Borikén: Street Art Syllabus

Borikén

Street Art Syllabus

T H E W O R L D ' S O L D E S T C O L O N Y

On November 19, 1493, during his second voyage, Christopher Columbus arrived in Puerto Rico That is, he landed on the island called Borikén ("the land of the valiant lord") by the indigenous Taíno culture that largely dominated the land, which was later renamed Puerto Rico

Soon after, Puerto Rico became a Spanish colony and remained under Spanish rule for over 400 years In 1809 the first declarations of independence from Spanish rule occurred, and by the end of the 1800s, Spain had lost all of its New World colonies except Cuba and Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is the only territory that never gained its independence It was not until November 25, 1897 that Spain granted Puerto Rico self-rule However, this autonomy was short lived, on 25 July 1898, American troops invaded and raised the U S flag over the island, formalizing U S authority over its one million inhabitants

Photography by Edwin Rosskam via Library of Congress

SpanishOriginal I

¡Despierta,borinqueño quehandadolaseñal!

¡Despiertadeesesueño queeshoradeluchar!

Aesellamarpatriótico ¿noardetucorazón?

¡Ven!Nosserásimpático elruidodelcañón.

III Nosotrosqueremos lalibertad, ynuestromachete nosladará.

Vámonos,borinqueños, vámonosya, quenosesperaansiosa, ansiosalalibertad.

�� ¡Lalibertad, lalibertad! lalibertad!

Lola Rodríguez de Tió

La Borinqueña

THE PUERTO RICAN

NATIONAL ANTHEM

Englishtranslation I Arise,boricua! Thecalltoarmshassounded! Awakefromtheslumber, itistimetofight! Doesn'tthispatriotic callsetyourheartalight? Come!Weareintunewith theroarofthecannon.

III Wewant freedom, andourmachete willgiveittous. Come,Boricuas, comenow, sinceanxiouslyawaitsus anxiously,freedom, �� freedom, freedom!

Lyricist

Schoolchildren on the U S mainland learn the chant: “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue , ” in which Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus is portrayed as an intrepid explorer who obediently found some gold “to bring back home as he’d been told ” Schoolchildren in Puerto Rico know the parts of the Columbus story that were left out of the rhyme, namely, the extermination of the indigenous Taínos In this massive work in the Santurce neighborhood, artists from the collective El Basta help make the collateral damage of Columbus’s “achievements” more visible

This work in Rio Piedras depicts Indigenous Taínos. The Taínos were described in great detail by Ramon Pané, a Catholic missionary who joined Columbus on his voyage to the New World In one of his accounts, Pané tells the story of Cazivaquel, a Taíno chief, who had a vision in which he foresaw “a clothed people who would [come to] rule them, and slay them ”

THE TAÍNOS

RESOURCES

BOOKS + JOURNALS + ARTICLES

01

ALMOST CITIZENS

Erman, Sam. Almost Citizens: Puerto Rico, the U S Constitution, and Empire Studies in Legal History Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018 doi:10 1017/9781108233866

02 RAMON EMETERIO BETANCES: SPEECH AT THE MASONIC SALON OF PORT-AU-PRINCE

Ramon Emeterio Betances; Khalila Chaar-Perez ; Enid Cruz Mirabal Small Ax (2021) 25 (3 (66)): 166–177.https://doi.org/10.1215/079905379583530

03 04

COLONIAL MEMORY AND THE CRIME OF RHETORIC : PEDRO ALBIZU CAMPOS

Villanueva, Victor ISSN: 0010-0994 , 2161-8178 College English , 2009, Vol 71(6), p 630-638

PEDRO ALBIZU CAMPOS, GILBERTO CONCEPCION DE GRACIA, AND VITO MARCANTONIO'S COLLABORATION IN THE CAUSE OF PUERTO RICO'S INDEPENDENCE

Meyer, Gerald J; New York: Hunter College, Center for Puerto Rican Studies Centro journal, 2011, Vol.23 (1), p.86-123

