Crisis en Vieques y Culebra, pero el gobernador de Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi responde con arrestos de protestantes que piden y demandan atención a la falta de transportación accesible. Transportación para estas islas municipales es esencial - no un lujo. Esperamos que el gobierno de Puerto Rico responda con acción y soluciones, en vez de arrestos y mas excusas.

En este episodio escuchan la voz de una residente de Vieques que esta peleando junto a su pueblo, para algo tan básico y esencial: Transportación - Algo que el gobierno de Puerto Rico les niega uno y otra vez. Gracias Andrea por tu trabajo y dar tu tiempo. 

Andrea nos cuanta cosas que no se ven en los medios: de pescadores que hacen el trabajo que le pertenece al gobierno, de embarcaciones que no deben ser usadas en el mar y presentan peligrosos, de un gobierno fuera de contacto con la realidad. Y un pueblo que no se quita.  

Vieques y Culebra - estamos contigo. 

Hawaiʻi and Borikén are connected in struggle. I wanted to take a moment with my sisters across the world, to share and to hold space on issues that only we understand fully. It is a rare moment when you can look someone in the eye and they understand the type of oppression you both struggle with.  It is important to ask why demanding freedom is labeled "radical." 
Spiritually, physically and mentally we have been affected by the policies of ownership of indigenous lands and bodies that continue to be "normalized." 

Those in power cannot continue to dictate the terms. You do not tell those that you oppress, how you will stop oppressing them, and this is why more conversations like these are needed.

In this episode I sit down with two inspiring women, MYKIE & IHILANI, to talk about history and to talk about what real freedom would look like. More importantly, to say aloud to each other and to all of you that we must fight for a future where are free. 

Books: A Nation Rising by Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, From A Native Daughter by Haunani-Kay Trask, Fighting the Battle of Double Colonization by Haunani-Kay Trask,  'Native Hawaiian Law: A Treatise' edited by University of Hawaiʻi law professors Melody MacKenzie, Susan Serrano, and Kapua Sproat, Islanders in the Empire: Filipino and Puerto Rican Laborers in Hawaiʻi’ by JoAnna Poblete 

Instagram accounts to follow: @Kanaeokana @Puuhuluhulu @ProtectMaunakea 

Bios: 
Ihilani Lasconia is a Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) poet, student, and organizer from Waimānalo Oʻahu. ʻIhilani is currently a senior at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa majoring in Ethnic Studies. She is also a first-year master's candidate in Education Administration. ʻIhilani is a part of  Kia'i Ke Kahaukani which is a student group that advocates for the protection of Maunakea. ʻIhilani is a strong supporter of Native Hawaiian self-determination and the deoccupation of Hawaiʻi. She believes that political education is essential to liberation and that all struggles are interconnected.
Mykie Ozoa-Aglugub is a Filipina-Boricua anti-imperialist feminist organizer in the illegally occupied Kingdom of Hawai‘i. She is a founding member of AF3IRM Hawai‘i, the local chapter of a transnational feminist organization, with 10 chapters across the US and in Hawai‘i and Borikén. Mykie is an expert in anti-gender violence advocacy and training and she holds a law degree from the UH Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law.

Es como pelear con el viento / Like fighting the wind

Nosotros tenemos un problema en Vieques. Bueno - hay muchos, pero uso "nosotros" porque la diaspora y Boricuas por toda las islas están uniéndose al movimiento contra la directora Mara Peréz quien es responsable en parte - por la crisis de Vieques. En estos momentos muchos Viequenses se encuentran con transportación no segura ni confiable, aunque es su derecho tenerlo. Se encuentran sin gasolina, sin comida  - todo porque hay una persona que no quiere dejar su puesto - ya que el pueblo dice que ha fallado en su deber en esa posición. Y preguntamos también, a los representantes en Puerto Rico, porque se usa la Policía como TAXI.

En este episodio escucharan a Andrea Del Mar Bonilla, quien vive en Vieques hablar sobre su experiencia, y también de como fue que su video se convirtió en un momento de acción e indignación. Vamos todos a visibilizar la lucha en Vieques.

