Why this comic book superhero – a Puerto Rican woman exploring the island’s history – isn’t just about hurricane relief
"I freaked out. I screamed. I cried. For the first time, I could actually relate to a character who is being idolized."
So, Perez of
"The whole purpose of this project is not only to raise money and awareness, but to give the people on the island hope," he said at the
While much of the electric power has been restored, the hurricane's severe impact on
In Ricanstruction -- in which Miranda-Rodriguez worked with more than 100 other comic book artists and celebrities, including
While the anthology's mission is to raise money, it became clear at the
--
It was not just the idea that a Puerto Rican woman was a superhero but that Miranda-Rodriguez, who grew up in
In the first La Borinqueña, readers follow along as Marisol, the 20-year-old environmental studies major from
In that first book, Marisol, fortuitously as it turns out -- it was released nine months before Maria hit -- has to deal with a major hurricane.
A second La Borinqueña came out last week, and all three comic books deal with the island's history, and how its residents still feel like "second-class citizens" 120 years after the
For Perez, Miranda-Rodriguez's work offers an opportunity to talk about all this.
"He's opened up a platform to speak about everything that's going on in
But it's the character of La Borinqueña, whose costume is
"Growing up, we had Barbie dolls," Perez said. "There were black dolls and white dolls. But I never had a doll with tan skin and curly hair. I never had a doll that looked like me. For the first time ... someone of importance being highlighted who resembled me or resembled people I knew."
And why is Marisol Afro-Latina?
"I wanted her to be Afro-Latina because, quite often, mainstream media perpetuates an image that Latinos are all homogenous," he said. "We are an ethnic group, not a race, and we can also be of African and Asian heritage ... When I looked at my own family, my own family is very diverse, from very white to very black. That's just organic to who we are as a family."
As for
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