05 WAR AGAINST ALL PUERTO RICANS

Denis, Nelson A 2015 War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America’s Colony New York: Nation Books

06 MILITANT PUERTO RICANS: MIGRANTS, ARMED STRUGGLE & POLITICAL PRISONERS

González-Cruz, Michael 2020 Militant Puerto Ricans: Migrants, Armed Struggle & Political Prisoners / Michael González-Cruz San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editorial Trastalleres

07 FANTASY ISLAND: COLONIALISM, EXPLOITATION, AND THE BETRAYAL OF PUERTO RICO

Morales, Ed 2019 Fantasy Island: Colonialism, Exploitation, and the Betrayal of Puerto Rico / Ed Morales First edition New York: Bold Type Books

JOURNEY

On the morning of Wednesday, September 20, 2017

AFTERMATH

Electricity was cut off to 100% of the island

While the storm's official death toll tallied 64 people, a new Harvard study estimates that the hurricane and it's aftermath is responsible for more than 4,600 deaths.

FACTS

Hurricane Maria was a powerful Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 155 mph.

HURACÁN

The first Puerto Rican flag was created by the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico, a proindependence group. In 1868, the group leader Ramón Emeterio Betances

asked Mariana Bracceti to sew The Revolutionary Flag inspired by the Dominican Republic Flag. During this time, the group saw themselves as part of the Antillean Confederation with the other Latin Carribbean islands.

The Revolutionary Flag, also known as the Lares Flag, featured a white cross, a white lone star, and two blue and red corners. On September 23, 1868, the Committee led a revolt against the Spanish in the town of Lares. Although the revolution wasn't successful, revolutionaries continued to use the flag.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUERTO RICAN FLAG

In 1895, the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee called "Club Borinquen" composed of revolutionary exiles in New York adopted a new flag. It had the same design as the Cuban flag, but with the colors inverted. The flag tied the affiliation between the two country's revolutions,

After the United States took over Puerto Rico in 1898, the flag changed again. Due to a rise in support of Puerto Rican Independence, in 1948 Law 53, known as Ley de la Mordaza ("The Gag Law"), made it a felony act to own or display any Puerto Rican flag.

In 1952, the U.S. government officially adopted the Puerto Rican National Flag as the official flag with changes in its colors to distance it from it's revolutionary origins.

The official flag has remained in place since then, however, in 2016 a group called Artistas Solidarixs y en Resistencia (Artists in Solidarity and Resistance) created the mourining flag. The group stripped the flag of the colors of the United States, instead opting for black and white as a message against U.S. oversight.

VISUAL GUIDE TO THE FLAG

The flag has undergone many variations over the years.

1868

1895

1952

2016

Lares Flag Revolutionary Flag Mourning Flag National Flag

S A N J O S É S T R E E T

WHY THE FLAG IS IN MOURNING

PROMESA, THE U.S., AND BROKEN PROMISES

Artistas Solidarixs y en Resistencia (Artists in Solidarity and Resistance), the art group responsible for re-painting the flag, released an open statement explaining their motives:

"Art as a form of expression has been used throughout history to transmit ideas, provoke reflection, and transform and recreate reality National symbols help reinforce a country's identity and values. Since its origins, the Puerto Rican flag has been a symbol of struggle against our colonial status, and during several years, hoisting it was considered a felony Under the colonial act that created the 1952 ELA [Associated Free State of Puerto Rico/Commonwealth], the flag becomes an official symbol. Today, the triangle represents the three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial The three red stripes symbolize the blood that gives these branches power

Our laws, our politicians, and courts have not represented the interests of the Puerto Rican people. Replacing the colors with black (which is the result of the absence of LIGHT) creates a new discussion. Ours is

a proposal for RESISTANCE; it is not pessimistic, it discusses the death of these powers, but hope is still present in the three white stripes that symbolize the individual's rights and their capacity to reclaim and create their rights.

