#sofritoforyoursoul

During some independent research I’ve been doing, I stumbled upon this really amazing article about Puerto Ricans creating a “new barrio” through the virtual, specifically through new virtual spaces that are specific to Puerto Ricans. I am trying to shape what Latinx-Futurist might mean for the moment we’re in now, and I am looking into work that looks at Latinx people’s interactions with technology, the digital, and the online. Here’s an excerpt from it from one of the founders of Sofrito for Your Soul:

Community is created where we stand... it happens the moment we have an experience and in the moment that is shared. If we are both at Mama's house eating arroz con gandules y pernil, and I compliment her cooking, that moment you agree has made you part of the community that loves my Grandmother's cooking. Pero en serio...creating community for me was always about finding solutions to the problems we have in a shared space. When I started the website, I wanted to share my poetry about my culture with other second generation Puerto Ricans as well as other Latinos. My website transformed into a community when I allowed others to share their poetry and began creating spaces on campuses on Long Island where Latinos could recite poetry at an open mic with other poetry lovers. The website quickly grew into a place where people anywhere in the world came to reconnect with their cultural heritage by sharing their stories. Before I did this, they did not have a platform.