The New Puerto Rican Bomba Movement

Drawing upon Critical Race and racialization theories, this article aims at providing a different approach to 'The New Puerto Rican Bomba Movement'. Bomba is a musical genre of African roots developed in Puerto Rico upon the arrival of African populations during the slave trade in the sixteenth century. In the last two decades, a proliferation of Bomba groups and schools performing and teaching this peculiar rhythm has taken place. I attempt to unravel two interrelated paradoxes: (1) despite hegemonic discourses on Puerto Rican nationalism, which portray the Puerto Rican subject as mixed race, most Puerto Ricans self-identify racially as white or Black. (2) Based on the assumption of a racially mixed national subject, Puerto Rico reaffirms itself as a racial democracy, 'The great Puerto Rican family'. This discourse contrasts with daily speeches and practices that emphasize racial exclusions and inequalities.