We Found the Black Town

So we decided to take a trip to El Yunque National Forest a couple of weeks ago and took the scenic route along the beach. It took forever, but was a nice drive. On our way to El Yunque we went through a small town call Loíza. For a split second I could swear we were in Jamaica. Everyone was Black! LOL. I got kind of a kick out of it. Finally Puerto Ricans that looked like us! I don’t remember seeing any non-Black PRicans and this was a first. What does it matter you say? Nothing much I suppose. We are still American and they are still PRicans, but as a Black American I can’t help but get excited to see people that look like me in another country, especially when mostly everyone we see on a regular basis looks more White than Black.

One of the reasons we wanted to leave the US was so A & E could experience life not being a minority, but the same thing we were running from is the same thing we have run into here in PR. There is a visual class divide. PRicans with good jobs, nice homes, kids in private school, and dark skin are few and far between. Already A had to brush away a girl on the playground that kept playing with her hair. Clearly she had not seen kinky-curly hair up close before. Oh well, time to dust off Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children by Sandra Pinkney. “I am Black, I am Unique!”