Episode 29: John Vasquez Mejias & The Puerto Rican War

We talk a lot about the importance of knowing our history as Puerto Ricans on this show, including the ways in which our history is kept from us. Some people recommend watching documentaries and reading books, but what about seeing and reading our history in the form of a graphic novel?

Storyteller, artist and art teacher, John Vasquez Mejias, joins the show to talk about the Puerto Rican War - a graphic novel that tells the story of Puerto Rican revolutionaries fighting American colonialism in 1950. We spoke to him a couple of weeks ago to talk about his purpose behind this graphic novel, his art and his perspective on the back-to-school debate as a teacher amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Host: Joshua Smyser-DeLeon, Twitter @jsdeleon

Site: paseomedia.org

Facebook + Twitter + Instagram: @paseopodcast

Sound Editor: Richie Requena, Twitter @RichieRequena

Sounds: Notification Sounds + Flor Meléndez Ramos

John Vasquez Mejias' Website + Instagram

The Puerto Rican War

Puerto Rican Cultural Center Website + Facebook + Twitter