Reflections on Puerto Rico, diaspora, and watching HERstory unfold!
“I wasn’t born on the island, but the island was born in me.”
— Rosie Pérez
The Ace of Pentacles has been following me lately. In tarot, it represents the planting of a seed, a new beginning made tangible, and the promise that what is nurtured today can become a legacy tomorrow. As I watched Puerto Rico’s U-17 Women’s National Team make HERstory, I couldn’t help but think of today’s card of the day. This isn’t just a victory, it feels like the first seed of something much bigger.
Throughout my adolescence until now, as I approach my mid-thirties, these words feel like home.
As a Brooklyn-born Afro-Boricua, I’ve always understood what Rosie Pérez meant. We live on that bridge, “Ni de aquí, ni de allá.” Thus, Puerto Rico has never just been simply a place I visit since my late teens. It lives in my family’s DNA, la comida Boricua, and the Puerto Rican dialect woven into my everyday life, even when school administrators told my mother not to speak the language to me. It lives within the music that moves through me, and the pride I feel whenever our people step onto a world stage or I must admit, step OUT, anywhere.
Puerto Rico, la isla Borikén, is also where I met my wife. It shaped our love story just as much as it shapes my identity.
So when my social media feeds filled with Puerto Rican flags, tears, and celebrations for the U-17 Women’s National Team this week, my heart swelled with pride.
The team had already qualified months earlier, making HERstory as the first Puerto Rican national team; men’s or women’s, at any level, to qualify for a FIFA World Cup tournament. But when the official groups and match schedule were released this week, the dream suddenly became tangible.
We could finally picture it.
Puerto Rico.
At the World Cup.
LAS MUJERES, THE WOMXN!
Sometimes HERstory happens in one moment, but we don’t fully feel its weight until later.
And Wifey and I are so excited! We’ve already been talking about getting our jerseys and planning our match days. She’ll proudly wear Mexico’s Women’s soccer jersey, the country my querida wife is from; and I’ll proudly wear Puerto Rico’s Women’s soccer jersey. Unless they’re playing each other, you’ll find us cheering just as loudly for both, ¡ya tú sabes! 🇲🇽🇵🇷
One of my favorite parts of our marriage is celebrating each other’s roots as if they were our own because, duh, now they are one.
This isn’t just about a tournament.
It’s about every girl who kept playing even when she couldn’t see someone who looked like her on the world’s biggest stage. It’s about families who sacrificed, leaders and coaches who believed, and athletes who dared to dream beyond what had ever been done before. And let me remind you: our team made history as the first Puerto Rican national team; men’s or women’s, at any level, to qualify for a FIFA World Cup tournament. ¡Pa’ que lo sepan!
As an educator, I think often about what young people believe is possible, I think deeply about supporting marginalized communities to reach upward mobility in safe, sustainable ways. Representation doesn’t solve every inequity, but it expands our imagination. When our children see someone who shares their culture, language, or story accomplish something extraordinary, they begin to believe they can too. I can write a thesis, and I am certain there are already countless theses that center how representation matters, along with other important factors to gain access, but for now we will celebrate this representation!!
Somewhere, a young Boricua girl is watching this team and imagining herself in that jersey.
And somewhere else, a child in the diaspora; like I once was, is discovering that you don’t have to be born on the island for it to live inside you.
That’s why Rosie Pérez’s words have always stayed with me.
“I wasn’t born on the island, but the island was born in me.”
We carry Puerto Rico wherever and EVERYWHERE we go.
We celebrate its victories.
We grieve its losses.
We tell its stories.
And when Puerto Rico makes HERstory, we all get to celebrate.
Wifey and I can’t wait to cheer on Puerto Rico this fall!
These phenomenal young ladies are writing the blueprint for HERtory.
Now the world gets to watch Puerto Rico make HERstory in Morocco (one of the countries that changed what it meant for me to be a tourist..more later on that). 🇵🇷⚽
✨Up next: Morocco. And after that? We’re going to manifest Poland all the way to Brazil. 🇵🇷✨
The Ace of Pentacles reminds us that every legacy begins as a single seed. Puerto Rico planted another one in 2026. I have a feeling generations of Boricuas will harvest what these young women started.
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