Category: Features

Featured articles about Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans

Pelo Malo, Confessions of a Kinky Haired Sister

Puerto Rico

by Xenia Ruíz My birth certificate contains a mistake. Where it asks for my parents’ race, “White” is neatly typed. Although my father was the color of vanilla, my mother was dark caramel. Back in the early 1960’s, there was no category for “Hispanic” so Puerto Ricans were recruited into the White category—until someone noticed that dark-skinned folks were getting off the flights from Puerto Rico. Ironically, in Puerto Rico (where my mother claims there is no racism), on the birth certificates of children born in the ’60s, parents were…

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Puerto Rican Flag – Puerto Rico Flag

Puerto Rico

By Pollux Parker Puerto Rico has a variety of flags: the current national flag which represents the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, municipal banners to represent its numerous regions, political flags for the varied political ideologies of the people, and sports flags which the country uses during sports and athletic competitions. Puerto Rican Flag The history of the current Puerto Rico flag goes all the way back to 1868. This was when “The Revolutionary Flag of Lares” was first conceptualized by Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances and then later on embroidered by…

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¡Qué Bonita Bandera La Bandera Puertorriqueña!

Puerto Rico

¡Qué Bonita Bandera La Bandera Puertorriqueña! El Simbolismo De Nuestra Bandera La palabra viene del vocablo alemán “bandwo” que quiere decir “signo”. Las banderas indentifican la personalidad moral e histórica de las entidades que representan. Las primeras banderas tenían un propósito militar. En los combates, el primer objetivo de ataque era derribarla, esto equivalía a derrota. Se opina que ésta noción se originó en la antigua China o la India. El uso de la bandera se popularizó a partir de la tercera cruzada en el siglo 12. Después de la…

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Santeria Religion – What is Santeria?

Puerto Rico

Santeria Religion In this time anyone caught in the worship of native gods would be punished and many times by death, Africans and the native Tainos. In order to keep the religion and life, The slaves became “Christianized” at least to the slave owners. The slaves took each African god(Orisha) and renamed them after the saints. Chango the god of thunder became Santa Barbara and they kept the religion in secret. Even today the religion is kept in secret since there is still people who see it as devil worship…

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