Profane Existence 
PO Box 8722, Minneapolis, MN 55408 USA

Interview by Tamara
1999
 

"this struggle is every second of every day. If Puerto Ricans are punx it's probably by necessity, and not always by choice"

With their angry, eclectic and experimental fusion of hardcore, Hip Hop, and Salsa and their no compromise stance to free Puerto Rico, New York Cities Ricanstruction have added a new and unique vision to the world of Political Punk, and have forced us to ask ourselves just how liberated are we? I spoke with Ricanstruction’s prophet of rage, Ras Alano, at a recent show at New York City’s ABC No Rio.

PE:  So what was your motivation for forming Ricanstruction?

Alano:  we felt a void.  There was no one speaking about all the things that were important to us in a way that we could fully relate to.  Ricanstruction is made up of Puerto Ricans, Latinos from the Diaspora, so our experience is somewhat unique in the Punk scene. 

PE:  How so?

Alano:   For a hundred years now Puerto Ricans have been  a colonized people in these un-united states. We’re exiles in this country because of an illegitimate government that exist in our homeland.  We’re a people who’ve been downpressed daily, brutalized, displaced, despised. We struggle each day within the belly of this beast to liberate ourselves from the chains of U.S. colonialism. This is our reality.  Our reality is also these inner-city streets, this cultural, spiritual and physical resistance… this struggle is every second of every day.  If Puerto Ricans are Punks it’s probably by necessity and not always by choice.

PE:  I saw Ricanstruction perform at the United Nations this past July 25th  at a demonstration marking the hundredth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico, but you tend not to hear much about this. I found it kind of surprising that more people don’t know about this liberation movement, there were about three or four thousand people at that demo and yet next to nothing on the commercial news.

Alano:  But that’s not really all that surprising, is it?  Puerto Rico’s liberation struggle is against these un-United States, so naturally they’re not gonna make much mention of it in their news papers and programs… that is, unless they slant it.  It’s funny, someone asked me recently why everyone seems to know all about the Tibetan freedom movement and why so many U.S. celebrity’s support that struggle and yet we hear so little about the Puerto Rican freedom movement.

PE:  And why do you think that is?

Alano:  We’ll, it’s pretty obvious. That struggle is against China, not the U.S., So there’s no fear on the part of the U.S. controlled mainstream media to mention, and even support, that movement. Just recently I read, in the alternative press, I should add, that the U.S. and its CIA gave millions of dollars to the Tibetan freedom movement from the 1930s into the 1970s, and specifically, to the Dalai Lama’s faction. The U.S. has nothing to lose in supporting Tibetan freedom, and judging by the time and money they’ve thrown in, maybe something to gain. I’m not condemning the Tibetan freedom movement, just pointing out that the U.S. government and many U.S. citizens, for whatever reason, have no qualms about supporting the Tibetan struggle for independence. This is not the case when it comes to the Puerto Rican  struggle for independence. Supporting the Puerto Rican liberation struggle means that you support an end to the exploitation of the Puerto Rican nation at the hands of the U.S. itself.  There are many "Americans" who are not down with that.

PE:  What are some of the things the U.S. gains out of maintaining its control of Puerto Rico?

Alano:  It gains everything that comes with colonizing a people. Billions of dollars in tourism for North American businessmen. Cheap labor from Puerto Ricans. Monopolies for U.S. businesses. As small as  Puerto Rico is, it’s the number one consumer of U.S. goods; and Puerto Rico is not allowed to trade with any other countries even in Latin America, which makes it a captive consumer to the U.S. There’s also the unabated destruction of the land, unregulated mining for huge profits. They use certain materials found in Puerto Rican earth to make fighter Planes and other toys of war.  Displacement of people who’ve lived in communities for decades for further profit is another tragedy of colonialism. They tell them that since they have no papers proving the land is theirs, they have to vacate. It’s the same tactic used against Native Americans when the U.S. stole North America from them. It goes on and on, medical experimentation on Puerto Rican POWs, forced sterilization of Puerto Rican woman.  Also, the U.S. has military bases throughout PR which they use to control the population, and also as a stepping off point to invade or intimidate other Latin American countries.  They also engage in war games (in preparation for war against who?) and pollute the sea and land. They’ve actually "accidentally" dropped bombs on communities. The Puerto Rican revolutionary  Pedro Albizu Campos once said in referring to Puerto Rico’s relationship with the U.S., that the U.S. wants the birdcage without the bird. This would seem to be the case in its continued use, or should I say misuse, of Puerto Rico and its systematic destruction of the Puerto Rican… And through it all, we continue to experience the continued persecution of the Puerto Rican liberation movement. 

PE:  Have you found that your average Punk is able to relate to Ricanstructions message?

Alano:  Yes, because our message, if it is that,  is universal. There’s injustice everywhere. There’s suferrahs everywhere. There’s a need to resist a shitstem that seeks to devour you. Real Punks know aspects of this reality; the injustice, the intolerance, the brutalization. So it’s just a question of how much we all know or care about world politrix such as  imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism. It’s just a question of how important these issues really are to all of us.  
 

PE:  Has there been a positive reaction to Ricanstruction and its message, because I know that within the Punk scene itself there’s a virulent anti-political segment and well as a segment that’s opposed to any "outside" thought?

