June – Gone, But Not Forgotten

Let’s call this humble literary effort a sort of Consecration of Summer; a way to cherish the season in all its beauty and life affirming qualities.

Following the wonders of Spring, with its flowers in bloom and its ambiance of benign comforts, finally the Northern Sun, which shines here as much as it does in the Tropics, yet with treachery at its extremes, moves closer to allow for some all-time favorite outdoor activities.

Welcome then to the hot dazzle of Summer. Those who can, flock to the Hamptons; those who can’t, well - same ol’, same ol’ (count me among the same ol’s).

Being that June is the un-official Hispanic Month (with the usual lunatic PR media fare and lame Latino-themed features everywhere you look), all Hispanics, Latinos and other Americanos hereby agree that the perfect opportunity for celebrating our varied heritage has arrived. Let’s all step aside from the everyday hustle and bustle of this workaday world and hold a month-long fiesta and toast our common roots with wine, rum, cerveza, tequila or mezcal, chibcha, vodka, scotch, chichaíto, sake, bilís, mamajuana. Whatever… Salud!

Now’s the time to take to the streets, avenues and plazas of this great land and make merry and indulge this glorious life and all it has to offer. Now’s the time to hold beauty contests, march in colorful parades, write glorious odes and make public proclamations of unedited and unsurpassed praise. Now’s the time to gather and cheer, sing and dance, jump up and do flips in mid-air. Who cares? And given the chance: perhaps we’ll even make love as demented rabbits do.

Just as in ancient pagan rituals of fertility, prosperity and adoration, let our spirits fly like flags; let’s show our colors, show all colors. Let’s take the time to get in touch with what and who we are and adjust the geography of our future; let’s show those around us what we are made of and that we are here - period! Come on - deal with it and lets party. Lives flicker and dim in millionths of a second (-there is infinite smallness as there is infinite bigness, both equally mind-numbing), and it takes an eternity (if not longer) to make sense of it all. So why bother?

The media, though, thrives on negativity, even the hallowed New York Times can’t resist resucitating an old (and well-covered by all media at the time it was first “discovered” several years ago) situation with guess what - the AIDS crisis in Puerto Rico! As if a dose of Puerto Rican bashing just prior to The Puerto Rican Day Parade, the City’s biggest celebration of its proud Latino presence, was deemed appropiate by the editors at that prestigious publication. A dubious decision indeed. Not a smart move at all. But that’s just my humble opinion.

At least I would hate to think that it was a show of biased journalistic practice or hidden political agendas…

Go figure. Then, again, that’s just me.

It’s almost as if the news media wants to make Hispanic Month look like North America’s Spanish-speaking residents have a monopoly on stupid behavior when indulging in celebrations. Hey, baby - we Hispanics, Latinos and other Americanos know how to throw a fun bash. Especially Boricuas in New York.

Of course, there is a big difference between what the law allows (and what common sense suggests) and what one is capable of doing in the midst of a wild party ambiance (believe me, I KNOW!!!!!). One thing definitely got nothing to do with the other or vice versa…(Wink! & Salud!)

Hey - shame on all those drunken, noisy Puerto Ricans! ¡Se les debería caer la cara de vergüenza! (Double Wink!! & Double Salud!!)

- To witness some very funny drunken Puerto Ricans and other funny s%@t from the Puerto Rican Day Parade go here:

http://www.sitv.com/blogs/whatshot/2007/06/13/puerto-rican-day-parade-madness-part-2/


Alongside the newspaper supplements containing idiotic guides on how to party like a real Boricua (or any Hispanic, Latino and other Americano for that matter) I for one would’ve loved to see an inkling of real and unified media coverage placing South American immigrants in this hostile land under real scrutiny, and under a fair light, taking into consideration our respective places of origin, our social and economic dynamics and our real contributions to this land.

- Go here for information on “Politics con Sabor” a new documentary film about the Latino presence in New York politics:

terramax.biz

- Go here for a review in Spanish by Max Resto of “Politics con Sabor” published in Puerto Rico’s El Nuevo Día:

http://www.endi.com/XStatic/endi/template/nota.aspx?n=239788

Yes, June is gone, la cruda is almost over (Thank God Almighty!) and life goes on.

:-b