This act is an invitation to reflect and take action against the collapse of our education and health system, privatization and destruction of our natural resources, the colonial status, abuses committed against our working force, the payment of an exorbitant debt, the imposition of an antidemocratic government, cuts made to cultural affairs, among other conflicts This act demonstrates that there exists an artistic community that will not remain with arms crossed, that is willing to fight against any exploitation, against the imposition of an absolutist government and its austerity policies, the most recent: Federal Control Board (PROMESA) Puerto Rico is fighting, lets strengthen the love between us and the space we inhabit by promoting respect, solidarity, tolerance, union, communication, and community cooperation."

So, what is PROMESA?

PROMESA

The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic S Act (PROMESA) is a U.S. feder enacted in 2016 that establish financial oversight board, a p for restructuring debt, and ex procedures for approving crit infrastructure projects in ord combat the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis cause years of American economic p on the island. Through PROM the US Congress established a appointed Fiscal Control Boar (FCB), known colloquially in P Rico as "la junta," to oversee t restructuring.

The board's approved fiscal p 2017-2026 cut deeply into Pue Rico's public service budget, including cuts to health care, pensions, and education, in o repay creditors.

It also led to the privatization other services. Over the last 2 Puerto Ricans have repeatedl to the streets to protest LUMA Energy, the private company controls the island’s energy transmission and distribution frequent blackouts and high e costs become more burdenso These protests have often end with violent clashes with the

HEADSTART

This mural on Calle Ernesto Cerra is one of many found on this street and in the Santurce neighborhood of Trastalleres; most of them were painted during the Santurce Es Ley street art festival. Showing Puerto Rican children and the island's flag,

it’s particularly poignant because it was painted on the face of a Head Start center. Head Start, a federally funded pre-school education program, only reaches 27% of eligible kids in Puerto Rico.

OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA

A modern-day folk hero for many Puerto Ricans, Oscar López Rivera advocates independence for Puerto Rico. López Rivera was also a political prisoner who was

held in a federal prison on the U.S. mainland from 1981 until 2016 when he was pardoned by President Obama. He is considered one of the longest held political prisoners in history. Frequent protests and other actions, including self-imposed, symbolic house arrests, were held on the island to call for his release. López Rivera is also the subject of numerous pieces of street art, including this one on Avenida Fernández Juncos in San Juan.

Ponce de León

Just5daysafterthedooronSanJoséStreetwasrepainted, a group of anonymous artists painted this piece on Ponce deLeónAvenueinsolidarity.ThispieceshowstheLaresFlag with the horizontal white stripe replaced by a machete and features revolutionaries such as Ramon Emeterio Betances, PedroAlbizuCampos,LolitaLebrón,andOscarLópezRivera.

ThispiecedepictssomeofPuertoRico’smosticonicimages: thegarita(orsentrybox)foundonthecapital’scolonial-era forts; the Puerto Rican flag; the flamboyán tree; and the straw hat. It would be a feel-good landscape, except the ominous skull transforms the art into a cautionary message. That message is reinforced by the quote beneath, drawn from the work of early 20th-century Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos, which translates as: “To allow yourself to be defeated by life is worse than to allow yourself to be defeatedbydeath.”

TO ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE DEFEATED BY LIFE

CONFRONTATION WITH POLICE

UNKNOWN ARTIST

In this mural in Rio Piedras, one of several San Juan districts with a concentration of street art, a confrontation with police is depicted As on the U S mainland, police are a subject frequently found in Puerto Rican street art The mural’s proximity to the University of Puerto Rico isn’t coincidental: The university is the site of frequent protests, particularly regarding the increasing cost of tuition.

WHY ALLOW THEM TO DILUTE OUR IDENTITY?

BY MORIVIVI

Work by Moriviví, an all-female collective of street artists, can be found all over San Juan, as well as on Culebra, one of Puerto Rico's sister islands The images and themes typically seen in their work address women's treatment - especially the treatment of AfroLatinas - by society at large This subject matter has made their work the target of vandalism and censorship. This piece, a large-scale work in an alley in Rio Piedras, is accompanied by the question: "Why allow them to dilute our identity?"