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The Status Never Ends
Episode 19 of The Latino Newsletter with Columbia Law Professor Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus
Julio Ricardo Varela
December 06, 2024
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Re-entry the week after Thanksgiving break always hits a little harder, but here we are, and we made it. As of today, the Latino Newsletter has 907 email subscribers. Thank you!
Also, as of today, we are at 36% of our year-end fundraising goal, thanks to our 44 supporters. It has been fun to see the donations come in. Part of the ask is to produce Season 2 of our podcast for 2025. The donation link is here.
We are in our 26th week, and if you missed any of our posts this week (mostly all opinion pieces), here there are:
Ok, on to today’s podcast episode.
Episode 19: The Status Never Ends
On Election Day, besides all the other races, Puerto Rico held its 7th (yes, 7th) non-binding status plebiscite. I can now say that I have been alive for six of those seven symbolic votes. For those keeping score, statehood took 57% of the vote, and independence, which used to waver in the single digits, got to 31%. As expected, there is a lot of chatter about what this vote means and also whether those who didn’t cast a ballot should lower the percentages of statehood and independence tallies. Like I have always said, if you didn’t vote, then it shouldn’t change the results. Not voting in protest doesn’t mean anything. I know some people will criticize me for that take, but I have been saying it for decades, and so have other Puerto Rican voices.
Such as my guest for this week’s show, Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus, the George Welwood Murray Professor of Legal History at Columbia Law School, to dissect and discuss.
One quote from Professor Ponsa-Kraus that hit home with me: “Decolonization is possible. And what you have to do is tell people, here are your options, and now you can vote on them. And that's what Congress should do because it's Congress who has the power to implement them.”
Here’s to Gen X Puerto Ricans.
This is the full show.
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What We’re Reading
Casar as New Progressive Chair: NBC News published an in-depth interview with Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) about his new role as head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. As the story says. “Casar, 35, from Austin, ran unopposed for progressive chair to take the reins from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who is term-limited. It’s a rapid rise for the native Texan and son of immigrants from Mexico, who was a labor organizer and Austin City Council member before winning his second term in the House last month.”
Happy weekend.
Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder and interim publisher of The Latino Newsletter.
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