We have a problem on Vieques. Well - there are many, but I use "we" because the diaspora and Boricuas all over the islands are joining the movement against director Mara Peréz who is partly responsible for the Vieques crisis. At this time, many Viequenses find transportation unsafe and unreliable, although it is their right to have it. They find themselves without gas, without food - and are demanding the resignation of the Director of Transportation to Vieques. And we also ask why Puerto Rican representatives are using Police as TAXI to get to the island of Vieques.

In this episode, you'll listen to Andrea Bonilla, who lives in Vieques, talk about her experience and how her video became a moment of action and outrage. Let's bring light to the struggle of Vieques.

(As of this episode's publishing -  Mara Perez - the Director of ATM has RESIGNED!)
#PuertoRico #Vieques #MaraRenuncia #Boriken

What happens when the stories of us are told by us, with us? I wanted to ask the Director of the incredible documentary Landfall  many questions but at the heart of our conversation was a strong sense that community is really key in telling our stories.

I hope you will share this really powerful interview with Cecilia Aldarondo because so much of what leads to healing from trauma comes through art and the dialogues we have together.

Cecilia Aldarondo is a documentary director-producer from the Puerto Rican diaspora who works at the intersection of poetics and politics. Her feature documentaries MEMORIES OF A PENITENT HEART (2016) and LANDFALL (2020) premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and were co-produced by the award-winning PBS series POV. LANDFALL's many awards include the 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival Viewfinders Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary, the 2021 Film Independent Truer than Fiction Spirit Award nomination, and a 2021 Cinema Eye Spotlight Award nomination. Among Aldarondo's fellowships and honors are the Guggenheim, a two-time MacDowell Colony Fellowship, the 2021 New America Fellowship, and Women at Sundance 2017. In 2019 she was named to DOC NYC's 40 Under 40 list and is one of 2015’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. She teaches at Williams College.

You can learn more about the documentary by following their social media @LandfallFilm and going to the website/ articles linked below:

https://www.facebook.com/LandfallDoc

@landfallfilm (Instagram)

@blackscrackle (Instagram)

@Landfall_Doc (Twitter)

@blackscrackle (Twitter)

https://deadline.com/2021/01/landfall-director-cecilia-aldarondo-pbs-pov-documentary-interview-news-1234674738/

https://fb.watch/3qwbkTgVqJ/
https://www.claridadpuertorico.com/maria-isaias-las-monjas-en-la-piedra-sobre-el-mar/

https://www.80grados.net/pueblo-o-multitud-hegemonia-o-posthegemonia-ceiba-1999-san-juan-2019-vieques-2020/

This week, lets talk about race and racism. Let's talk about Cultural appropriation. Let's talk about why black lives matter, but many of the reactions around a recent case of appropriation left many Black Latinxs asking  - where is the solidarity in our community when it comes to black voices and black lives.

I invited la Doctora Barbara Abadia-Rexauch to speak about an article published recently on another case of a white woman putting on the Latina costume. Something actual Latinxs are not able to do, and certainly with none of the privileges that this affords.

The article published on Prism Reports by the journalist Tina Vazquez revealed that a prominent lawyer / activist in the New York community was actually not Puerto Rican and Colombian as she had presented, but instead a white woman from Georgia with Irish Italian and Russian ancestry. Recently, and due to the demand for accountability, this person has resigned from her position at the National Lawyers Guild and faces community accountability.

Dr. Bárbara Abadía-Rexach is a communication scholar, sociocultural anthropologist, and Afro Puerto Rican feminist and antiracist leader. She received a BA in Public Communication and a MA in Theory and Research of Communication from the University of Puerto Rico, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from The University of Texas at Austin. Abadía-Rexach is Assistant Professor of Afrolatinidades at the Latina/o Studies Department at San Francisco State University. Her academic work explores racialization from different cultural productions in Puerto Rico and its diasporas, and within the Latinx communities. She is the author of the book Musicalizando la raza. La racialización en Puerto Rico a través de la música (2012). Her recently published academic articles include: Summer 2019: The Great Racialized Puerto Rican Family Protesting in the Street Fearlessly (2020); Centro y periferia: Las identidades en el nuevo movimiento de la bomba puertorriqueña (2019) and The New Puerto Rican Bomba Movement (2016). She is one of Colectivo Ilé’ community organizers, and a member of the Black Latinas Know Collective. Abadía-Rexach produces and moderates the radio program NEGRAS at Cadena Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico. She is a collaborator of the Spanish digital platform Afroféminas, and the Puerto Rican feminist and solidarity journalist project Todas. 

