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tv   United Shades of America  CNN  June 11, 2017 7:00pm-8:01pm PDT

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/s [cheering and applauding] >> thank you, thank you, thank you. thank you. many of us have not thought about puerto rico until hamilton. let's be clear about that. yeah, manuel more an put puerto rico back on the map where it belongs. puerto ricans are american citizens. yep, three people. convince me. get wikipedia, pull it down. can't pull it for the presidency. they have 3 million people on the island. we could have used those votes, you know what i'm saying? just to win more. [cheering and applauding]
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honestly, there is no way to control president trump. that right there. we know he's watching cnn. i can't wait to find out what he thinks about my show. i can't wait to find out. i'm going to find out what he thinks about my show. my name is w. kamau bell. as a comedian i've made a living finding parts of america that i don't understand. now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and belief that add color to this crazy country. this is the "united shades of america." ♪ >> america never ceases to surprise me in the many different ways it chooses to define who is and who isn't a citizen. the indigenous people of this land were given citizenship, but they don't have the right to buy land on the reservations that
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they were, a hem, invited to live on. and my people silt sen ship was doled out over the course of years from not at all to before you vote, can you please read this? to, you can be president, but just show us your birth certificate. and nowhere in this country is that strange citizenship two-step clearer than in puerto rico, which is a commonwealth. or a territory. or, okay, it's not a state. see, that's the problem. i don't even really know what puerto rico is or how it got to be whatever it is. and do puerto ricans even want it to be what it is? honestly when i was growing up, i didn't even know any puerto rican people. the only puerto rican i had ever heard of was juan epstein from welcome back cotter and he was part jewish. it's my fault i don't know about puerto rico and its people because they certainly made an impact in america. like supreme court justice sonia soto mayor. rosie perez to j-lo to ricky
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martin. and there is geraldo moving on. if i want to get my questions about puerto rico answered, there's one place i should go. new york? why? because there are over 1 million puerto ricans living in greater new york city. ♪ in fact, there are 5 million puerto ricans living in the 50 states, which is crazy when you realize that puerto rico itself only has 3.5 million people. luckily, i'm going to start my education with an actual scholar, my friend rosa clement e. she's a activist, journalist and all around as kicker. so, puerto ricans are american citizens. >> not by choice. >> there we go, that's what i want to hear. >> nobody ever asked puerto ricans do you want to be american citizens. in 1898 the united states invades puerto rico and claims it as a prize from the spanish american war.
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after 1917 anybody that's puerto rican is board as an american citizen but we're still dealing with a colonial government. >> now, here's a little history that wasn't in my high school books. spain gauchl thve them freedom. uh ton me. eight days later the u.s. won the war and claimed it as one of its colonies. which is weird because we just fought a year 100 years before over the fact we knew it sucked to be a colony. currently the u.s. has five major territories, including puerto rico. american samoa, guam, the northern marian a islands and u.s. virgin islands. i know less about those than i do puerto rico. there is a push to regain independence from the united states of americas. some are like leave it as it is. >> people have to understand about the need for independence
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is that there is a fear that has been instilled on the people in puerto rico that if we were independent, we couldn't run our own country. and that's what happens when you're a colony. and also the repression against the nationalist party in puerto rico was deadly. the bonsai massacre where the united states military opened fire on easter sunday on nationalist marching after they came from church, all of that is real. >> yeah. the same thing happened to inmates, like you get institutionalized. >> you get institutionalized in colonialism. >> puerto rico has always had a strong independence movement and the ponce massacre is one example of how the u.s. tried to crush it. in the 1930s, pedro campos was the leader of such a movement. he was educated at harvard and came back to the island and led an agricultural strike in 1934
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that doubled the sugar cane workers' wages. he was sent to prison after threatening national security a way of saying don't threat big business. had he they will a peaceful march in the southern town of ponce to protest his imprisonment. the governor of puerto rico ordered by the u.s. was ordered to shut down the demonstrations by any means necessary. that meant killing 19 unarmed peaceful protesters. >> independence hasn't worked, not because we haven't tried, but because we've been so repressed. >> yeah. i wonder if puerto rico approached race differently than the rest of the u.s. oh, god i hope they do. >> we're often taught we're like this rainbow people, one-third indigenous, one-third european and one-third african and, you know, this push against hispanic was to at least up lift that we're not just this european
