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> > > Remembering Blanca Canales: Musings of a Tuesday Morning in Camuy, Puerto > Rico > > by Olga Jimenez de Wagenheim* > > Today, as I sat on my terrace planning to read a book on how to prevent > Alzheimer's and other brain diseases (by Drs. Dean and Ayesha Sherzai) I > heard gunshots. (No, I don't live in a drug infested urban area. Actually, > I live in a quiet, semi-rural, middle-class development, in a sleepy town, > surrounded by retired and young professionals.) Yet, I distinctly heard > gunshots not far away and I became intrigued. > > As a retired historian I am prone to fanciful associations. In this > case, I recalled the words of Blanca Canales, the Jayuya rebel who took a > leading role in the Nationalist uprising of 1950. She said years later > that she and her young followers "used to train for the revolution by the > river's edge [in Coabey] under the pretext that they were hunting for > pigeons." But since Coabey lays in a valley, surrounded by mountains, "the > shots echoed and alerted the neighbors." > > That memory led me to fantasize that maybe another Blanca might be > training in nearby Camuy (where coincidentally the cry for independence was > to be given in September of 1868). Perhaps, I thought, the island is > already fighting for its liberation from the colonial yoke imposed by the > United States in 1898. > > A free island, I went on, could negotiate with the producers of the > materials we need to build storm shutters before the next hurricane season > is upon us. It might even be able to bring down the cost of solar panels, > batteries and other gadgets required to install the solar systems many of > us want to install in order to keep our refrigerators and lights on, > regardless of what happens to the AEE (the local power company), which is > bankrupt and now threatening to privatize part of its services. Meanwhile > the local overworked and underpaid workers promise to protest the > privatization. > > Imagine, an independent Puerto Rico, I continued, might decide to > revive its agriculture and spare us having to depend on imported, limp > produce from the United States, along with over priced plantains we now buy > from the Dominican Republic or Central America. > > It might also decide to stop using fossil fuels for its energy and > begin to use the island's abundant sunshine and wind power to energize our > homes, hospitals and businesses. It might also try to encourage and help > struggling local entrepreneurs instead of trying to keep hoping to lure > foreign ones with tax and other incentives. > > It might even try to reform the island's public education system in > order to better prepare the young for the jobs of the future. It might try > to decolonize their minds, by rewriting the island's history and in the > process recognize the men and women who have struggled so valiantly to make > this island a better place to live for everyone. It might try to encourage > the young to find solutions to the looming health crisis and other social > and economic issues. > > It might help the inhabitants to remember to recycle and clean up the > beaches and roads now littered with garbage. It might possibly remind some > urban dwellers that it is not a good idea to sweep the debris from their > sidewalks into the sewer if they don't want the streets to flood the next > time there is heavy rain. > > It might start a campaign about the dangers of driving and texting > and other life-threatening practices encountered on the island's roads. > > It might reassure the population that no one will be left to "starve" > once the meager aid from Uncle Sam is removed. The same independent > government might try to encourage the inhabitants to choose healthier > foods, instead of settling for the quick meals purchased on the run at the > multiple fast food chains that dot this island. It might also remind them > that intelligent food choices will reduce the incidence of obesity, > diabetes and other ills so common in present-day society. > > A phone call from my brother-in-law brought me back to reality. I > asked him if he knew the reason for the shots I was hearing. He replied: > "Ah si, there is a shooting range on the other side of the mountain where > you live, and folks go there to practice. That seems to be a new sport > here these days. What you are hearing are the echos of those shots." > > On that sober note, I remembered it was time to put in a load of wash > and get back to my book on how to prevent Alzheimer's. > > *Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim, a native of Camuy, recently moved to Puerto > Rico with her husband Kal Wagenheim. She is the author of El Grito de > Lares: sus causas y sus hombres (Huracán, 1984) and several other books. > Her latest is: Nationalist Heroines: Puerto Rican Women History Forgot, > 1930s-1950s (Markus Wiener Publiers, 2016). > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
