Derek Ruiz

Some of these vignettes made me weepy, many were enlightening, and only one I found a little boring and skimmed through it. I love the diversity of storytelling here--fiction and nonfiction, science fiction and fantasy, history and politics. Starting a new feature was always an adventure. I don't know what it is--perhaps I get too many ARCs with unfinished coloring (not a big deal, obvs, since they're ARCs)--but the COLORS here just blew my mind. Just about every feature gets an A in my book for that. I am so glad Lion Forge is bringing this to the public; it's an incredibly important message about a US colony (yeah, that's what it is. don't care who wants to spin it anyway else) and an incredibly resilient nation in desperate need of our support.

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Many thanks to Lion Forge and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.… (mere)

An anthology means something for everyone, and that's especially true of a comics anthology, because in addition to the different subject matter each story tackles, there are different artistic styles as well. Most of the stories are personal to some degree or another, delving into family history and heritage and the ways that Puerto Ricans remain connected to the island even when they aren't living there.

The topics in this anthology range from Taino mythology to the brutal history of the Spanish conquistadors, who largely wiped out the Taino people on Boriken and then replaced the Taino population with enslaved West Africans. Poor treatment of Puerto Rico continues through to the present day, as is evident by the U.S. response to the destruction of Hurricane Maria (especially compared to the U.S. response to the Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas). Puerto Rico Strong also includes family histories - many Puerto Ricans have worked on the mainland, served in the military, and many women were the subjects of early birth control tests (unknown to them, a major violation of informed consent).

One hopes that this collection will do at least a small part to inform readers of the strength of Puerto Rico and its people - these unique Americans - despite the ways they've been taken taken advantage of and mistreated for centuries.

Quotes

What unites us as a people isn't just the culture we come from, but the one we carry with us. (Alan Medina, 18)

"I'm learning that they tell us a lot of stuff...For real, there's a lot of stuff that's not in our books..." (Javier Cruz Winnick, 146)

There's nothing you can do about the past. You can only remember it and use it to shape your tomorrows. (Amparo Ortiz,198, inspired by the poetry of Julia de Burgos)… (mere)