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descend ants, right? hispanic means descend ant of spain. when we go to spain we're not like embraced. >> welcome home! oh, you're back! >> by 1865 on the island of puerto rico, 54% of the population is african descend ants. i'm afro latino. i'm an african descend ant. but to say that a lot of them aren't going to identify racially as black. a lot of people are like what's a borrico? borikan is the original name of the island of puerto rico. that's the taieno name. >> the indigenous people of puerto rico were the taeno. in 1493 columbus discovered their island the same way your neighbor discovered the gardening shares you left in the backyard. slavery, disease, and things you didn't learn about until you went to a liberal arts college. on an island this small,
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spanish, african and indigenous people blended but not always by choice. i think the only mainstream representation of puerto rico i grew up with was west side story. >> and it's the worst one. [ laughter ] >> check, duly noted. >> the play itself, the lasting of it and the consciousness of america, that is not who we are. >> what did it mean growing up knowing that was out there, west side story? >> i mean, i really believed that that's still how a lot of people may see puerto ricans. but when you look at new york city alone, people might not just see the innovation, the ingenuity and the genius of a people that have this american citizenship, are treated like second class citizens, but still make something happen. and that's what i would rather people see than west side story and there's a lot of other good movies that they can watch like that to know what puerto ricans do and who we are.
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before i head to puerto rico, i want to get a better understanding of not what it means to be a puerto rican, but to be puerto rican in new york city. the majority of puerto ricans started coming to new york in 1945 to join the post-war boom. and even though they were u.s. citizens can can freely move between the island and the main land, in many ways they were treated more like, well, immigrants. you know the deal.
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jobs, culture, and they still faced some of these prejudices today. in the 1970s, artists like pedro who won an obe helped form the poets cafe. it was krcreated to be a sanctuy and others in the mainstream to express their creativity. it is still a hub and the organization has entrusted daniel galat with its guidance. tell me more about this place. it's not called the everybody cafe. clearly there is an element of like new york puerto ricans. >> absolutely. the term originally meant new yorkers of puerto rican heritage. and the initial desire to have this collective of artists was based, in part, on the challenges and the frictions between being part of this city
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and still having a homeland and identity tied to a different island. and how, if your family and your friends or your family and your spouse or your family and your coworkers identify with different communities, how to reconcile those different energies. >> with the current generation of puerto ricans and artists, what does this space mean to them given the whole history of the space? >> there is a sense in this space that the literary movement went from being a hope, a dream, a conception to being a reality. >> i am a grandson and first of the neo, direct descend ants of uncle sam. pillager and peaceful pillager. i survived the coal. i was enslaved and sold. belly the beast with the small pox cure. my people's blood is so mixed,
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but our soul is just so pure. now when you are you're checking for words, cousin, know who you're seeking. i am and always have been a new york an. >> i can't think of of a better way to wrap up my new york experience. now finally i get to do something a regular travel show host does, instead of just playing out a collection of my nightmares and societal fears for your amusement, i get to go to the beach. and in another country, sort of. ♪ ♪ we've all heard of the mythical idea of an island paradise, but puerto rico actually is an island paradise. in addition to the miles of beaches, it has the only subtropical rain forest in the united states. and even their favorite animal is cute. now, as is custom on my show,
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i've got to dress the part. say hello to island casual kemal, the action figure will be available next year. jokes sold separately. kemal, nice to meet you. so, what's your favorite thing about puerto rico? >> seeing the ocean. >> the weather really. >> everybody loves it here. puerto rico, beautiful island, a lot to see, a lot to do. >> everywhere you go it's really beautiful. where is the ugly section of puerto rico? [ laughter ] >> there isn't one. >> are you from here? >> we're from new york. normally wheer not this dark. when i came, once we got the sun, hey, hey. >> what do you think puerto rico should do, should it be a state, stay as a territory, or should puerto rico fight to be its own independent country? >> i think independence would be the way to go. >> be an independent country. >> being aligned with the u.s.
