250 years of U.S. independence, 128 years of Puerto Rican Colonization!

This year, Puerto Rico’s government is officially commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence with ceremonies, legislative events, and yearlong activities.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans are struggling to access one of life’s most basic necessities. Clean drinking water. Nothing better exposes the contradiction of colonialism than asking people without drinking water to celebrate the freedom of the very country that continues to colonize them.

Across Puerto Rico, entire communities have endured weeks and, in some places, months without reliable water service. Families have been forced to rely on bottled water, emergency deliveries, and buckets simply to cook, clean, bathe, flush toilets, and care for their loved ones. Yet while working class Puerto Rican families struggle to meet their basic needs, the Puerto Rican Government has chosen to devote public resources and political attention to commemorating 250 years of U.S. independence. A government that asks Puerto Ricans to celebrate the nation that colonizes us, while its austerity measures and imposed debt crisis drive our water crisis, reveals exactly whose interests it serves.

Since the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898, our island has remained under colonial rule. More than a century later, Puerto Rico is still governed by laws and institutions imposed from Washington. PROMESA, the Fiscal Control Board, privatization, and displacement are not history. They are the living legacy of U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico. It is our present. The current water crisis in Puerto Rico cannot be separated from Hurricane Maria, when communities were left without clean water and lifesaving infrastructure. It is part of a long history of austerity, neglect, and colonial governance that continues to shape everyday life on the island.

"Before [the water crisis], I would use my evenings for relaxing or I would - I also have multiple jobs. So sometimes I would work in the evenings, and now I can’t even do that. So it’s been very disruptive, and it’s been really hard to just, like, exist in our daily life” - Jose Luigi, resident of San Juan, without water for nearly 2 months.

Colonialism is not only an attack on Puerto Rico’s sovereignty, it is an attack on the conditions that make life possible. Women, children and gender oppressed people carry the greatest burden of colonial austerity because they are pushed to hold together what the state and economy have broken. When water stops flowing, it is overwhelmingly women who secure it, care for children and elders, prepare meals, and hold daily life together under crisis. This unpaid labor is not accidental. It is how colonial systems survive while infrastructure collapses.

Children deserve clean water, safe schools, and the opportunity to build their future in Puerto Rico. Gender oppressed people deserve safe housing, healthcare, employment, and communities free from violence. None of this is possible under a system that subordinates the survival of the Puerto Rican people to corporate interests, creditors, and U.S. colonial control. The struggle of Puerto Rican independence is inseperable from the struggle for the liberation of women, children and gender oppressed people.

This July 4th, we reject the lie that freedom can exist alongside colonialism. Puerto Pico cannot celebrate the independence of the nation that continues to occupy our land, impose austerity, and deny our people sovereignty and self-determination. Colonialism forces women to carry the burden of economic crisis, pushes families from their homes, and robs children of the future they deserve.

There can be no safety for women, no future for our children, and no dignity for gender-oppressed people under U.S. colonial rule. If you want to stand against U.S. imperialism, join Adolfina’s Women’s contingent at the Marcha por la Independencia as part of our protect women and children campaign! Saturday July 18 1-3 pm in South Bronx, NYC.

Sign up at: https://tinyurl.com/Adomarchaporlaindependencia26

Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre!

Mujeres pa’lante!