An ode to the Rodriguez's:

I am the Port of Riches. I am Puerto Rico. I am Black.

I am where the wind blows and the sun never stops beaming

I am where the palm trees bend to the smiles on the faces of children chasing coquis into the fiery sunset

My heart beats as loud as the drums of the rhythmic island heartbeat

I am only five foot seven inches but my spirit reaches high to the heavens tickling the feet of my ancestors

I am my Abuela Juanita practicing Santeria reaching out to the ties of our Yoruba ancestors

I am her, breaking the boundaries of the slave trade and going home to Africa

The Caribbean Sea flows through my veins

Blue, calming, feeling

Breaking through the cracks of the concrete jungle of Brooklyn that molded me

I am as loud as the traffic that replaced the chirping birds

I am me

I am them

The screams of Africans ripped from their homes fuel my fire

The perseverance of Tainos motivates me

I am acceptance

I am where arroz con pollo and bacalaitos cook on the stove during Christmas time

Where Titi Betty talks in an Irish brogue and Uncle Robert gives out Chinese New Year blessings

I am the young child who sat eagerly in the bed with her grandfather learning the hebrew prayer of baruch atah Adonai elohaynu melech ha'olam…

Who also understood the importance of Islam and often feels her Uncle Malik’s spirit guiding her from Jannah

I am the melting pot of my family
I am Black

Holding my head up high past the road blocks placed in front me
Where my onyx hair and lips as wide as the Nile reach

Skin glowing rich deep mahogany when the sun hits
My hair defies gravity and my skin absorbs ultralight beams

I am confusion and heartbreak

Knowing that I come from the beautiful continent of Africa
Lost because I do not know where from

I am Black and beautiful
They made me Africa made me Puerto Rico made me Brooklyn made me

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