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is an advantage, but there are some disadvantages. >> i've only been here a little while. how could i possibly do a show but just be in puerto rico? [ laughter ] ♪ >> while i went searching for an umbrella drink and a house to buy i could charge my house wouldn't know about it right away, i ran into this couple. >> my name is edwin. my wife iris. >> are you two from the island? >> we're from puerto rico. >> born and raised? >> i'm from new york, but i was born here. >> i notice people go back and forth. >> we always come back. >> what do you love about this island? >> i love the beaches, i love the people mostly. i love everything about it. i'm a veteran and i miss miami when i went to vietnam. the best army of the world, united states. >> thank you for your service, sir. >> thank you, thank you. we love the united states. and we also want the american
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people to see us because we also are americans like they are. we defend the nation just like they do. >> and you defended the nation, but puerto ricans can't vote for the president. >> that is true. >> that doesn't make sense, right? >> that doesn't make sense. >> yeah. >> that's right. while puerto ricans can vote in the presidential primary, when it really counts during the election, america says why don't you sit this part out. and unlike those videos for gay teenagers, it gets worse. remember the act that made them citizens in 1917, by incredible coincidence that act passed just two months before uncle sam created a mandatory draft of all american men for world war i. congratulations, you get some shrapnel, you get some shrapnel. nevertheless, puerto ricans have fought with honor in every american conflict since. you think puerto rico should end
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up being a state, stay like it is or be independent? >> i think the people should decide that, but i would like to keep being puerto rican, keep part of this land. but i don't have to be the enemy of the united states or speak against it to feel like that. >> you can be proud to be from puerto rico and proud to be an american all at the same time. >> definitely. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. just like i'm proud to be a black man and also proud to be an american. sometimes those things feel like they go in opposite directions, but they can exist in one body. like being proud to be a puerto rican and proud to be an american in two bodies. do you feel the same way he feels? >> yes. >> okay. [ laughter ] >> that's a married answer. >> sure, sure. well, thank you. >> thank you. 471-horsepower lexus lc 500 or the multistage hybrid lc 500h. experience amazing.
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♪ if i've learned anything so far, it's that puerto rico is misunderstood or not thought of at all by a lot of americans. one man who is fighting against that is edgardo miranda rodriguez. he's bringing comic books to the mainstream. ♪ >> finally an interview where i
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have to read comic books to prepare for it. there's this whole movement now of people sort of outside the mainstream of comics starting to write comic. it's been going awhile. like coats taking over the black panther. do you feel there is a parliament of that thing like actually bringing authenticity to the work? >> my first comic book for marvel a got a bit of buzz because i introduced a black grandmother that was puerto rican in the story. i was like, wait, if people are getting excited over just a grandmother, how would they respond to an actual hero who has her own book? not just a hero who is in the background, but a hero who is actually prominently on the cover. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> and a name that is unapologetically puerto rican. >> see, many times in america comic books are made more diverse by taking established white characters and changing their race, ethnicity or agenda. white thor becomes lady thor.
