Commentary | Franky Benítez

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VIDEO COMMENTARY: The Top 10 Reasons Why Puerto Rico Will Not Become a State

Posted in Commentary, Latino Rebels, Puerto Rico, tagged Being Latino, La Fortaleza, Latino, Latino in America, latinos, latinos in social media, LATISM, Leadership, Luis Fortuño, Puerto Rico, Social Media, University of Puerto Rico on April 10, 2011| 8 Comments »

If Puerto Rico becomes a state, popular Krispy Kreme stores would need close.

So, we were in San Juan this weekend and went over to La Fortaleza, the official residence of Republican pro-statehood governor Luis Fortuño. We asked for an interview, but Fortuño wasn’t home. (Bummer, we had brought coffee to chat.)

Instead, we did a video of the TOP 10 REASONS THAT PUERTO RICO WILL NEVER BECOME A STATE:

For those who don’t want to watch the video (and you should since my little sis Vanessa is in it), here is the latest Top 10 List:

10. You would need to change the kilometer signs to miles.

9. You would need to add actual numbers to over 8 million buildings and street signs. We estimate this to be about $3 billion in additional costs.

8. The drinking age would be raised to 21 from the current age of 12.

7. You could not take your “whiskey to go” on the drive back home.

6. The speed limit signs would need to change from miles to kilometers.

5. NO MISS UNIVERSE!!!!! Wha?

4. So long to the Puerto Rican Olympic Team. (Sidenote: One of my cousins is a sports doctor for some of the Puerto Rican national teams. He would be out of job. Another job loss under Fortuño.)

3. No Krispy Kreme stores. No more late-night runs to eat donuts.

2 . No casinos, unless we become an Indian Reservation.

1. No accents in signs. So Mayagüez would be Mayaguez, Rincón would be Rincon, and so forth.

TWO MORE BREAKING REASONS

No LIVE BANDS playing at 11 am!

No more pigeons. All the pigeons would gone. And kids wold be sad.

So, what would you add?

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Why Puerto Rico Matters to Me

Posted in Commentary, Latino, Puerto Rico, tagged free association, independence, plebiscite, Puerto Rican, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Democracy Act, status on March 2, 2011| 38 Comments »

I could write 3,000 words about my love for my homeland. I could tell you that Puerto Ricans suffer from the paradoxical condition of misguided identity: are we Puerto Ricans? Americans? Puerto Ricans and Americans? But as I was about to write this post, I came across this video: PUERTO RICO A NATION. This is how I feel. Puerto Rico needs to be free: either being freely associated with the United States or as an independent country. Simple as that.

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AUDIO: Fontana, CA Police Officer Harasses and Threatens My Friend

Posted in Commentary, Latino, Latino Rebels, Leadership, tagged Fontana, Latino, Latino in America, latinos, LATISM, police harassment on February 28, 2011| 2 Comments »

It started with a simple Facebook update from my friend, Rolando Poet Ortiz, who tagged me in the following photo of his wrists after he got handcuffed by a Fontana, California police officer last Friday as he was waiting in a parking lot minding his own business.

The posts from his friends were that of shock and anger. Yeah, Rolando was mad too, wouldn’t you be if you were mistaken for another person and unjustly cuffed? So, I reached out to him this weekend and let him share with us what happened. We recorded the conversation and you can hear it here below. You decide for yourself. I have my own opinions, and Rolando, who has worked his tail off after being incarcerated ten years go, is a role model to us all, a strong Latino who didn’t lose his cool under what appears to have been a very tense and ugly situation.