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PRLS 1001 Introduction to Puerto Rican and Latin@ Studies, Professor Vanessa Santiago, Fall 2020
This rap is based on the three major political parties in Puerto Rico, each favoring a different status—Popular Democratic Party (pro-Commonwealth), Puerto Rican Independentist Party (pro-Independence), and New Progressive Party (pro-Statehood).
For information on the urgent situation in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora, see: https://puertoricosyllabus.com/ and Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños.
Shared with permission.
Tengo mucho que decir de frente Pero estamos en cuarentena hay que joderse con el 2020 Estamos en tiempos sin precedentes Ganó Biden pero no se quiere ir el f*ing presidente [I have a lot to say up front But, we are in quarantine and damned with 2020 We are in unprecedented times Biden won but the f*ing president doesn’t want to go]
Pero yo no vine hablar de americanos De los Demócratas ni los Republicanos Vengo hablar de lo político de mis paisanos Y Boricuas que no se dan la mano [But I did not come to talk about Americans the Democrats nor the Republicans I have come to talk about the politics of my countrymen And Boricuas who don’t shake hands]
Me dicen “tú no te mereces la ciudadanía” Si me lo dieron de gratis, cabrón, pues mala mía Te venden la película psicología Por eso no tenemos la estadidad todavía [They tell me “You don’t deserve citizenship” If they gave it to me for free, you bastard, it’s my bad They sell you the psychology movie That’s why we don’t yet have statehood
Tuvieron que botar a Roselló Volvió ganar un PNP. Puñeta, ¿qué pasó? Puerto Rico pide el cambio, pero el cambio, ¿qué sé yo? Volvimos a confiar en lo que fracasó [They had to throw out Roselló A PNP won again. Damn, what happened? Puerto Rico asks for change, but the change, what do I know? We returned to trust in what failed]
Ellos nos colonizaron en un tiempo oportuno Nunca vamos a ser la estrella 51 Plebiscitos al congreso han sido más de uno Y por eso por más que lo queremos no se da ninguno [They colonized us at an opportune time We are never going to be the 51st star Plebiscites to Congress, there have been more than one And as much as we want it, there is none]
Se aprovechan de ignorancia y de la religión No son lo que ustedes ven en la televisión Antes, si hablabas en contras, te ibas pa’ prisión Y siguen violando libertad de la expresión [They prey on ignorance and religion They are not what you see on television Before, if you spoke against, you would go to prison And they continue to violate freedom of expression]
Yo admiro cada Independentista En su propia casa piden una reconquista Coño, déjenme hablar al periodista Los amo de corazón, aunque no son realistas [I admire every Independentist In their own house they ask for a reconquest Damn, let me talk to the journalist I love them from my heart, but they are unrealistic]
No tengo mucho en contra de los Populares Pero contra, para mí, les hacen falta los binoculares Si pa’ los estados unidos no hay un Grito de Lares Colonial – independiente, por favor no sean tan bipolares [I don’t have much against the Populares But, damn, for me, they need binoculars If there is no Grito de Lares for the United States Colonial – independent, please don’t be so bipolar]
Si quieren proteger a la cultura Pásalo pa’lante pa’ que no haya sepultura Commonwealth, mejor llámenle basura Siendo colonia no es la cura [If they want to protect the culture Pass it forward so that there is no grave Commonwealth, better to call it trash Being a colony is not the cure]
Exenciones de impuesto, pero yo te apuesto Que roban todo lo que ven mal puesto Si no manejan bien el presupuesto No vale decir que estamos juntos en esto [Tax exemptions, but I bet you They steal everything that they see badly positioned If they don’t manage the budget well It is not worth saying that we are in this together]
En madre patria no hay trabajo La juventud se está largando pa’l carajo La sistema educación coge a to’ el mundo de relajo El salario mínimo está muy bajo [In motherland there is no work The youth are leaving to go to hell The education system makes a joke out of all of us And the minimum wage is very low]
Mi Borinquen bella, isla Puerto Rico Donde el pobre más se jode y gana el más rico Donde te asfixias si no prendes abanico Donde me callan la boca si testifico [My Borinquen, beautiful island Puerto Rico Where the poor are the most damned and the rich win Where you suffocate if you don’t turn on the fan Where they shut my mouth if I testify]
Bit of profanity. Transcribed and English translation provided by Professor Maria Pérez y González.
PRLS 1001—Introduction to Puerto Rican and Latin@ Studies, Fall 2021
Who am I If not a collection Of all those you came before me And a part of those yet to be
I never know how rich I was Until I went looking for the lost history of my people Buried In racist politics and broken school curriculums
I am a pearl Formed from sea and sand A precious gem
My existence is a consequence Of a people who refused to die Genocide1 Sterilized2 Traumatized and repeat
I am a pearl Washing up onto new shores Trapped in my hidden place Only to be discovered by the greed of man
New shores Like I had a choice The Land, taken from us to build farms then factories3 Forced our people to look for new shores to rest their tired feet on
Fighting wars that aren’t ours4 Paying debt that’s not ours5 No statehood No independence Forever a limbo between the two that dismisses their accountability and responsibility
I am rare I am valuable I am pearl
Dedicated to the PRLS Department at CUNY Brooklyn College
1 “The Spaniards exploited the island’s gold mines and reduced the Taíno to slavery. Within twenty-five years of Columbus’ arrival in Haiti, most of the Taíno had died from enslavement, massacre, or disease. By 1514, only 32,000 Taíno survived in Hispaniola.” https://gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/colonial-genocides-project/hispaniola
2 “Between the 1930s and the 1970s, approximately one-third of the female population of Puerto Rico was sterilized, making it highest rate of sterilization in the world.” https://www.panoramas.pitt.edu/health-and-society/dark-history-forced-sterilization-latina-women
3 “They were taught to produce what they don’t consume, and they were taught not to produce what they consume,” he says. “That’s the kind of dependence that was created under that colonial system.” https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/05/13/527934047/how-puerto-rico-lost-its-home-grown-food-but-might-find-it-again
4 “That Puerto Ricans became American citizens in 1917 have been attributed by many to the need for soldiers as the U.S. entered World War I.” https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/digital-humanities/pr-military/world-war-i
5 “The Puerto Rican debt crisis has many origins. Most notably, investors in Puerto Rican municipal bonds received favorable tax treatment for years. … Prompted in large part by this tax advantage, Puerto Rico issued too much bond debt and began relying on borrowed funds from bond issuance to balance its budget.” https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/090915/origins-puerto-rican-debt-crisis.asp
