There is a song called Acho PR, and there is a lyric in it that has been sitting with me ever since I first heard it.
The artist says “ser de aquí es mi mejor trofeo.” Being from here is my greatest trophy.
I hear that and I respect the sentiment, I do. Puerto Rican pride runs deep and I am not here to knock that. I am Puerto Rican myself and I carry that with me everywhere I go. But every time that line comes on, something in my brain pumps the brakes.
A trophy?
A trophy is something you earn. You train for it, you compete for it, you sacrifice something to get it. Being born somewhere does not check any of those boxes. Where you are from is a circumstance, not an achievement. You did not choose it, you did not work for it, and you did not sacrifice anything to get there. It just happened.
Now I want to pause here, because context matters. I am not blind to what Puerto Rico has been through. The island has existed under colonial rule for over a century, and its people have endured waves of outside control, economic exploitation, and neglect that most people on the mainland never have to think about. In that context, simply being Puerto Rican and still standing, still holding onto your culture and your identity after everything that has been done to the island and its people, that carries real weight. Survival itself can be an accomplishment, and I am not dismissing that.
But pride and a trophy are still two different things. You can be proud of where you come from, proud of what your people have survived, without framing the accident of your birth as your greatest personal achievement. Because if the best thing you ever did was get born in a particular place, that is a conversation worth having with yourself.
Earn your trophy. Then hold it up.
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