The Ungrateful Coqui

     When I was a graduate student, I was exposed to life transforming experiences.  My courses were more than a series of lectures to obtain a grade-they were wake-up calls and unexpected paths to self-discovery.  One of those courses was offered by Dr. Faraclas of UPR- Rio Piedras.  The course was Language and Power and it provided me the forum to the second story I wrote that became part of my dissertation.

    Language is very powerful as I discovered in this course.  Rita Mae Brown stated that "Language is the road map of a culture.  It tells you where its people come from and where they are going".  In my case, the English language became my canvas to paint my journey of self-discovery and share it with the world.  I wanted to use as the starting point  of this journey my passion for children's literature.  Through children's story, I would  discover who I was and question the misconceptions I once believed as true.

    During the genesis of this story, Disney had presented its most recent animated movie.  The Princess and the Frog.  I enjoyed Tiana's adaventures, but now with my new way of seeing the world,  there were many silences that had not still found a voice.  I had recently read Jean Dubino "The Cinderella Complex" and its thesis made me see traditional tales through a new light.  I wanted e a story, not only with an afrodescendant character as a protagonist as Tiana, but one that would challenge the patraichal model while telling the readers the reality of enslaved and free Afro-Puerto Ricans.  That is how " The Ungrateful Coqui" was born.

    The story is dear to my heart for Delia is a strong character that does not let anyone change her ideals.  It brings a message of  how relationships should truly be where in addition to love, true compromise is part of the shared experiences.

   Today I will share the video that was  presented in my dissertaion defense in 2015.  A colleague of my institution was the narrator of the story.