Perk up your ears and focus your eyes. Images emerge revealing the soul of the Puerto Rican. Stories and histories intertwine; stories of the island, the community, the family, the individual, the Diaspora. Stories of who we are.

    There is a rhythm, a cadence. It hits like an electric shock that starts at our feet and rises through our legs and hips and backside and shakes us. It is the ancestral call, calling us to life. And we respond with all we’ve got, our souls filled with sky and sea and land.
  

    If you want to know me, you’ll have to look me in the eyes. I am the face of the Puerto Rican who stayed, and the one who left in search of new horizons.
  

    We have scattered over the face of the earth, leaving the marks of the good worker in the furrows of distant lands, sowing seeds of responsibility, wisdom, and creativity.
  

    Even so, the rhythm surrounds us all, It embraces us, and defines us when we talk, when we dance, when we sing; it defines our artistic creations, our work, our prayers.
  

      We are many. But if you listen closely and watch, you’ll see me...you’ll see you...you’ll see the hues and shades of our soul and diversity. And you'll come to a better understanding...of who we are. 
    

BACK TO TOP

Poetic Essay: Aracelis Ortiz de Correa
Translation: Andrew Hurley

Visit our In The News page for the latest news about the Así Somos | Who We Are project.

Perk up your ears and focus your eyes. Images emerge revealing the soul of the Puerto Rican. Stories and histories intertwine; stories of the island, the community, the family, the individual, the Diaspora. Stories of who we are.

There is a rhythm, a cadence. It hits like an electric shock that starts at our feet and rises through our legs and hips and backside and shakes us. It is the ancestral call, calling us to life. And we respond with all we’ve got, our souls filled with sky and sea and land.

If you want to know me, you’ll have to look me in the eyes. I am the face of the Puerto Rican who stayed, and the one who left in search of new horizons.

We have scattered over the face of the earth, leaving the marks of the good worker in the furrows of distant lands, sowing seeds of responsibility, wisdom, and creativity.

Even so, the rhythm surrounds us all, It embraces us, and defines us when we talk, when we dance, when we sing; it defines our artistic creations, our work, our prayers.

We are many. But if you listen closely and watch, you’ll see me...you’ll see you...you’ll see the hues and shades of our soul and diversity. And you'll come to a better understanding...of who we are.

Part of the Who We Are National Project, a 501c3 organization