A quick thought...

I've written about this before , so maybe read this post before I get started.

Today I went out to eat with my family to a Mexican restaurant, which I'm pretty sure is a chain, and in their overly enthusiastic attempts to be authentic, with photos and signs with the giant word "Hola" (not even kidding... I laughed), perhaps they overlooked the music. Nearly all of it was Puerto Rican salsa. That which wasn't included Thalía (who is actually Mexican) and Juanes (Colombian). But nearly all the music was Puerto Rican.

Mexico has a very large and diverse music industry that often gets swept aside in the U.S. for the more visible and recognizable salsa trumpets. Not that Puerto Rican music doesn't deserve it, but again Puerto Rican music is standing in for all of the music of Latin America.

Dominicans

Dominicans in Puerto Rico is probably a topic I'll return to later, since it's an important issue, but for now I wanted to share these two articles.

Apparently the numbers of Dominican illegal immigrants crossing into Puerto Rico through the Mona Pass (named for the tiny unpopulated Mona island off the West Coast of PR) has drastically lowered. I'm hoping it's for good reasons (improved economy?) than bad (more people getting caught?). Again... I'll deal with this later.

Second article is on baseball in the Dominican Republic. I chose to share it because, even though Puerto Ricans aren't quite this fanatical about baseball, it does give you an idea of the dedication involved. I (and a lot of other people) like to joke that the three sports of Puerto Rico are baseball, dominos, and politics. Har har. Anyways, the article is really interesting.

Confusing Latin American Geographies

So, this isn't so relevant, I think, but it is kind of humorous. Watching some Italian singing contest show (we get Rai here... I know, I know, it's no good but it's the only thing we have in Italian and, like a surprising number of Puerto Ricans, my friend studies Italian, so we have it on frequently), they have on some Argentine... I think footballer player? Guess what he starts singing... that's right, Ricky Martin, then Celia Cruz, then some more Ricky Martin. Nevermind that this could be the least Argentine sounding music ever, Caribbean music does get imported all over the world. Sad, of course, that Argentina kind of ends up standing in for all of Latin America, which is most recognizable for salsa and Ricky Martin. That's not really a problem since it happens so much everyone's used to it.

A few performances later, they invite a couple on and they, as part of the contest, start dancing to Brazilian music, Sergio Mendes and a strange version of "Girl from Ipanema". Afterwards, they take a moment to talk to them, and that's when the girl reveals that they're not actually Brazilian but actually Venezuelan. What? Why? Did they really change her entire nationality, language, culture... just because she was Black? Lord knows Venezuelan music is closer to salsa than Argentine music.

Yes, world, there are Black people all over the Caribbean, not just the French/English/Dutch islands, not just the Hispanic islands (yes, including Puerto Rico), but also the continental land in Central and South America. Did you know that Mexico has a decent sized Black population? That there is a large group in Central America, los Garifuna, based on an ex-slave culture? And that there are even more Black people in Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela? I'm not going to pretend I can talk a lot about them, since I know much less about any of them than I do about Puerto Rico, and even that I'm still learning about every day. But at least I know they exist... and I'm not about to assume that the only Black people in Latin America are from Brazil, and then force them to pretend to represent it through song and dance.

... not that I'm going to make anyone dance, either. I'm just saying.

Point is, Spanish-speaking America is not just White and Indigenous peoples, and Brazil is not just Black people. They don't have the same cultures, much less the same music.

This isn't a rant directed at anyone--in fact, it's not a rant at all. Okay, maybe it is. But I know it's kind of futile because no one reading this really needs the message. Actually, let's run with that. THANK YOU for caring about a tiny island in the middle of the Caribbean that everyone else seems to have forgotten about. It sounds silly but it really is beautiful to know someone cares. Thanks for not being ignorant. Thanks for wanting to learn and debate with me. It takes a rare kind of person to be legitimately interested in other cultures and, excuse the cheesiness, but I'm so proud.

See you tomorrow!

(By the way, in case you wondered: the performances were also horrifyingly bad. But amusing!)