THE FLAG
Hi, my name Zoë Muntaner, I was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. I am a professional citizen journalist, communications strategist, and not-for-profit Founder. Twenty-seven years ago, I moved to LA.
Endings are hard, beginnings not so much.
Yesterday was the first anniversary of my mother’s unexpected passing in my hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Today, I decided to launch this digital space to talk about politics, the historical, hysterical, art, culture, government, food, religion, spirituality, mental health, wellness, hospitality, and red flags warning us of what we are collectively witnessing in time. Why now? I am inspired by my mother’s long term community service, our ancestry, Bad Bunny's last album, Residente’s courage, Ricky Martin’s sensitivity, Alberto Carrion’s poetry, Lucecita Benitez’s voice, AOC unapologetic leadership, Sonia Sotomayor’s wisdom, Representative Nydia Velázquez political savvy, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s talent, and the thousands of Puerto Ricans who flooded the streets of Puerto Rico in the Summer of 2019, calling for Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló to resign from office.
Believe it or not, I was raised by Republicans. My mother was not only Republican, but a delegate of the Republican Party in Puerto Rico, a fundraiser maven who was always looking to be the best version of herself in all areas of her life. I learned civic engagement from her. Our politics are different, yet much of what I learned from MOM about politics was to listen to others respectfully, if I want others to afford me the same courtesy. My parents took me and my sister to political rallies from a very early age; they served as poll workers every election in Puerto Rico. From my mother’s side of the family I am related to Felisa Rincón de Gautier, also known as Doña Fela, a fellow Capricorn Puerto Rican politician who served as the mayor of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Doña Fela was a firm believer in the women's right to vote and was an active participant in the suffragist movement, motivating many women to register. When the law allowing women to vote was passed, she was the fifth woman to officially register to vote. Later she joined the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico, which believed in Puerto Rico's independence. She was the first woman to be elected as Mayor of a capital city in the Americas. Her father Enrique Rincón Plumey was related to my mother’s great-great-grandfather, Juan Bautista Plumey, who founded the first coffee plantation in Puerto Rico in 1830. Hacienda Lealtad would become the largest coffee plantation in Lares, with 69 cuerdas of coffee farm. For many years the plantation was a large producer and exporter of coffee. José María Marxuach Echavarría, twice Mayor of San Juan, married one of Juan Bautista Plumey daughters, hence public service and conscience in my family of origin started early. In 1846, the hacienda which at the time was called Hacienda La Esperanza was the only property registered as an hacienda in official Puertorican documents. That is a little snapshot of my ancestors.
In 1868, Lares (my mother’s hometown), was the site of Grito de Lares (the "Cry of Lares"), a two-day revolt against the crown of Spain. While some documents state that people from Hacienda Lealtad participated in the revolt, historian Joseph Harrison Flores, with the National Archives of Puerto Rico, studied the history of the estate and Grito de Lares and stated that only an eight-year-old child of a slave from Hacienda Lealtad was at the revolt, and spent 6 months in prison. You can learn more about this particular episode of Puertoirican history it in the Library of Congress: Puerto Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age: Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century Perspectives Collection.
Manuel Rojas Luzardo, the Puerto Rican-Venezuelan commander of the Puerto Rican Liberation Army and one of the main leaders of the Grito de Lares uprising against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico, is also an ancestor. Rojas admired Puerto Rican independence advocate Ramón Emeterio Betances and together with his brother Miguel, joined Betances in his quest for Puerto Rico's independence. As the old Puertorican saying goes: “El que lo hereda no longer hurta" (what is inherited is not stolen). Rojas was an adoptive son of Puerto Rico, since he arrived in the island at a young age and made it his home; sadly he was exiled to Venezuela after the unsuccessful revolt.
On December 25, 2002, the Government of Puerto Rico approved Public Law #291, which instructed the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture to study the possibility of transferring the remains of Manuel Rojas, considered by many to be among Puerto Rico's greatest independence leaders.
Why The FLAG? From 1948 to 1957, the gag law, better known as “Ley de la Mordaza,” made it illegal to own or display a Puerto Rican flag on the island, you could go to jail for it. It was passed by a legislature that was overwhelmingly dominated by members of the Puertorican Popular Democratic Party, which supported developing an alternative political status for the island. The bill was signed into law on June 10, 1948 by Jesús T. Piñero, the United States-appointed governor. Also known as P.R. Law No. 53, it was repealed in 1957 because it was deemed unconstitutional. Since then, Puerto Ricans developed an affinity for wearing THE FLAG every chance they could. The law also made it illegal to sing the Puerto Rican national anthem and gave police and national guardsmen the power to search homes without a warrant. This little bit of history is a preamble to warn not to try to censor content in this platform, it ain’t going to happen. We have come a long way, babe. The law remained in force for nine years until 1957, when it was repealed on the basis that it was unconstitutional as protected by freedom of speech within Article II of the Constitution of Puerto Rico and the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
Perhaps now you understand why Puertorican superstar Jennifer Lopez's signature song from her debut album is titled: “Let’s Get Loud.” Gloria Estefan was right in knowing JLo would put a new spin on it. For us Boricuas, is an anthem of political celebration and historical progress.
I am starting this community organically as a melting pot of ideas reflecting the authentic diversity and inclusion of Puerto Rican culture. You can expect one post a week every Wednesday to talk about red flags in our culture, red flags in our HINT HINT: “democracy.”
I have been living in the glamorous city of Santa Monica since I moved to LA. Santa Monica reminds me of Puerto Rico; beaches, surfing, farmer’s markets, mountains, tourism, intense political activism and civic engagement. I ran for City Council in 2014 and 2020; last year I ran for Santa Monica College Board of Trustees. The irregularities in the nomination process led by the Santa Monica City Clerk’s office led me to file a challenge in the Los Angeles Superior Court. The case is still pending.
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