WEBVTT

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(upbeat music)

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- So Marisol Rios De La
Luz is a college student.

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She's an undergraduate student

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here in New York City
at Columbia University.

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She lives with her family in Los Sures,

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more commonly referred to
as Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

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She's part of what we
refer to as the diaspora.

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She's the diasporican, for example.

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Although there are 3 million Puerto Ricans

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and Archipelago in the Caribbean,

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there are close to 6 million of us

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across the United
States, more than double.

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And I believe that is a
lot to do with this history

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of economic and colonialism
and social issues

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that have brought so many of
us here and we've made homes,

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we've made barrios, we've renamed streets.

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And so the character is a reflection

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of that part of our Puerto Rican,

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our Latin identity of
living in the United States.

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It's also an opportunity to show

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that we have our own narratives
that exist here in the US.

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One of the interesting things
about creating a narrative

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around a young woman such as herself

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is I'm able to as a
storyteller connect Puerto Rico

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to US stories because
as Puerto Rico continues

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to be a colony of the United States,

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there are US citizens living there.

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So technically, anything
that happens in Puerto Rico

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can still be considered
part of this US narrative.

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So Marisol is an undergraduate student

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studying environmental sciences.

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She takes a semester
abroad in Puerto Rico,

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but mostly, which is very typical

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amongst many Latin families that come

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from either working middle class families,

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there's a strong connection to her family.

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And in this case, although
she's going to Puerto Rico

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to study, she's also going
there to help out her abuela

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and abuelo who are running
their own restaurant.

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As it is typical of many families,

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they're retired, but they
still find something new

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for themselves to do.

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And while she's there, she
finds these mystical crystals

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that connect her to the Taino mysticism.

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The Tainos were the indigenous peoples

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of the Caribbean islands and
that part of our identity

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and culture is still
alive and vibrant today.

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And I wanted to bring that
into the graphic novels

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because for the most part,
graphic novels and storytelling

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are centered around European mythologies.

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They're usually inspired by the Bible.

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I mean, Superman is
literally a Moses archetype.

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And so understanding that, I
sought our own mythologies.

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As a Puerto Rican, you know,
what are the mythologies

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that are native and indigenous
to my identity and culture

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that have never been used in this genre?

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So Marisol as an undergraduate
student visits Puerto Rico,

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but the reality of living in a colony

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becomes incredibly real for her.

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And as the story progresses
over the last seven years,

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she has chosen not to
return to New York City

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and is a reflection of
many young Puerto Ricans

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who from the diaspora
born and raised out here

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are now choosing to move to Puerto Rico.

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I actually endearingly refer

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to that population as Neuvo Ricans.

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And it's honestly an incredible movement

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of many media story makers,
some of them are influencers,

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some of them are activists.

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And Marisol represents that generation

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of young diasporican who are now returning

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to Puerto Rico, but
still have a connection.

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And I think that's kind
of like the challenge

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that we have because
those of us who live here

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always have this mentality,

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it comes from the Spanish phrase.

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(speaking foreign language)

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I'm not from here and I'm from
neither environ from there.

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So we find ourselves kind of
like with this dual identity,

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where we feel connected to Puerto Rico,

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we feel connected to
living here in the US,

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but we don't feel connected anywhere.

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So we're kind of like tethered

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to both places at the same time.