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ms. pakistan i muslim american mar vet. spyder man, half black half latino. he realized people needed heros created in their image, not just rebra rebranded in their image. it's like when your mom gives you your older brother's clothes and says, you've got new clothes. >> you're a light skinned puerto rican. >> she's a black puerto rican. >> yes e. most people a lot of times make the hero in their own image. >> the hero that's always been in my life, my moms, my cousins, my mentors and in my family, we're everything, you know. blancito to negrito, black. for me it's like if i have the tools to create a story and make a hero, i'm not going to be ego
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ti tistical and make myself a hero. we don't see ourselves, we've been invisible. i had the chance of debuting this character at a parade. a young activist lawyer who dressed up. little black, brown puerto rican children and see her with their eyes popping out. i thought to myself, you just saw a super hero for the first time that looks like you. and she grew up to see, let me see your super powers. they would flex with her. and i started tearing up. i was like, this is not a comic book any more. >> no. >> so that's my story, bro. >> thanks for talking to me. appreciate it, man. this is great. >> thank you, man. thank you. thank you, man. take two. >> for the kids, absolutely. appreciate it. ♪ >> puerto rico is so beautiful and p the people so friendly it's easy for me to forget the island is in dire financial straits. if puerto rico were to become a state it would be the poorest
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state by far with 46% of the population living below the poverty line. and puerto ricans know they can't wait for their government, either one, to bail them out of the situation. ♪ ♪ so puerto ricans like crazy legs are doing their part and more. crazy legs is legendary in the hip-hop community. he is a part of the rock steady crew who are pioneers of the break dancing movement. and at age 50, those legs are still crazy. ♪ he has created the rock city festival using his name and influence to bring money and exposure to the island and his people. hey, how are you doing, man? >> i'm good, good, good. checking out some of the locals. >> how do you hookup with these guys, how do you find the new guys that are out there? >> being that i'm puerto rican, i always wanted to do something that benefited the island and started music festival to raise awareness about the social and economic crisis and also long-term goal is to create a
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full-fledged tutoring program. >> not tutoring how to be -- tutoring education. >> academic. >> academic tutoring in that sense. >> yeah. >> how did you know about in? i am of the age seeing break dance and thinking that is magical. what are they doing? i was at the age a little kid seeing it, renting the vhss, trying it, didn't work out for me. do you think puerto ricans are getting enough notice for this? >> no. we get the literal first shows that presented hip-hop as a culture. and we were part of that whole culture clash and fusion of a new downtown scene. >> it's time to right some wrongs here. while conventional wisdom says hip-hop was solely invented by african americans, it was truly a multi cultural movement. if you could dance, flow, do graffiti, make clothes or help people do any of those things, then you could be down with hip-hop. puerto ricans like crazy legs were instrumental in creating
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and spreading the culture. and now he's creating a further evolution in the movement while using it to raise up his people. go on, crazy legs. >> somebody's been practicing. ♪ >> normally on this show, i focus on the non-touristy places. but i'm going to make an exception. former miss puerto rico has invited me here for a surprise. >> where did you bring me? >> i brought you to the cariba hilton. he's the guy who is going to tell you why. [ laughter ] >> famous people in this bar. >> let's do that. can't just talk about pi pina coladas. we drank our way through the history of the pina coladas at 7:30 in the morning. i feel like i'm on vacation suddenly. >> it's thick. >> i'm a cool fella. >> basically that's puerto rico in a glass. >> good job, puerto rico.
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there we go. >> salute. >> salute. >> can you feel the difference? >> i can feel the difference. >> this one is a dangerous one. >> that's the dangerous one. you don't taste the alcohol so much. give me another one. you drink three or four, man, i just feel happy. >> that's our low-calorie version. >> who is playing music? that's my favorite song. >> that's crazy talking to you. >> i'm going down to the favorite one. old-fashioned, chocolate bitters. >> chocolate bitters was also my nickname in high school. [ laughter ] >> whoa. luckily i could handle it. i'm drunk. >> no, you're not. you're way too tall to be drunk already. [ laughter ] ♪ for design to play a... ...positive role in what was going on in the world.