Articles to read/share:
https://www.prismreports.org/article/2021/1/7/the-national-lawyers-guilds-outgoing-latina-president-is-a-white-woman

https://www.prismreports.org/article/2021/1/14/attorney-who-posed-as-latina-resigns-and-faces-community-accountability

https://www.blacklatinasknow.org/post/the-replay-white-passes-and-black-exclusions-in-latinidad?fbclid=IwAR2qe91ZUzkXZNhEWp9n0m0F0Jgy94hLKe6TzheeFIWtweXmNAzd8sSSSqw

Happy 2021! Question. Have you ever heard of these Supreme Court decisions called The Insular Cases? Well, they are a very strange set of cases that you might find uniquely shocking. In this interview I speak to Andrés González Berdecía who provides an exceptional overview of what the Insular cases are and what it's impact is in Puerto Rico in 2021. (spoiler: white supremacy is definitely at play)

Andrés is an attorney with a background in Political Science. He participated in the student movements in Puerto Rico, and has worked in the Department of Justice in Puerto Rico. He is currently a Legal Advisor to the Speaker of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) in the House of Representatives. He is co-host of the incredibly insightful podcast called Radio Independencia (go subscribe!).

With the insurrection happening this past week at the Capital, I wanted to bring you some interesting historical facts on Puerto Rico, on what it means to not be free, and actually why the events of the week are a bit ironic in light of the storming of the Capital in 1954 by four Puerto Ricans who were fighting against something that dates back to the early 1900s. A real issue, that we're still fighting today. Tune in on your preferred podcast app or watch the video on Youtube. Please don't forget to like and share on all the social media platforms. Stay safe, and thank you, as always, for listening.

La Comay needs to be cancelled. This tv show does not need any more space on the air. It's time. 

For those who may not know, La Comay is a show in Puerto Rico that is under fire for their sexualization of an image of a young girl. The incident occurred just this past week and involves the daughter of the only woman running for governor of Puerto Rico. 

In this episode, I wanted to share the response of one journalist in an article written by a journalist and educator Christina Del Mar Quiles on todaspr.com - because she perfectly captured that this behavior represents a continuous cycle of violence against women in Puerto Rico.

• The patriarchy doesn’t want happy girls
  • https://www.todaspr.com/el-patriarcado-no-quiere-ninas-felices/

Other Resources mentioned in this episode

• History of Racist comments on black Puerto Ricans
  • https://www.latinorebels.com/2020/06/14/callstocancelcomay/
  • More here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=720264408747097

Where do we go from here? What can you do?

• You can find the action Items put together by feminist activists on the island on my instagram page. 
• And I always want to share resources and orgs to follow so if you haven't seen them before please check out the following:
  • Taller Salud
  • Colectiva Feminista en construccion
  • Revista Etnica
  • TodasPR
  • ConsentimientoPR
  • Waves Ahead

Sandy G was a Black Puerto Rican woman from Williamsburg, Brooklyn and she died at the hands of a white cop who entered her home on a supposed wellness check but instead shot her in her bed three times, claiming she raised her gun even though forensics conclusively determined she did not. Words escape me as I sit here wondering how many more lives need to be taken before something is done about the lives taken by police.

This shooting was investigated for 6 months before it was determined as justified. A black woman's murder was determined as justified but every detail of this case points to a cover up. As you'll learn from hearing her son's story in this episode, there is a shocking reason why the case did not go to court. Governor Cuomo of NY and the State Attorney General have failed this woman's family, because they did not intervene even when there was evidence of misconduct, conflict of interest and culpability. It becomes clear when you listen to the case details that cops with connections might be able to get away with murder in the state of New York.

There are glaring problems with the narrative and case details that lead us to understand that Sandy's death wan't the result of self defense on the part of the cop. This man was in full control of the situation and he should be arrested and charged.  Listen to the details of this case to hear what really happened that fall afternoon in 2017.

After listening to the case details and her son's story, if you also feel that more answers are needed please sign the family's petition. Please share their instagram and social media pages as well, to demand that the case be reopened and the cop responsible, arrested. Sandy was a wonderful mother, a two time cancer survivor, with a background in social work and a veteran officer  - but none of these things mattered to the man who entered her room while she lay defenseless and shot her to death.

