Why We’re Committed to Puerto Rico
- Written by Willie J Pure Mission Entertainment
First let me say again that it’s an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to serve the people of Puerto Rico with our God-given talents at Pure Mission Entertainment (PME). However, it saddens and grieves my heart that such catastrophes can be ignored for such a long period of time.
So, I ask myself these questions daily: “How could this be considering that Puerto Rico is part of the United States of America?” “And how could this be when so much money and relief aid is given around the globe versus helping our citizens?”
I wholeheartedly agree with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin’s statement, “It is a disgrace after 2 and half years, Puerto Ricans continue to live without roofs, children don’t have schools and individuals continue to die as a result of inadequate access to healthcare and services. Our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters have suffered for too long.”
Doesn’t it make commons sense for America to support our own people?
What about all these poor innocent children who were and are still struggling from all of this? I thought that the children were our future? While reading an article on NBC News, I noticed more than seven percent of all kids in Puerto Rico meet clinical standards for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a rate twice than that of the general population. The recent earthquakes triggered the horrible memories from the hurricanes over two years ago.
My heart was also broken into pieces in January 2020 when I heard about 13-year-old Jaideliz Moreno Ventura who died of lack of medical treatment according to NBC reports. She was suffering with flu like symptoms. I immediately thought of my daughter who was the same age at that time and sent many prayers for her family and friends.
If the hurting children aren’t enough reason to move forward expeditiously with the proper support and relief, then what is? SMH.
Also, look at these numbers from PolitiFact regarding American deaths and government investigations with Benghazi and Hurricane Maria.
|
|
American Deaths |
Investigations |
|
Benghazi |
4 |
10 |
|
Puerto Rico |
2,975 |
0 |
How come we are not investigating all these deaths that happened on American soil?
Moreover, with all the government corruption that has happened in Puerto Rico, it has even added more salt to their wounds. The people have lost faith and hope with the leaders of their territory.
On July 13, 2019, which happens to be my birthday, 880 pages of conversation between the former Governor Ricardo Rosselló and his male allies was leaked regarding crude comments of humans which led to riots. That same month, the former governor resigned because of how the people were treated. This left me totally speechless. What can I say?
Then in January 2020, the current governor fired his top emergency management official because a warehouse was found with relief supplies that could have been used since 2017. I was in total disbelief. That is cruel and heartless. If you can’t depend on your own leadership, then who can you count on?
President Donald Trump said during the State of the Union address earlier this month, “Whether we are Republican, Democrat or independent, surely we must all agree that every human life is a sacred gift from God.”
So where is the all the relief aid that was promised to the people of Puerto Rico? Last time I checked; Puerto Ricans are humans which means they are sacred gifts from God. Period.
If anyone knows about high pressure, it’s the hurting people of Puerto Rico. They suffered two devasting hurricanes in 2017 (Irma and Maria) which led to the #4 and #1, respectively, electrical blackouts in U.S.A.’s history. This resulted in suicide rates tripling, closing of hundreds of schools, nearly 3,000 American deaths, government corruption and many other unsettling issues that have not be corrected. Last month, one million people were without lights because of the earthquakes that hit the island.
I am learning in life there will always be pressure and I am no stranger to this. This song was recorded under extreme pressure as I lost a close auntie and cousin of mine just one day apart. Then upon arriving to Los Angeles to finalize the track in March 2019, I got news that there were other friends that had been in various incidents; one being a head on collision in LA; another who was shot in the head in St. Louis; lastly one of my rock and roll artist was rushed to the hospital due to an infection that suddenly spread throughout his body and unfortunately he later passed.
This process was most definitely high pressure. What I’ve learned to do when high pressure comes is to take the ‘ure’ off the word and press forward. And my prayers are that Puerto Rico would have enough strength and resilience to do the same.
These types of mistreatments of human dignity led me to write “We Love You Puerto Rico” which is the most important song in my life. This could not have been possible without the PME artists who performed in the video. I would like to thank Crystal Haywood, Arthur “Flash” Johnson, his wife LaTanya and my daughter Jazzy. I’m so proud of what we did together and can’t wait for our future projects.
It is obvious that Puerto Rico needs our help. That’s why PME is donating 20% of our proceeds from the song to support our partners, the Puerto Rican Society (www.sprstlouis.com), to raise funds for still struggling survivors of the hurricanes and earthquakes. Their mission of representing and upholding Puerto Rican values and culture while supporting education and other charitable pursuits is in direct alignment with our vision of ‘Empowering People. Changing Lives.’ Please join us by creating hope through the arts and entertainment to aid struggling Puerto Ricans on both the island and the mainland.
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Puerto Rican Society