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there's a jacket that's reflective for visibility... ...a sleeping bag jacket, jackets that turn into tents. i usually do my fashion sketches on the computer. i love drawing on the screen. there's no lag time at all. it feels just like my markers. with fashion, you can dress people and help people. it's really cool to see your work come to life. well it's a perfect nespresso hold on a second.orge. mmm. ♪
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troubles can't be solved by dancing. this isn't an '80s movie. they're going to need some serious help. in the 1970s congress created tax breaks that drew many major corporations to the island. at its peak, puerto rico was producing 25% of the world's pharmaceutical drugs, and 90% of america's, including 100% of our
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viagra. hey. oh, by 2006, congress had phased out those tax breaks so those companies started moving out and no amount of viagra could stop the economy from going flacid, just in time for the great recession to hit. >> we're in the midst of a serious financial crisis and the federal government is responding with decisive action. >> federal government policy encouraged puerto rico to do what federal government policy encourages broke as college students to do, borrow more money. and just like a person with an english degree making you a mocha, the debt got so big puerto rico couldn't pay it back, and now it's a stupefying $72 billion. i'd hate to be the guy that has to solve that problem so i'd much rather talk to him. the newly elected governor, and his campaign manager elliott sanchez. >> i talked to a couple mayors in the show. this is the first governor i've
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talked to. thank you for helping me work my way up the governmental food chain. >> exactly. >> so, the whole idea behind me coming to puerto rico is i knew i didn't know enough about puerto rico. >> we are american citizens, yet we don't have the same rights as other citizens. so, there needs to be a path forward. i am pro state, i want to be full part of the united states, get equal treatment. >> yeah, so, you believe puerto rico would be better off if it was officially a state? >> yes, i firmly believe that. we feel that we are limited in our growth. if you look at all of the states, even the poorest states like mississippi and west virginia, they still have an income per capita that's more than twice what we have over here in puerto rico and, you know, the glaring difference is how we participate in the federal context. our representation, our voting rights for the presidency. on the business front, when we try to do business with other nations, we are treated as a state so we can't -- >> you can't go directly to another nation.
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>> but when we go to the states to do interstate commerce, we are treated as a foreign country. we're limited in both respects. >> talk about the fiscal oversight board called promisa. when it was described to me, wait, obama appointed some people to be in charge of you? they have elected you governor. >> it's grate new world in that respect. we have a board now to set barriers to how much we can spend. we've had a tradition of overspending. ♪ >> allegedly to help fix the crisis, the federal government, which can overrule puerto rico's governor and legislature at any time came up with the pro mesa bill. the bill offered no money for the island, just some debt restructuring at a very steep price. pro mesa also puts a board in place that controls the island's budget, financial plan, regulations and just for good measure, the laws. here are bernie sanders's
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thoughts on the bill. >> the united states of america should not treat puerto rico as a colony. we cannot and must not take away the democratic rights of the 3.5 million americans of puerto rico and give virtually all power on that island to a seven-member board. we must not allow that to happen. ♪ >> of course, the bill passed anyway. thanks, obama. i still miss you. you can represent puerto rico on the board, but you don't have a voting share. >> that's right, more or less like everything that congress does with puerto rico. >> for example, we don't have congressmen, but we have a non-voting delegate. we have a guy that gets to go there and complain, yet he can't do anything about it. >> gets to be in the room. >> gets to be in the room except when they have to vote, and they say, excuse you, you don't get to be in the vote. >> some people feel like they're being treated liked children.
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>> it's fundamentally unfair. take, for example, if barack obama were to move to puerto rico, hee'd lose the right to cast an absentee ballot. he could go to cuba or venezuela and cast an absentee ballot but he couldn't do it in puerto rico. it's complex, kamau. go get a pina colada. [ laughter ] >> that's how we feel. >> he can move to cuba and send in an absentee ballot. >> anywhere in the world except puerto rico. it's like the u.s. supreme court decided in the 1800s, we were foreign but in a domestic sense. >> so, it started on a puzzle. >> it started with the sentence, only yoda understands. >> exactly. >> it doesn't make sense, but it has real effects. say you're japan and want to sell a car in puerto rico. just go through the panama
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canal, drop off a few cars on the island, and continue to the main land, right? not so fast. because of an obscure u.s. maritime law, it's illegal to go to more than one american port per visit. so, the cars have to go to the main land, then get transferred to an american ship with an american crew, and then go to puerto rico, making cars cost 40% more on the island and groceries 21% more, which is a source of that old puerto rican pr proverb, you have lost your mofoko mind. what is the saying against that? >> most people in puerto rico value their u.s. citizenship. more than 90% want to vote for the president of the united states. it's become a political argument on how you get to that point. the reality is texas has a bigger independence movement than puerto rico does. [ laughter ] >> so, you need to look at the
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numbers. >> i feel like it's the movement for state hood for puerto rico, i can imagine people in the center of the states saying, it's going to screw up the flag. [ laughter ] >> well, we solved that. >> have you solved it? >> we already have a a 51-star flag. >>, is that right? >> it looks nicer. >> well, our friends, we're going to upgrade the flag, 2.0. >> the flag is getting an upgrade, i like that. it's time for an upgrade, a refresh of the brand. if that doesn't work, do an nba trade, puerto rico for texas. texas be its own nation, we get puerto rico, i like coming here better. i feel like it's a win/win situation. >> it evens it up. >> a straight up trade. thank you very much. >> thank you so much, kamau. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> by the way, if you're wondering how bad will that 51st star would screw up the flag, you're looking at it.
