Today is Three Kings Day, known as Día de los Reyes in Puerto Rico. Normally, this would be a great day of holiday celebration on the island, and Puerto Ricans will be celebrating today, in the midst of great pain and suffering. Many residents have gone 108 days without power since Maria, and others have been without electricity even longer — since Irma. This is completely unacceptable. As the WaPo Editorial Board expressed “No more excuses. Puerto Rico needs help.”
If this were happening in any state — including another group of islands, Hawaii — there would be uninterrupted media attention and demands for action. As Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) put it following a visit this week to Puerto Rico: “If this were happening in Connecticut, there would be riots in the streets.”
Today there will not be riots in the streets of Puerto Rico. Thanks to many of you who have donated to the effort spear-headed by Lin-Manuel Miranda — with Toys”R”Us — 36,0000 children on the island will be receiving toys today.
In December Miranda talked about the significance of Three Kings, for The Washington Post
There will also be music and dancing.
Luis Miranda, Jr. is employing out-of-work musicians on the island, from plenero bands to singing theater troupes, to act as the day's entertainment.
"They will get paid to perform when they have not been able to because of the economic situation in the island," Miranda says.
To hire the talent, Miranda enlisted the help of R.Evolucion Latina, an arts and community outreach organization based in NYC but working extensively on the island. Luis Salgado, founder and director of the organization, says there are performances planned in every corner of the island, from San Juan to Vega Alta to Dorado, with "a big spectrum of different artists."
The Tradition of the Three Kings
In Puerto Rico, the biggest celebration of the Christmas season is focused mainly on January 6, the day of the liturgical celebration of the Three Kings. Gaspar, Melchor and Baltasar are the names of the Three Kings, although in Puerto Rico the identifications are different from the European traditions. Here, and in Cuba, the North African king is Melchor, not Gaspar, and Baltasar is represented as the oldest king with gray hair and beard. Gaspar, then, is the young, beardless king.
The reasons for the strong popularity of Three Kings Day in Puerto Rico are not clearly known, although there are various theories. The first is that January 6 was the date that the first Mass was held in the Americas, a tradition that with time has fallen from memory. The second is that the tradition comes from the diablillos celebration, a Spanish carnival festival that represented good and evil through various characters and was documented by Cuban scholar Fernando Ortiz. He found the festival was celebrated particularly by blacks, for whom Three Kings Day was a time they could freely go from house to house wearing masks and asking for alms without being recognized.
The celebration of Three Kings Day is so important in Puerto Rican culture that the verb reyar, or “to king,” has been coined, which means to enjoy the celebration of the Three Kings festivals with singing accompanied by traditional musical instruments.
To all our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters who are facing what lies ahead with strength, resilience and spirit:
¡Feliz día de los Reyes Magos!
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