Episode 17: Boricua

We have no weapons, we only have pots and pans. We have no power, we only have pots and pans. Beat the pots, bang the pans. This is our revolution. Welcome to the Pots, Pans and Gritos podcast, a voice for the English learner. I'm your host, Nolan Shigley. In March of 2016, President Obama loosened the restrictions on American travel to Cuba. And, well, I don't know if I was one of the first, but I immediately purchased my ticket to Havana. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the entire experience was surreal. But what stuck with me the most was the 90-mile flight over this tiny strip of Caribbean Sea. I recall sitting on that airplane, surrounded by what I assumed were Cuban Americans who had never visited the home country of their family. And as the island came into sight and the wheels touched down, only 45 minutes after leaving U.S. soil, the cabin of the plane erupted in applause, cheers, and what sounded like cries. Here were people with the blood of a nation in their veins, but who had never set foot on their homeland. Today, you'll hear the story of Ileana, a young lady who, like those passengers, grew up not knowing the land of her father's culture. But as a teenager, she had the opportunity to finally visit the tiny island of Puerto Rico and experience its richness of food, history, music, and most importantly, her people. Along with this coming-home story, you'll be treated to two artists with connections to Puerto Rico. Four-time Grammy-nominated Plena Libre has been treating audiences for over three decades with their musical styles of plena, bomba, salsa, and other Afro-Caribbean sounds. And while our guest today was so thrilled that Plena Libre gave us permission to use their music, she chose it over her own. Yes, Ileana is also a singer-songwriter, but insisted on using Plena Libre as today's soundtrack. Of course, we'll share her music as well later in the program. As always, our mission is to create an archive of meaningful accounts while sharing artists with similar experiences and cultural backgrounds. And now, here are their stories. ♪ I'm going to start right away and put you on the spot. Off the top of your head, list some of those famous Puerto Rican musical artists. Maybe not so famous. We have Daddy Yankee. Daddy Yankee, very popular with my students. Ricky Martin. Old school. Yeah. We have Bad Bunny, of course. I think the number one artist of Puerto Rico. Yeah. I've read he's sold more records maybe than Michael Jackson. He was number one or number two in the world at some point. Maybe now, I'm not really sure. Who else we got? Frankie Ruiz. Unfamiliar. Papa De Salsa. Oh, yes. Yeah. A lot of guys. The one girl that I do listen to, she is from Isabela, I want to say. Her artist name is actually Illy. Her name is Ilyana, but she spells it I-L-E. Oh, I wonder why you're a fan of her. Well, she actually does really beautiful acoustic combination. A lot of more African elements in her music, which is really interesting to listen to. One thing that I really like to do is I like to try to deep dive into Puerto Rican indie. Oh, good. I was going to ask you that because if you listen to our past episodes, it's usually it's either folk or it's indie. I haven't gone deep into Puerto Rican indie music. The artist that I'm currently thinking of is Busca Buya. They're on the Un Verano Senti album with Bad Bunny. They're really good. But yeah, Busca Buya, if you're going to get into Puerto Rican indie, I feel like that's a good way to start. Puerto Rico is smaller than the state of Connecticut. Have you ever been to Connecticut? I've driven through it. That highway is a nightmare. Oh, really? Yeah, it's the worst. I suppose if it weren't a nightmare, it might take, what, an hour to get through Connecticut? I would say, yeah. Puerto Rico is smaller than Connecticut. You just listed some of the world's most popular artists are from this tiny island in the Caribbean Sea. What is your theory? I have my own theory, but I would love to hear your theory. How does this little island, it's basically the Great Britain of the Caribbean Sea. England gave us the Beatles and Radiohead. I mean, seriously, the Beatles and Radiohead, one small island. But Puerto Rico has given us Salsa. It's given us Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee. Oh, and my favorite, by the way, Calle 36. How are all these artists coming from this little island? Luis Fonsi with the Despacito video in San Juan. That video blew up. Yeah, how? I have never actually looked into the reason why. If there really is a reason why, right? I think it's many factors. I think music is a very powerful thing. It gives people a sense of freedom. I think Puerto Ricans were part of the United States, but kind of like not. I feel like music is just a very strong way to express that feeling. Because of that, Puerto Ricans have a lot of pride. Again, that's also something to express that. I kind of think of it as the hip-hop revolution that kind of happened in the United States. Yeah, absolutely. Similar to that. I can't really explain it in a better way, but that's how I think of it. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe we're just genetically talented. I think the great diversity, the grand diversity in Puerto Rico, maybe due to there are so many reasons of immigration into Puerto Rico, maybe poverty also has an element to it. It's a way to express ourselves and express these raw emotions. Who is your favorite PR artist? I would say at this moment, it's not even the artist. It's just the song. It's La Moririta by Ricky Martin. I heard that song when I was at the Spanish Academy, and it is one of my favorite songs of all time. The beat is just so infectious. It's so good. So the reason I'm asking all these music questions is you are an artist yourself. You write acoustic folk music. Is that how you would describe it? Yes. And I was like, what? And I checked you out on Spotify, and I was like, oh, my gosh, this is the music that's going to dominate and be highlighted on the podcast, and we're still going to highlight it. But then Plena Libre gave us permission to use their music, a Puerto Rican band, and you were like, no, no, we're using Plena Libre. And I was like, no, we're using your music. I really wanted to use them over myself because I don't consider myself like – I'm an artist that's Puerto Rican. I'm not a Puerto Rican artist, if that makes sense. Yeah, it does. When I listen to your music, it certainly makes sense. Yeah, yeah. Well, we'll share your music later in the program and certainly talk about that more. Can you introduce yourself? I'm Ileana. I'm a senior at Salem High School. My dad is Puerto Rican, and I'm a singer-songwriter. And your mother? My mom is from Maryland. And what does she do? She is a Spanish teacher here at the high school. What? Yes. She's my Spanish teacher. Literally. Oh, she's your Spanish teacher. Yeah, she's my AP Spanish teacher. How awkward is that? It's actually fun. Is it? Yeah. What happens when you turn in an assignment late, don't do your homework? I don't do that. That helps. That helps. And she teaches, like, literally two doors down. Yeah. From our EL classroom here. Yeah. Let's talk about your Hispanic background. Cool. Shall we start with your dad's story? Yes. So my dad was born, I believe, he's going to probably just backtrack me, but Ellenville, New York. His parents, his dad is from Ponce, and his mom is from, I believe, Mayaguez, and they had a fair amount of family members in Ellenville. So my dad grew up there, and he had two siblings, and then the, I want to say it was like this channel factory, something like that, it shut down. Where was the factory, New York or Puerto Rico? New York. New York. Okay. And it moved somewhere, and so anyways, my grandparents decided to go back to Puerto Rico. And so about five, six, seven years, my dad lived there. More with his mom's side of the family, a lot of his dad's family was in New York, so they moved to Mayaguez, which is on the southeast coast, this is the west side of the island, and it's like the house is like in the jungle. It's like literally in the jungle. Not El Yunque. No, no, no, El Yunque is the northeast side of the island. Okay, kind of a southeast San Juan, yeah? Yeah. Okay. In Mayaguez, especially where the house is, it's like a 20-minute drive up the mountain, and you're like in the middle of nowhere. You have like two neighbors, and it's like one street, like God forbid you need to turn around. So exactly like New York City, right? Sure. It's like, yeah. But it was really weird because from the house you can see Mayaguez. Like it feels like you're not even in Mayaguez because you're so far away. But, yeah, it's like in the jungle. Very cool. And so he was, how long did he spend in Puerto Rico? He grew up there, yeah? Yeah, he spent, I would say, the formative years in Puerto Rico, and then he moved back by himself when he was 15, and he lived with the family members that were in Ellenville. He lived with families that were taken in from the church. He really, so my dad's Catholic, and that was like the space for him. Father Hickey is a guy that always comes up in his story because he was kind of like father figure, not to make a pun or whatever. Yeah, fathering. Yeah, and then so one Christmas he was like, hey, who wants to take me home for Christmas? And this family was like, okay. And so those are, I call them my grandparents and my aunt, and it's kind of funny because my grandma is Catholic and my grandpa was Jewish, and so my dad goes from living in completely Catholic Puerto Rico to this Catholic Jewish Italian family in New York. So yeah, and then he got into Bridgewater, moved down here for college, and then met my mom. So he's been here since basically college. Yes. In the United States. Does he identify still more with Puerto Rico? Yes. Yeah. And so did this influence your mother in terms of becoming a Spanish teacher and learning Spanish? My mom, I think she's always had this natural affinity for wanting to learn more about other cultures. She was actually going to go into international business, and I think either she studied in Ecuador maybe before and then she decided she wanted to teach Spanish. She'll also fact-check. Yeah, she will fact-check. You really are. She'll be like, that's incorrect. No. Take it off on your grade on your papers. Yeah. Every time I ask her about it, she's just always kind of like, I feel like it's something she's always kind of just enjoying, something she's always kind of known, and so it just worked out. But marrying a Puerto Rican man certainly did not hurt her Spanish, right? Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. It didn't hurt. But you said you did not grow up fluent. You were taught a little bit of Spanish when you were young. Yeah. From what I remember and from what people have told me, one story that I've been told is that my babysitter, my mom had to give her, like, this list of words because I wouldn't say it in English. I would say it in Spanish. So, like, I don't know if I went hungry. And she'd be like, what are you saying? There was no Google Translate. I guess not. That was, I don't know, what, 2008, 2009? I don't know. She had technology. No excuses. Well, anyways, so there was that, I guess, for basic words or phrases. And then I started school, and my daycare got more kids. And it just, they weren't speaking Spanish, so why would I want to, you know? Kind of, like, adapting to the environment. Yeah, and especially in elementary school. I mean, there were no other Spanish-speaking kids. There was this other girl. Her family was Cuban, but she also didn't speak Spanish. And neither of us really, like, understood what it meant. Yeah, yeah. And so you kind of lost your, it wasn't your first language, but you kind of lost this, I guess, connection to your father in terms of his language. Yeah, and so my parents are divorced. And so what we would do, like, we did do Three Kings Day. But, like, I never, like, understood, like, why. I was like, oh, it's just something that I do, like, Three Kings Day. So, yeah, there was just, it was just, like, little things like that. And some of my dad's family does live in Roanoke. So I was able to, like, go over and we'd have dinner. I guess just because I was little. I just never, like, thought about that. What is this No Sabo? What is the concept of it? From how I've experienced it, basically No Sabo is, oh, you didn't grow up speaking Spanish. So you can't say that you are Puerto Rican. You can't say that you're Peruvian in serious case. And especially if you are biracial, that's, like, the double whammy. Like, oh, you're not even, like, all the way. Yeah, yeah. And it's just almost, like, this guilt. Like, you just didn't try hard enough to be Puerto Rican or be Peruvian. So that took a really big hit to, like, my, how do you say it? Kind of your identity. Yeah, my identity. And if it weren't difficult enough, as you kind of gave evidence to, at what age did you feel this guilt of No Sabo? And by the way, what does No Sabo literally mean? It means I don't know, but it's incorrect. Yes, it's grammatically incorrect, right? So it's, yeah, a play on words. Yes. When did this guilt start creeping in? I would say maybe the beginning of middle school. Towards the end of elementary school, I started saying things like I'm Puerto Rican and, like, all this stuff. What's kind of funny about that is I didn't really register that the grandparents that took in my dad weren't, like, his biological parents, which is really funny because, like, you look at family pictures and you're, like, there's something not right here. But it was, like, one day I was, like, wait a minute. Why is dad so different from my grandparents? And then so my mom was, like, it was, like, whoa, like, what? She was, like, you're Puerto Rican. I was, like, no way, dude. That's crazy. Yeah. So then I was, like, whoa, that's really cool. Like, I want to know more about that. And then sixth grade came around and middle school wasn't fun for anyone. It wasn't fun for anyone and it's, like, that period of time where you're. . . It's awkward anyway to begin with. Yeah, and you're already, like, questioning everything about yourself. Absolutely. And it got to the point. Yeah, so this is when I was having my hip surgeries and I wasn't outside that much. I was, like, pale. Like, I was, like, white. And so it was, like, my appearance, what I was going through at the time and. . . And your loss of your language, yeah? Loss of language. And there were, like, several times where people were just, like, oh, well, you're Mexican. Like, what else can you be? Like, what are you kind of thing? So that just kind of, like, really went to my head. And then I found out about the term no sabo in, like, eighth grade, which is over COVID. Again, another horrible period to have an identity crisis. And that just was a really. . . That was, like, a big, like, punch the gut. Is that the phrase? Punch the gut? Yeah. Yeah. Planning that was one of the hardest things I feel like I've done. Because the whole time I was, like, am I even allowed to do this? Like, can I even do this? Like, this doesn't feel right. Like, you know, I don't know. It just didn't feel like I should. It didn't feel legit? It felt legit. It was one of my top five memories. But it just, I didn't deserve it. Yeah. That kind of thing. Who are you feeling this identity pressure from? Was it from other Hispanics, other Latinos, or Americans who just said, no, you're not Puerto Rican, you don't look Latino? A bit of both. And I think most of it was indirectly. Growing up, I have always, like, as in elementary school, I remember being like, oh, well, why don't I have blonde hair? Why don't I have blue eyes? Kind of this thing. I was surrounded by everyone who had blonde hair and blue eyes. And then so when I kind of started to understand who I was, then it was like, well, I'm not dark enough. Or, you know, I can't pass. So, like, I'm not one or the