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so maybe it's time to upgrade. get more out of your water. get zerowater. ever since i arrived in puerto rico, i've been looking forward to talking with people in the afro puerto rican community. theirs is an identity unique among american black folk. while there were, of course, many people who were enslaved on the island, the majority of africans who came to puerto rico before the 20th century were free. and since then, afro puerto ricos have settled all over the island. but the town of louisa is
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keeping the island's rich blend of african, spanish and native culture alive. and a great example of that cultural blend is the tradition. each year loiza has a if he felt val featuring these characters. raul is legendary in the community for making the masks. >> in the spanish tradition, remember, it represents the moors. a lot of them. because the moors invaded spain for eight centuries. that was a type of war between them and they tried to get them out. >> okay. they didn't like them for two reasons. you're muslim and you're not our people. >> uh-huh. [ laughter ] >> they use a grotesque mask and costume with wings because the spaniard had to represent the moors in a bad way for them. and loiza made all the masks for
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them. >> the masks have a long history. back in spain in the 1500s they had festivals celebrating the defeat of the black muslim moors by the white christian spanish. they would represent the scary dark invadeers. when the tradition came to puerto rico, it meaning completely got switched. as the culture added the more elaborate ma elaborate masks and the africans added drums, it began to represent strength and defiance of colonial rule. it went from representing white people kicking out black people to a sign of black people's strength. like "la la land" moonlight and not so fast, gozling. >> so, this is one of the masks that they use. and it is made in coconut. i have here the whole process. >> okay. >> once you select the coconut with the machete, have to cut it -- >> oh, wow.
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you have to go down? >> this way i have to clean it in the way that you can put your face. >> okay. >> this is too short. [ laughter ] >> need a bigger coconut. >> yes. >> you do that with this in >> with this? >> with those knives you turn this to this. >> yes. once it's ready, i paint it like this. >> wow. >> and we have another heritage. we combine this festival with another typical afro puerto rican music. and we want to show you, to dance bamba with us. >> okay, i'll do my best. >> bamba. >> bamba. >> bamba puerto rican. ♪ ♪
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>> i have never danced so long, so hard, in such high heat in all my life. in fact, i only forced the producers to show this much of the dance because it almost killed me. [ applause ] >> woo! >> you like it? [ laughter ] >> i think i speak bamba maybe worse than i speak spanish. [ laughter ] >> and i don't speak spanish that well. [ laughter ] >> but thank you. after the dance, raul introduced me to my new best friend, pitoro. >> cheers. gracias. woo! oh, there we go. [ laughter ] >> now it's coming in. start up the drums again. i got to try puerto rican moon
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shine is what they call it. it's not really moon shine, but that's what we call things when we're not familiar with them. [ laughter ] >> and i can't describe the taste. how can i describe it? it's kind of like what you think if you could drink a marvin gay song. that's what it tastes like. [ laughter ] >> because you're ♪ i'm hot just like an oven ♪ come on, come on, come on [ cheers ] . experience amazing.
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wow. yeah, wow. not getting in today. not on my watch. pests never stop trying to get in. we never stop working to keep them out. terminix. defenders of home.
