Boricua
I was asked what is Boricua.
The name honors name of honors, the Taíno name for the island of Puerto Rico, which the Taínos called Borinquén. This is a call to connect with our ancestors, and our indigenous roots. It's a name of resistance and pride.
To be Boricua is to be proud, resilient, and joyful. It's to have a love for your island that is as deep as the Puerto Rico Trench and as bright as the sun on a San Juan beach. It's a feeling that connects a abuelo in the mountains of Utuado to a teenager in the Bronx.
It's not something you can easily define with words, because you don't say you are Boricua—you feel it in your soul, you hear it in the music, and you taste it in the food.
It’s the people. It’s the music. It’s family. It’s gathering with friends and family to celebrate holidays like Navidades and Reyes. It’s the love of country “orgullo de patria”. That is the heart of being Boricua.
