish.

• Several Puerto Ricans became notable commanders, five have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration in the United States, and several Puerto Ricans have attained the rank of General or Admiral, which requires a Presidential nomination and Senate confirmation, as is the case of judges and ambassadors.  In World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War, Puerto Ricans were the most decorated Hispanic soldiers and in some cases were the first to die in combat.

• The U.S. Congress can withdraw the U.S. citizenship of Puerto Rican residents of Puerto Rico at any time, for a legitimate Federal purpose.  The Constitution does not enfranchise Puerto Rican residents living on the island.  Meaning, I have more rights and am fully protected by the Constitution being a resident of the State of Florida, than I would be, if I was to relocate and decided to live in my beloved island of Puerto Rico.

• El Yunque National Forest, is the United States' only rainforest and it is located in the northeast area of the island. Among the many protected species are the Puerto Rican Amazon, a critically endangered bird; and a symbol of our Puerto Rican pride the Coqui, a small frog easily identified by the sound of its call, and from which it gets its name.

• Puerto Rico has several tropical, illuminating, Phosphorescent Bays.  This phenomenon occurs sporadically in warm seas around the world, but Puerto Rico is one of the only places on the planet where you can depend on it every evening.  The three most spectacular bays are La Parguera, Mosquito Bay and in Farjado.

• According to the 2000 Census, most Puerto Ricans self-identified themselves as being White and few declared to be Black or of some other race; this in spite, of a recent study which suggests that around 52.6% of the population possess Amerindian mtDNA.  Meaning, the majority of Puerto Ricans had a Taina ancestor in their distant past.

• The first Roman Catholic dioceses in the Americas, including the first in Puerto Rico, were authorized by Pope Julius II in 1511.  The first Protestant church, Holy Trinity Church in Ponce, was established by the Anglican diocese of Antigua in 1872.  Also in 1872, German settlers in Ponce founded the Iglesia Santisima Trinidad, an Anglican Church, the first non-Roman Catholic Church in the Spanish colonies.  

• In 1952, a handful of American Jews established the island's first synagogue in the former residence of William Korber, a wealthy Puerto Rican of German descent, which was designed and built by Czech architect Antonin Nechodoma. The synagogue, called Sha'are Zedeck, hired its first rabbi in 1954. Puerto Rico is also home to the largest and richest Jewish community in the Caribbean with 3,000 Jewish inhabitants.  Puerto Rico is the only Caribbean island in which the Conservative, Reform and Orthodox Jewish movements are represented.

• In 2007, Islam had over 5,000 Muslims in Puerto Rico, representing about 0.10% of the population.  There were eight Islamic mosques spread throughout the island, with most Muslims living in Rio Piedras.

• The Padmasambhava Buddhist Center, whose followers practice Tibetan Buddhism, has a branch in Puerto Rico.  (Thank you Wikipedia for providing us with all these wonderful facts about Puerto Rico, this blog would definitely not be the same without you!!)

Now, in light of all these facts that I have thrown at you, I must again, divide my blog, thus, this becomes Part II.  And yes, you guessed it, I'm not done, therefore stay turned to hopefully the last segment, but mind you, I'm not promising anything, Part III.