other. I'm this weird combination just walking around. And also one of the other big things is that a lot of people, not a lot of people, just certain people, don't think Puerto Ricans are Latinos because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory. But that's in my personal experience. I don't know if that's a general experience. Your trip to Puerto Rico, finally you get to travel to your father's homeland. Is this where the epiphany occurs? Yes. Yes. And I don't know. I think Sarah told me this. But flying in and you see the island come into view, I just about, like, burst into tears. Like, I can't even explain it. And actually, I talked to my therapist about it because I was like, girl, what was that? That was weird. Coming home. Yeah. She was like a lot of my clients who, you know, weren't born in their parents' country or moved away when they were little. And they go back. It's like this emotional experience. Like, you just feel it in your bones. And that was, like, that was one of the best experiences of my life. I love that. You were talking to Sarah. So, she had that same experience when she saw the Peruvian coast for the first time in May. Yeah. Yeah. And I had traveled to Peru. But you didn't feel. I didn't feel it. There wasn't that feeling. But the thing that I did feel was, like, there's people kind of like me out in the world somewhere. So, then I go to Puerto Rico and it's, like, the best thing of my entire life. One of the biggest things for me was I saw Puerto Rican girls that weren't super dark but weren't super light, that had, like, kind of curly hair, but it wasn't tight, ringless. And I was like, oh, my gosh, there are people that finally look like me. And it's amazing. And that was really awesome. And then my dad actually flew down because I went with the school. And my dad flew down and he picked me up and we went to his parents' house. And that was, like, my first real time of meeting my grandparents. I hadn't met them before. My mom and my stepdad, our family, we went on a cruise. And we stopped in Puerto Rico. And it was, like, a surprise. Like, I got to meet my grandparents for the first time and my aunt and my cousin. But, like, just for, like, three hours. So, then here I was living in the house that my dad grew up in for, like, four days. And, you know, like, experiencing just even, like, a little bit of what he experienced. It's like your life just reset. Like, it re-began. Right? It restarted. Pretty wild. Yeah. It was so wild. And I learned so much about my dad and even my grandparents. I mean, on our way up to the house, traversing the mountain, we stopped at this little banderilla. Maybe. I can't really remember. But people were just hanging out. And he stops the car and he gets out. And then he talks to this girl and he comes back to me and he goes, this is, like, your namesake. This is Ileana. This is, like, one of my best friends growing up here. And I was like, what? Like, I never knew that. So, yeah, it was really amazing. Like, I didn't really know that much Spanish at the time. But just, like, the effort my grandma put into, like, communicating with me was really cool. And so, coincidentally, we are celebrating the first week of Hispanic Heritage Month. And I suppose a few years ago it might have meant something to you. But what does it mean to you now as you describe yourself as Hispanic, biracial, Puerto Rican-American? Yeah. Now it's, like, a celebration. It's so, it's just so cool. Like, I just, for the first time starting last year, I've really been able to feel a part of it. And especially at Salem High School, there aren't that many Caribbean kids. You know? It's a lot of Latinas, but not that many Caribbean, yeah. And so, before, it was like, I feel like I'm watching something that, you know, just kind of hanging out on the sidelines. Like, you know, but I've just been able to embrace it. And you are part of something bigger here. Yeah. That's so exciting. You're also going to speak at our Hispanic Heritage Assembly, yeah? Whatever Senora Martinez wants me to do, I'm going to do it. Going outside this summer to do something I can only share with you. I hate driving on the highway, but it's the only road that takes me to your place. I've got big, big dreams that ain't never going to come true. I've got big, big dreams that I want to share with you. We'll do it, we'll get a car, we'll go someplace. I've got big, big dreams that ain't never going to come true. So we just listened to your beautiful song, Big Dreams, off your album, Everything I Wish I Could Say Out Loud. Mm-hmm. We've talked about Ileana, the young student who became a Latina. Yeah. Let's talk about Ileana, the musician. Cool. When did you pick up the guitar? Actually, I did the classic route of picking up the ukulele first in about 2020. And I just loved it so much. I was like, I want to keep doing this. So I got a guitar for my birthday in 2020. And it just was, it just grew from there. And say what you will about COVID, that was a good time to pick up a guitar. It was. It was a bad time, I think, mentally for a lot of people, including myself. But oh my gosh, did I get struck with the music bug during that time. And it made for good songwriting. Yeah, exactly. And most people that just pick up the guitar for the first time, I mean, they're not songwriters. They're just