DON’T FORGET OUR TRADITIONS

With the new year comes expectations for new beginnings, prosperity, losing that little holiday weight and a clean slate.

As most folks put their Christmas decorations away the hope for a better year ahead looms large.

On January 6th, many Puerto Ricans on the West Side (and worldwide) will celebrate Dia de Los Tres Reyes Magos (Day of the Three Kings’ Day). Shoeboxes will be full of grass and placed under children’s beds in hopes for one last present to celebrate the Epiphany.

Over the last two months of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, it will not be surprising to see holiday lights and festive foods at any Puerto Rican household you visit. The festive spirit is ingrained in our people, possibly due to the struggles and hardships we have had to endure throughout generations as citizens of the United States.

Recently, a friend and an interview subject for my documentary (Boricua Soy Yo), Dr. Luis Martinez-Fernandez, wrote a column on how “Puerto Rico Has the World’s Longest Christmas Season” and it honestly didn’t surprise me.

Whether they are holiday traditions or National cultural celebrations, our people are proud, humble, and full of joy. It is rooted in the Puerto Rican spirit.

As a mainland born and raised Puerto Rican, it is something I try to recapture and regentrify into my own identity. I was never raised on the island, the traditions I know were passed to me from my mother, my aunts, and uncles, all here on the west side of Buffalo. These traditions may seem “old school” to some, but these traditions are the way we honor those who came before us.

It’s one of the reasons I set forth in producing my documentary and telling it from the point of view of someone who was not born on the island. If you were to read the title of my film, you would notice the grammatically awkward title is a call back to how many of us living here of Puerto Rican descent speak broken Spanish.

Although I sometimes feel like our traditions are dying every year, it makes me happy when I see grown Puerto Rican men wearing Middle Eastern robes on January 6th, as it brings hope that our traditions aren’t lost.

A year ago, I wrote a column about our elders’ stories being like recipes, and how we need to write them down to pass on to generations that come after us. Hollywood is taking note. It’s no surprise that over the last few years, films, animated and live action, have been made to capture Latino Audiences.

I’ll admit, I’m happy to see the attention our cultures are given for the masses, I also cannot help but feel a little guarded over how our culture is portrayed and how our traditions are not co-opted by others for their own gain.

Celebrate and protect our traditions. Share them with the world but protect them from those who want to take them over or change them to fit into their own circle.

May you all enjoy a beautiful Dia de Los Tres Reyes Magos, and may the new year bring you blessings and joy.