[News] The Deep Secret of the Puerto Rican Day Parade

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2015/06/14/the-deep-secret-of-the-puerto-rican-day-parade/ 



  The Deep Secret of the Puerto Rican Day Parade

by Nelson A Denis 
<https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&text=Nelson+A+Denis&search-alias=books&field-author=Nelson+A+Denis&sort=relevancerank> 

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The Puerto Rican Day Parade has a dark secret.

It has nothing to do with celebrities, rich corporations, or slick 
politicians.

It is a deep mystery, from the heart and history of Puerto Rico, which 
explains the whole parade…

Seventy years ago, Boricuas were given the worst jobs and housing in New 
York City. They were also beaten by their neighbors and the NYPD.

And yet in 1958, some brave Boricuas dared to hold a humble parade where 
they could march with pride, arm-in-arm, through the heart of Manhattan.

Mothers clapped their hands…to the /bombas/ and /plenas/ of their childhood.

Fathers schooled their children…explaining the floats dedicated to 
Puerto Rican towns known for sugar cane, tobacco, coffee, pineapples and 
plantains.

The Puerto Rican pride spread rapidly.

By 1966, the parade was already a “must do” event for politicians and 
celebrities.


Today, the parade is a star-studded TV spectacle with 90,000 marchers, 2 
million spectators and a horde of corporate sponsors. Marc Anthony, 
J.Lo, Ricky Martin, Victor Cruz, and nine mayors — including Michael 
Bloomberg and Bill De Blasio — have all “starred” in it.


But even as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade has become one of the 
nation’s largest and best-known outdoor celebrations, there is a secret 
that few people suspect…a secret that reaches into the heart of every 
Puerto Rican, without their even knowing it.

It is the secret of the Puerto Rican flag.

Have you ever noticed the passionate, over-the-top, surrealistic display 
of Puerto Rican flags at every Puerto Rican Day Parade?

Everywhere you look, it is an ocean of flags!

Block after block, you see this:


And this:


And this:


And even this:

This is no accident.

There is a *reason* for this emotional attachment.

There is a *reason* why /Que Bonita Bandera/ and /Preciosa/ bring tears 
to our eyes…and sometimes we don’t even know why.

It is because this flag represents an ideal…the ideal of lost youth 
and forgotten illusions…much like last night’s dream…or the prayers we 
once heard, at our grandmothers’ feet.

But there is one *more* reason, why this flag is the emotional heart of 
the parade.

It is the secret which explains everything.

We are crazy about this flag because for many years, any Puerto Rican 
who owned one, would go to jail for ten years.

*WHEN OWNING A FLAG WAS A FELONY*

For many years, the United States wanted only _one_ flag in Puerto Rico.

Here is that flag, in the inauguration of the first US Governor of 
Puerto Rico, in April 1900:


Pedro Albizu Campos refused to salute this flag.

In order to crush Don Pedro and the Nationalist movement, a law was 
passed in 1948, right after Don Pedro got out of jail.

It was called *Public Law 53*, and also known as /La Ley de la 
Mordaza/…the Gag Law.

Law 53 made it a felony to sing a song, whistle a tune, or utter *_one_ 
_word_* against the US government, or in favor of Puerto Rican independence.

This included singing /La Borinqueña/, or owning a Puerto Rican flag.

Own a flag…ten years in jail.


Every day, the FBI and Insular Police raided people’s homes, searched 
for flags, and hauled Puerto Ricans off to jail.

In many cases the flag – all by itself – was the sole piece of evidence.

Own a flag…ten years in jail


They did it *_all_ _over_* the island.

In November 1950, they arrested *3,000 *Puerto Ricans within one week!

Some of them were only eight years old.

Public Law 53 was passed in 1948.

Even though it violated the US constitution, it took nine years to 
repeal it, in 1957.  The very *next* year, in 1958, the first Puerto 
Rican Day Parade was held in New York City.

The flags and celebration were everywhere. The passion was astonishing. 
New York had never seen anything like it.

The Puerto Rican Day parade exploded into New York City, with the 
emotion and power of an entire people…who had finally found a voice…for 
one day on Fifth Avenue.

The U.S. politicians couldn’t explain it, but they did know one 
thing…that they better get in front of it, and yell /“¡Que viva Puerto 
Rico!”/

That much they /did/ understand.

And so, the deep secret of the Puerto Rican Day Parade is this:

The parade was born in the hearts of an entire nation…where every 
person was declared a criminal…if they dared to show their flag.

Que bonita bandera

Que bonita bandera

Que bonita bandera es la bandera Puertorriqueña

*¡ QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO !*

*For a history of the War Against All Puerto Ricans 
<http://www.amazon.com/War-Against-All-Puerto-Ricans/dp/1568585012>, 
read the book…*


Si prefiere ver la página web en español por favor visite: 
http://www.guerracontratodoslospuertorriquenos.com 
<http://www.guerracontratodoslospuertorriquenos.com/></span

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