By Alondra Montalvo
On Friday September 20, 2019 I interviewed through a cellphone call Jorly Flores, a participant in the protests of July and part of the viral image on Instagram known as “#hijasdelacrisis” where a line of young women body painted protests for different rights. The 23-year-old, with a bachelor’s degree in Photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York, just recently arrived to the Puerto Rico about 3 months ago after living 5 years in New York and plans to go back by the end of the year.
She talked about how she had no idea when she arrived to the island, she would be participating in the protest against the governor of Puerto Rico.
“The group chat was still not out; it went public 2 weeks after I arrived… I felt like it was a sign from the universe telling me it was the right time to come back," she said.
Flores got a better understanding of the situation in Puerto Rico and the misinformed media by now living both sides of the spectrum, watching everything happening being in the United States and actually living it.
The 23-year-old and the other female actvist that were part of the project met up the day before going to protest, it was a way for all of them to meet and know why they were there. They knew it would an unforgettable and historic experience they will carry on for years to come.
Jorly and other girls who participated knew the risks of the protest would affect their health since some of them suffer from asthma and anxiety. The group didn’t stay till late at night and did not go near Calle Fortaleza where most of the protest was being held, taking precautionary measures to not put themselves in danger from the big crowds and tear gas bombs from police force. Flores despite getting sick prior to the protest, she was prepared with the weather conditions she was going to experience those days of protest. Between the beaming hot sun and the heavy rain, she couldn’t continue and needed to take care of her health.
Their main protest was justice for the women who have been killed, sexually assaulted and who have been insulted by former governor Ricardo Rossello. She mentioned the time where the group was kneeling on the ground in a silent protest and a woman came up to them and started to place a flower in front of each if them.
“It was really emotional, I’m not gonna lie. A lot of us had tears in our eyes…when we all kneeled to the ground,” She replied when I asked her how it felt being part of that revolution.
Through her that act of kindness it represented solidarity towards their cause. Another act of solidarity they did was having a moment of silence with lit candles under the bridge of an expressway, where it was raining, for the victims that died during the crisis of hurricane Maria.
“That day it rained blood, it rained emotions that day…it was overwhelming,” the photography student said describing the emotions from that day she went to protest.
Was there any backlash from your fanily or social media?
She explained that there wasn’t a lot of “hate” it was more a concern for her safety. Her family didnt have any negative cooments about her participation, just that she be safe since they would see on TV how police would mistreat the protestors by beating them and throwing gas bomb. Even though she didn’t get many comments about it she added that the other young female activists did get “hate comments” on their social media.
If you did not had plans to visit Puerto Rico 3 months ago, and saw what was going on in the island. Would you do it all over again?
She said that she would gladly do it again, she would’ve have bought a plane ticket and came to protest all over again.
An interesting topic she mentioned were the Nuyoricans who were using their nationality for their own convenience. She mentioned how people in New York would criticize her look, attitude and talk as not being “like us”, implying that “Nuyoricans” thought everybody from the island spoke the same as they did. They would comment that she didn’t look "like them" therefore “she must be black”.
“Some people just use [their nationality] it for their own convenience for real, it’s convenient to them," She said.
What would be your reaction if someone decided to put an image of you in a Puerto Rican history book or museum 50 years from now?
She replied very nervous that it would take her about a week to process it and people have actually said that to her and she would be in complete denial.
She added that they can’t compare themselves to none of the great activists in history, but recognize that they were part of something in our history and their actions gives them a spot in history.
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