Alano: Well, we’ve never perceived our thoughts to be "outside", unless, of course, we’re talking about being outside the mainstream, or outside the thoughts of the imperialists, We do get a lot of questions after the shows about our "political stance", and some Punks ask what they can do to make real change in the struggle against colonialism. We find ourselves recommending certain organizations that exist that can give more information. We also send them looking for Che Guevara, and Malcolm X, and Frantz Fanon, and Pedro Albizu Campos, and Huey Newton, and Mumia Abu Jamal, and Assata Shakur.  We advise people to get in the streets if they really wanna learn, and get involved.  If you can’t go to Latin America and fight colonialism and neo-colonialism, you can still fight right here in the belly of the beast.

PE:  What do you see as the struggle right here in America?

Alano:  I think the struggle for Puerto Rican liberation is part of the struggle right here in "America" because it’s part of the world struggle. All those things that we consider wicked in America are vestiges of colonialism and imperialism. If you believe in world revolution than it’s your duty to end colonization and injustice wherever it exist. But I understand what you mean. The struggle on the streets of America is a struggle against racism, sexism, police brutality… injustice, poverty… capitalism.  Right now, there’s a battle being waged against gentrification in "El Barrio", which is the Latino ghetto in East Harlem that I live in. These issues may not seem connected, but they are. This is an important aspect of the struggle for people on the street, including Punks, because gentrification is the same thing that turned the Lower East Side of Manhattan from a poor Latino community with Punks and bohemian artists, into the East Village, a playground for the wealthy. It’s interesting to note that when the move to gentrify the Lower East Side began, the powers that be pitted poor Latinos who lived in the housing projects against Punks who lived in squats. The Latinos were told that the Squatters were keeping low income affordable housing from being built, and many of the Punks, who were predominately White, did very little to dispel this bullshit because they were to busy being Punks to care about unifying with the larger community to fight the enemy. We have to learn that downpression is downpression, regardless of the particular cause you specialize in or the particular organization you’re a member of. Division continues to keep  us from victory. 

PE:  Ricanstruction seems to do a lot of benefits. So far I’ve seen you at a Zapatista benefit, Free Mumia, anti-sweatshops, Rock against Racism… the list goes on. Do you think these benefits help much?

Alano:  Well, benefits are certainly not gonna change the world… at least not by themselves, and at this level they’re certainly not much of a money making enterprise. Just like rally and demos, we kind of see them more as a tool to get information out there.  Some folks who’ve come to see the band simply for the music, ended up getting involved with the particular issue we were playing for. So it works in that respect. Also, a few months ago I was walking down the street and this guy stopped me and asked me if I was in Ricanstruction and went on to tell me that the money from a Zapatista benefit we had done had been used to bring potable drinking water to a village in Chiapas.  So you never know, you know. 

PE:  You talk about some people getting involved after attending a show, but I wonder how rare that is. I know a lot of political bands tend to find themselves preaching to the already converted?

Alano:  That’s often true, but the Punk movement is not a monolith, you know.  Sadly, there are racists in the Punk scene. And sexist, and a whole lot of other unconscious folks who think the Punk movement is just about music.  It’s sad that the Punk movement hasn’t achieved a higher degree of consciousness, but I don’t mind communing with those folks too because we can show them how we feel and try to overstand  why they feel the way they do.  Sometimes they’re just pitifully misinformed.   It’s like when you attend a rally or demonstration for one cause and you know all about that particular cause, but other people show up with information on other important issues and you start to learn about these things as well. We will never condone White supremacy,  or straight up hate and intolerance, but we’re not gonna condemn someone for being misinformed or mis-educated. This shitstem is very good at keeping us misinformed and mis-educated. 

PE:  So do you see Punk as the best outlet for political views?

Alano: Punk by it’s very nature is one of the best ways of waging war against the status quo. Punk was originally created to be an answer to the "acceptable" crap that this shitstem tries to force feed us.  Its weapons of choice are it’s truly alternative outlets:  music, ‘zines, pirate radio, these are all ways of fighting the shitstem.  Punks DIY ethic, its  anti-fashion sense, its veganism, squatting, these are all forms of resistance.  Of course, Punk only works as a part of the resistance movement if it understands that it is part of the larger struggle all around us and not just a clique that tries to separate itself  from the rest of the struggle. Punk must embrace all things that speak of resistance, if not you fall right into their strategy of divide and rule. 

PE:  Have you found in your experience that Punk has no problem dividing itself from the rest of the world?

Alano:  In some cases there are Punks who feel more comfortable having their own little clique that others can’t infiltrate. They think division from the rest of the world is a Punk ethic, not quite realizing that  division from and destruction of the power structure is the key. I remember a few years ago Ricanstruction organized a few nights at an alternative Punk space in a Latino neighborhood in New York’s Lower East Side where we showed films on the Puerto Rican liberation struggle followed by band performances with predominately Latino political Punk bands. We had also during this time done several Zapatista benefits at this space. Shortly after that, I read an article in a ‘zine written by a "prominent" Punk who said that that particular space was being taken over by people who wanted to force  "Latino issues on the Punk scene". 

PE:  Do you see this as another aspect of racism in Punk?

Alano:  I see it as another aspect of  mis-education and misinformation in the Punk scene. With our music we’ve tried to add our little bit of hardcore consciousness, but we don’t carry around any illusions; Punk suffers from many of the same ills as the rest of the world. And just like the rest of the world, the Punk nation has a lot of work to do. 

PE:  So I guess Ricanstruction will be working along with it?

Alano:  We’ll be working the night shift…with a forklift.