Arts

—Pues primo, titi’s behavior is what happens in colonial societies. You don’t learn to value yourself let alone other people. Your mom is an empty shell full of rah-rah American bullshit fed to young Puerto Ricans that tells them they can never be satisfied unless they chase the American dream and leave the island behind. […]

In Latino literature and film, a common narrative is assimilation, where the protagonist wrestles with preserving the “traditional value” of the old world while embracing the “progress and enlightenment” of the new. By the end, even as the protagonist learns to appreciate and respect the values of their elders, what they really embrace and love are […]