Petition: https://www.change.org/p/andrew-m-cuomo-justice-reforms-in-honor-of-sandy-guardiola
Social Media: @JusticeforSandyG_
https://www.facebook.com/groups/347082589589643/

On today’s episode I give you my take on this pandemic, how it’s shaped life for New Yorkers, & what's happening in Puerto Rico, as they continue to face challenges other places do not: From closure of airports, to buying life saving supplies.

An important note, if you feel you have the virus, unsure what to do Apple has partnered with the CDC on a screening tool. Note: they use your data, without personal info.

This week I kept thinking that we rely on our leaders for solace in challenging times and right now there is a lack of leadership and collaboration.

As the epicenter, New York predict they'll run out of medical supplies in a week, and need 140k beds. Meanwhile over half of cases in NY are 18-49 yrs old. In Italy, they reported the highest jump in deaths in 24 hrs, with over 900 people dead. Note: Italy had 3.2 beds per 1 thousand people while the US has 2.8 per 1000. Hospitals are running out of beds/protective equipment. As cases rise, I discuss how Wall Street shouldn't determine the response to a health crisis. We can't put a cost to human life - even if that has been the status quo in America. Ultimately though, the response to the virus will be guided by how we deal with class in America.

Music credit:  Alynda Segarra a Puerto Rican singer & lead of Hurray for the Riff Raff

• Texas Lt Gov who prefers to die to save economy/Grandchildren
• NYC deaths: More than 1 person per 24 hours
• NYTimes Op ed
• PR Recovery plan & Puerto Rico FB on COVID19
• PR epidemiologist not equipped to handle crisis (note: She has since been removed from this position) & PR "first" death in the news
• Puerto Rico Needs Medical Supplies but faces Restrictions
• Fears of being ignored during pandemic
• Pocillo Podcast: a Puerto Rican podcast
• Most vulnerable workers in PR
• An estimate of deaths from Coronavirus in Puerto Rico
• The Daily: NYTimes Podcast
• The Ezra Klein Show
• Remezcla
• Boricua Short Doc
• The Seeds we Sow
• Lessons from Italy
• For more go to Borikenpodcast.com

Puerto Rico January 17, 2020: Over 700 homes damaged due to multiple earthquakes that have hit the southern part of the island, and victims of the disaster are sleeping outside, some with children, others with their elderly parents. We know of 1 death, and another indirect death due to a hospital not fixed after Hurricane Maria. Funds from Hurricane Maria have been held in limbo and only recently were these funds dangled in front of the faces of Puerto Ricans… but with a catch.

As coincidence would have it, Puerto Ricans have been demanding a cancellation of billions in debt which hasn’t been audited and many suspect contains illegal deals. So aid is being offered in exchange for something: They want to give more power to the undemocratically elected fiscal board, in order to ensure that debt is fully paid by the people who had no dealings in that debt. In other words, victims of a disaster are being offered aid just so that the US government can impose even more austerity on them. Meanwhile, the people are saying, they have no freedom to choose, as the real ‘Governor’ of Puerto Rico is the Judge Swain, who decides how this debt will be paid to the Wall Street hedge funds/vultures that have their sights set on taking everything from victims of 2 disasters, who are colonized and without any real power, representation.

There are moments like this that teach us, and make very clear, what is lacking and what needs to be done moving forward. And it’s participatory democracy and learning how to organize that has been an incredibly important part of this cultural evolution happening in Puerto Rico.

This is why this week I speak to a member of a community initiative that was there on the ground first, before local or federal officials, because they remain committed to the needs of the people and providing real relief, rather than the illusion of it.

I want to thank La Brigada Solidaria del Oeste for their commitment to communities and their incredibly impactful model of listening to their needs - which unfortunately is a radical concept to federal and local officials who continuously fail to provide real leadership. However, Puerto Ricans have caught on, and they are starting to see that real change will come with organizing communities. People power is what got a governor kicked out this summer, with millions on the street saying: Enough. 

This interview was done a week after the first large earthquake and there are so many more updates but I hope this interview inspires you to get involved, donate, and keep raising awareness with me. Thank you.

For more information on La Brigada and other organizations that are doing community work on the ground - please check out these links:

https://www.facebook.com/brigadasolidariaoeste

Paypal Donations to: [email protected]

https://www.mariafund.org/