Actress Rosie Perez steps behind the camera for a documentary on Puerto Rico's people, politics and culture. She co-directed the film, titled Yo Soy Boricua, Pa Que Tu Lo Sepas!" (I Am a Boricua, Just So You Know It.)
The documentary covers the island's indigenous Taino Indians (Boricua is the Taino word for Puerto Rican), the Spanish conquest, the takeover by the United States and the island's status. As a U.S. commonwealth, the people of Puerto Rico are American citizens, but they have no representatives in Congress and can't vote for president.
Perez, actor Jimmy Smits, and the film's co-director, Liz Garbus, discuss the making of the film and the uneasy relationship between the United States and the commonwealth.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