finding tablature on the internet and learning songs. But you're a songwriter, and you've written a lot of songs, enough to fill an album plus. What are the themes of many of your songs? Is there a reoccurring theme, or does each song have its own story, its own subject? Each song has its own story, I feel like, whether it's fictional or, you know, an event. Inspiration I get the story from, if any of my friends listen to this, they're going to know because I have been bothering them for years about this. But, you know, you go through things, and then you write about them. And so pretty much everything I wish I could say out loud, a lot of the songs were, like, a lot of self-doubt, which is where the title comes from. And a lot of self-doubt and a lot of, like, replaying moments, like why did this happen, what could have happened. So that was a big thing for me then. For me now, I don't know. I can't really even, like, describe it. Like, I feel like I just sit down and write a song, like, I don't know, hey, this bad thing happened today, so I'm going to write a song about it. So that's kind of, like, how it works for me at least. Does your Puerto Rican culture come out in your music? I try. You try. I try. But I have not been successful so far. I think when I got back from the academy, I was like, okay, maybe I can finally write a song in Spanish. And I tried, and it just wasn't good. It was not good, at least by my standards. Well, it's still your second language now. Yes. And so, I mean, to think deeply, critical thinking, figurative language in a second language is very difficult. As an EL teacher, I see that. Yeah. So I think one day, one day I want to start singing in Spanish, and then from there, you know, maybe some reggaeton, some salsa, some salsa. What about covers in Spanish? Maybe that would be a good way to start. I have started that, and I need to find my singing voice in Spanish, if that makes sense. I've grown so accustomed to working on my voice in English when it comes to, like, editing and producing. And I did a cover of a Taylor Swift song that I had translated in Spanish. Really? Yeah. It was a lot of fun. And I just am not used to how I sound singing in Spanish. So that's the first hurdle that I need to get through. The biggest dream that I have is to have an album that's in Spanish. Beautiful, beautiful. And you also attended a music academy as well, correct? Music academy. The, I think, is it Jefferson? Oh, the Music Lab. The Music Lab, I'm sorry. Yeah, that was an after-school program. And I had started that in the fall of 2020 through Zoom, and then I went in person. And it has provided me with so many opportunities. I've played at Martin's. I've played at Spot on Kirk. That's amazing. Yeah. Okay. You picked up the guitar just a few years ago. Go to the Music Lab, and now you're at the Spot on Kirk, which is a very, very cool, if I may use the word again, spot. You get to see good indie music. And it was a lot of fun because we were performing with an Indonesian artist from Virginia, Almira Zaki. Shout out. I love you. And so, yeah, just doing that. And I got up and sang, what's that song by? Is it Led Zeppelin? Living, Loving Maine, something like that. Now you're calling me out. Yeah. Now I'm the old guy that's supposed to remember the Led Zeppelin song. Let's finish with this term, Boricua. Do you know what it means? No, I do not. Oh, cool. Okay. So the island of Puerto Rico, by the Taíno natives, was originally called Boricuen. And so then, you know, they were the people of Boricuen. And so that's where the term Boricua comes from, and it defines basically Puerto Ricans. It's a really weird term because every Puerto Rican is going to use it. But it's not, you are Afro-Latino, you are more like Spaniard descent or native descent. You're just Boricua. Like, that's just what you are. Because Puerto Ricans are so incredibly mixed from African cultures, the native culture, and the Spaniards. And we've had the Irish and the Italians. My great-grandmother, Grandma Galletti, I think her parents were immigrants from Italy. So Puerto Rico is an incredibly mixed group of people. And so the term Boricua just kind of brings us all together. And what's really special about that term for me is that, you know, I can be who I am with one parent that's Puerto Rican and one parent that's not. But I'm Boricuan because everyone on the island is mixed and, you know, have all these backgrounds. So I do too, you know. It's a really unifying term. Ileana's closing remarks take our interview full circle and answer that puzzling question, how does an island produce so much meaningful music? Truly, it's the diversity of a nation that has experienced so much hardship, turmoil, and, well, maybe a complicated relationship with the United States. But it's also the result of that beautiful diversity, rich culture, and an intense passion for life. Thank you, Ileana, for sharing your thoughts and experiences regarding your home island. And, of course, thank you for sharing your captivating songwriting. Thank you, Plena Libre, for allowing us to share the various styles of music from Puerto Rico and thank you, listeners, for joining us on another episode of Pots, Pens, and Gritos. But, as always, thank you for being an ally to English learners everywhere. 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