I’m sitting at home (Tue, July 23, 2019) thinking to myself it might be a good time to start writing again so,

I’M BACK, BITCHES!

On the eve of July 17th I wondered, “why am I going to this again?’ —questioning my decision to join the great july 17th protest that many artists had urged people to come to as a result of the leaked chats….

Let me go back a second, the real issue wasn’t the chat itself, but the fact that in the days prior to the chat being leaked, a wide corruption scheme operation had been underway, and many government officials, including the not-so-liked Secretary of Education, Julia Keleher, had been arrested for charges of corruption, money laundering, missmanagement of funds, some of which, were supposed to go to aid for Hurricane Maria.

So I looked back and though, “Hmm, will this movement go anywhere? No one really goes to protests and the police end up breaking it up pretty violently so I might just be wasting my time…” I didnt really want to attend, but I knew it would be historic so I didnt want to miss out.

That morning I made sure I was equipped with everything I would need in case the police threw tear gas at us. I wasn’t really expecting so many people would attend, so I was pretty worried that it would affect me (—I even brought a ski mask and made Seattle solution). 3pm could not come quick enough. The convocation was for 5pm but Mariana and I made sure we would get there early. I was not ready for what I was about to witness go down.

This is one of the posters we made. A funny reference to Guaynaa’s Rebota song. Mariana also brought her sister Amanda with us. She also had no idea what this protest would be like.

As we made our way to Old San Juan, the streets kept looking more like what they did on Las Calles de San Sebastian. Theres no way to really describe it other than just s ton of cars piled up moving at like 2mph with people also walking down the street, others parking their cars on the road. This was like nothing I have ever seen. Old people, young people, children, dogs, of all ages and sizes walking around the streets. All of them have flags, posters, or shirts eluding to the protest. There is an atmosphere like no other. Its not the drunk-half-asleep mood of Las Calles, not like when Tito won, or when #LosRubios played, this is what REVOLUTION feels like.

Made our way to El Capitolio for the march. Hundreds of thousands were there. The media reported around 12,000. Yeah, thats bullshit. —I’ve been to stadiums with 10,000 people, there’s no way there was less than 100,000 people at the protest. As Guaynabitas that we are, we took pictures, sang our hearts of and even danced as we made our way to el Morro. We even stayed with the group that had “la batucada” (music players), it was quite the party, to say the least. On the way there, neighbors handed out water, snacks and opened their doors to anyone who needed to use the bathroom. Bars had happy hour. I swear I’m not exaggerating when I say that in that moment I felt . the feeling —the feeling, I cant describe as other than strong. There are just no words to describe the feeling of community and power created when people come together in this way. Maybe it’s because we’re loud, or rowdy, even crazy to a certain extent. All I can say is, I’m so fucking proud of being Puertorriqueña.

It’s been a minute since July 17th. As I write this, its July 23rd and I haven’t slept for about a week. Protests started 13 days ago, and so did my anxiety and hope in this country. We are strong. Together we have quite literally singlehandedly prepared simultaneous protests without a single organizer, stopped an entire day while protesting on the freeway (on both sides), had thousands of motorcycles riding across communities urging everyone to join them in solidarity, have walked in the rain and sang in the sun…. I have never witnessed, and probably never will again, so many people come together for a single cause, and one that is so important to everyone. As a country, we have come together with a single message, WE WANT CHANGE. Not only do we want it, but we want it back. We want our democracy to speak for itself, and for our voices to be heard. We are the generation that said ENOUGH! It is now our turn to keep this momentum going, so that others after us will be able to use this tool as well. Let us not forget, ever, that for whatever happens tomorrow, whether he resigns or not. We are here, and we will not settle.

…and yet some people dare to say that there is no hope in this generation.

Cheers.

Raquel

UPDATE JUNE 23- 10:17PM:

Conversando con amigos nos reimos al pensar que posiblemente estas seran las preguntas que veremos en examenes de historia de Puerto Rico:

PR TRIVIA

1. Que artistas del género urbano participaron de la corrida del Rey Charlie el 17 de junio de 2019? Ñengo, Brytiago (+1 punto si dicen que se callo de la motora) Noriel

2. Quien renuncio primero, Rivera Marin o Llerandi?

3. A quien arrestaron primero, a Julia Keleher o Elias Sanchez?

4. Quien fue conocido como “el chota”? Raul Maldonado

5. Quien convoco el Paro del 27 de julio en la Milla de Oro? Residente

6. Que reportero se monto a caballo y en motora?

   a. Pedro Rosanales

   b. Kefrén Velazquez

7. Quien desconecto sus comments pero después apareció en VSJ? Daddy Yankee

8. Cierto o falso: Kefren tiene una licencia expedida por el CESCO para manejar cualquier tipo de vehiculo.

9. Cual de los medios estadounidenses destrozo a Ricky en television? Fox News

10. Que dia fue convocado el perreo en la fortaleza? 24 de julio de 2019

11. Completa la frase: “BOOM. ____” Chicken nuggets

12. Quien publico una foto que decia que estaban “ungiendo” un nuevo gobernador? Molusco

13. Cuales fueron las maneras de convocar protestas:

    A) Mar

    B) Tierra

    C) Cielo 

    D) Todas las anteriores

14. A que hora cierra la constitucion? 11pm…. NO, TRICK QUESTION. ES FALSO