Mom; can you teach me how to speak Taino?

A Reflection by Not your Average Joe

As a Puerto Rican I never cared for talking Spanish; I never been to Puerto Rico (although I do want/need to visit) and I always said; “we in America; I don’t need to know Spanish!” as a kid!

Now I’m older and as I dig into the History of our ppl, I want to celebrate Puerto Rico, but I really can’t even celebrate Puerto Rico as Puerto Rico, can I?  The Island was named Puerto Rico by Christopher Columbus; the slaughter man himself! That was in the late 1400s. So, we are not originally Spanish speaking ppl! We were conquered and forced to speak Spanish for 500 years. In the late 1800’s we were conquered again by the Europeans (America) and then forced to speak English until the mid-1900’s. So, I say that to say this; When I was younger, I didn’t care to speak Spanish and I now I know the reason for that! My ppl is originally Taino from the island of Borinquen who spoke Taino!