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i'm meeting back up with avery and she's agreed to take me to some of her local spots. i thought this would be regular coconut but you spiked it. >> i know. so it has a spike of whisky. that's very islander to do. you have your hammock and palm tree and whisky and you're done. >> you don't have to buy the coconut, go to the beach. >> it takes a little bit of work. you can also cross over here and buy it. >> oh, okay. that's what i would do. if i tried to scale a tree to get the coconut later that day at the emergency, but she told me to climb the tree and get a coconut and a machete.
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>> it's good, isn't it? >> how do we cheers? [speaking foreign language]. >> like in the name of the father, the son and the -- [ laughter ] >> feels like that but blessing my drink. >> so where are we now. >> this is part of lousia. it's mostly black dominated. we have indian, spaniard and african ancestors so you can see someone like me with blue eyes and light erskine but bronze and someone dark more like you. you can have red heads. you can see absolutely everything here. >> so tell me, do you ever feel like there is a same thing color thing like the states. sometimes there's a -- how do i say this, disputes? >> here, i haven't had the discrimination, my friends haven't but beauty pageants, most of the girls that win beauty pageants have light erskine. even still have dark skin and
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they do participate and they do range in the finalist but not necessarily win. it's been very few girls that have recently we have alba and she was top two in miss universe but let's say it was quite a surprise to some people because locally she didn't get as much support. >> and she's dark erskier skinn >> yes, because internationally -- >> we think you're great but we don't know if they will think you're great so we should send somebody with light erskine because that's what they like out there. can i pull up a picture of alba? i want to see what she looks like. wow, i pictured somebody like in the states we would call her light skinned. >> yeah, she's not everyone that dark but she's still black. >> yeah. >> what is considered here. >> yeah. >> especially when she won internationally, she was is like now you're accepting. >> oh, yeah, don't forget i'm black now. [ laughter ] >> just then we started hearing sirens and i thought oh, no, my
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perfect image of puerto rico is going to be ruined. that's not what was happening. what was happening a something called an asulta. >> i thought it was a prison sigh reason siren or ambulance. they will rob us of our sadness. it's intense. >> you can see a lot of noise, music, color. ♪ ♪ >> usually what they will do is come unannounced in the middle of the night and you will surprise people with music, wake them up and go to another house and wake people. >> are people okay with that? >> they love it. they gather the money for the graduating class. they are seniors.
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♪ ♪ >> dance it. >> i thought i was dancing. that's p >> that's perfect timing. ♪ ♪ >> what am i doing? [ cheers ] ♪ ♪ >> okay. this is the second time i've danced in this episode and despite what you may think, i'm not a great dancer and i know it but i loved puerto rico so much i couldn't help myself but this is the good kind of not being able to help yourself because unfortunately, many people have helped themselves to too much puerto rico and that's what has left puerto rico in a bad financial state it is in and that sucks because this place is
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truly incredible and since they are at least for now americans, they deserve all of our help and while we're at it, let them vote. there is nowhere else in this country that is as beautiful, friendly, and just generally awesome as puerto rico, but don't take it from me. go see puerto rico for yourself. you don't even need a passport, for now. >> it's one of the greatest experiences of may life just happened. >> i saw. >> you my march rriage, my firs daughter, second daughter and whatever that was. fourth greatest experience of may life. >> good. you got carried away. >> they pulled me into the crowd. why are you pulling me? >> welcome to puerto rico. one, music, food. >> and now nap. >> thank you. and my hips. >> start shaking. >> yeah.
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/s [ applause ] >> who here by applause has a gun? [ laughter ] >> wait a minute. [ laughter ] >> i love it, this guy applauded then put his hand up, me! me! me! i got it! [ laughter ] >> but, you know, i realize as a kid, my mom had a gun and it was just on the top shelf on her closet. had a note next to it, wish a nigga would. and my dad is from alabama, yeah. you can't be from alabama and not have a gun. i asked my dad, did you ever have a gun? come here.

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