Let’s talk about Puerto Rico—not just the beaches, the music, or the culture that gets used when it's convenient. Let’s talk about the truth. Let’s talk about the colonization, the forced silence, the pain that’s woven into the DNA of our people, and the way America turns its back on the very blood that helped build it.
Because what’s been done to Puerto Rico—and what continues to happen—is not just history. It’s still happening.
How Did Puerto Rico’s Colonization Begin?
It started the same way it always does—with ships, greed, and the sound of prayers being weaponized.
In 1493, on his second voyage, Christopher Columbus arrived in Borikén—what we now call Puerto Rico. He didn’t “discover” anything. Our Taíno ancestors were already living rich, spiritual, and organized lives. They were caretakers of the land, not its owners. Their communities were based on harmony, sustainability, and respect for nature. But to the colonizers, they were nothing but obstacles.
Spain claimed the island in the name of the crown. Then came the slaughter, the forced conversions to Christianity, the rape, and the labor camps. Thousands of Taíno people were wiped out. Their spirits live on, but their blood was spilled in silence. And that silence has been repeated generation after generation.
The Empire’s Grip: What Spain Did to Us
Spain used Puerto Rico like a pawn in a long colonial game. Our land became a military outpost and sugar-producing gold mine. Africans were brought and enslaved to replace the Taíno workforce. Families were torn apart. Languages were erased. Identities were buried under the weight of a colonizer’s boot.
The blending of cultures—forced, not chosen—gave birth to what we now call Puerto Rican identity: Native, African, and European. A mixture born of pain, survival, and fire. We carry that blend in our faces, our rhythms, our food, our blood. That DNA tells the story they keep trying to erase.
And Then America Came
In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the United States took Puerto Rico as a “territory.” The word sounds harmless, but let’s be real—it was another colonizer, another flag, another set of chains.
Puerto Rico didn’t get freedom. It got occupation. America made it look like a rescue, but it was just a switch of control. Our people were turned into second-class citizens of a country that never truly embraced us.
We were drafted to fight in wars, taxed without voting rights, and denied basic self-determination. They took our land, our resources, our voices. The Jones Act still strangles our economy. Our ability to govern ourselves is choked by Congress, where we have no vote.
Every time Puerto Rico cries for help, America turns its back.
So What About Our DNA?
Yes—Puerto Ricans are Native, African, and European. That’s not fiction. That’s science. That’s our truth. Our heritage was shaped by colonization and slavery—not by choice, but by force.
So why does America reject us? Why does it ignore the Black, Brown, and Native roots that helped build its foundation?
Because acknowledging us would mean confronting a very uncomfortable truth: America doesn’t just forget its history. It buries it. And Puerto Rico is one of those buried stories—too brown to be embraced, too American to be free.
Is Colonization Still Happening Today?
Yes. Colonization is alive—it just looks different.
It’s in the lack of political power. It’s in the way Puerto Rico gets left behind after every hurricane, every earthquake, every economic collapse. It’s in the way outsiders buy our land while locals are pushed out. It’s in the way our voices get muted while our culture gets copied.
We are still a colony in the 21st century. Still begging for respect. Still asking for dignity.
But we will not be silenced.
The Truth Can’t Be Hidden Forever
We are a people forged in resistance. We carry the pain of our ancestors, the strength of survival, and the fire of truth.
If you care about justice, if you care about truth, then you must care about Puerto Rico—not just when it’s trending. But always.
Don’t let them rewrite our history. Don’t let them forget what they did. And don’t let colonization hide behind a different flag.
© 2025 Santiago D.C. Maria. All Rights Reserved
Independent Free Press Blog Entry
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