Every Day Is Special: U.S. territories

Showing posts with label U.S. territories. Show all posts

July 17 – Luis Muñoz Rivera's Birthday

(Third Monday in July)

Posted on July 17, 2016

Luis Muñoz Rivera is one of Puerto Rico's heroes. This poet and journalist cared about political autonomy for his land - and he agitated for self-government and independence from the Spanish Empire.

Muñoz Rivera became a politician, first becoming a delegate in the Autonomist Party and later becoming Chief of the Cabinet of the government.

Born on this date in 1859, Muñoz Rivera lived long enough to see Puerto Rico transferred from Spain to the United States (which happened in 1898). Under the U.S., a military government was formed - and Muñoz Rivera resigned his position and stayed out of politics for about a decade.

In 1909 Muñoz Rivera was elected Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. Later, his son became involved in politics, and it was that son that became the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is one of the many territories in the world that is part of the United States - kind of. Puerto Rico is an "unincorporated territory" of the U.S.; the people of Puerto Rico are natural-born citizens of the U.S. and can move freely between the island and any of the 50 states. But Puerto Rico is not a state, so it doesn't have any votes in Congress, and the citizens of Puerto Rico are disenfranchised at the federal level. (That means that they cannot vote for the president or vice-president.)

Many Puerto Ricans are pretty happy with this sorta-kinda membership in the U.S. Just last month another election occurred, the fifth asking Puerto Ricans whether or not they should change their political status, and if so, to what new political status. This election, unlike all the others, had an enormous majority agreeing - a whopping 97% said that they wanted statehood.

BUT only 23% of Puerto Ricans voted this time - there is usually around 80% participation - and most people agree that the ballot questions were worded so unfairly that most people decided to sit the election out.

As recently as 2012, only a very small percentage of Puerto Ricans wanted full independence, by the way.

Check out some of the beautiful things you can see in Puerto Rico:

The photo above is of Vieques, which is a small island
off the coast of Puerto Rico island!

Also on this date:

Scopes Festival

Yellow Pig Day

Gion Matsuri in Japan

Wrong-Way Corrigan Day

Anniversary of an ancient solar eclipse

Disneyland's birthday

World Emoji Day

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

July 4 – Fourth of July in U.S. Territories

Posted on July 4, 2016

Of course, it's the fourth of July everywhere that uses the Gregorian calendar (and every nation in the world has to use the Gregorian calendar to some extent, even the five who haven't officially adopted it) – but the Fourth of July is a holiday in the United States.

I got to wondering – is it also a holiday in the United States Territories?

Yes...and no. And to some extent there is unhappiness for at least some residents about the irony of celebrating independence when their own territories are themselves denied independence.

In Guam, there are beach parties, picnics, fireworks, and American flags. But the people of Guam are denied meaningful representation in the U.S. federal government, since they have only one non-voting delegate in the House and don't participate in the Presidential election. Some people of Guam urge commonwealth status, statehood, or the merging with other territories or with Hawaii....or of course independence! So far, the U.S. government has rejected proposals.

In Puerto Rico, those who want statehood tend to celebrate the Fourth with music, food, and fireworks. But some people want Puerto Rico to become fully independent, and they tend to celebrate other holidays instead. Since most workers have the day off, though, beaches and other tourist destinations are crowded with families having fun together.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, one of the islands (Saint John) has a month-long carnival that ends on the Fourth of July. There are Calypso musicians, parades, the crowning of Ms. St. John and the Carnival King, and big fireworks displays.

Some aspects of St. John's Fourth is typical U.S. stuff (like above),
but other aspects is more typical of Caribbean and Carnival (like below).

In American Samoa, people have the day and do typical day-off kinds of things, like resting or recreating or getting together. But there isn't much in the way of parties, celebrations, or fireworks.

Finally, in the Northern Marianas, the week-long Liberation Day Festival ends on the Fourth of July. There is a parade with floats (like the one seen here), a beauty pageant, entertainment, and carnival-like booths for food and games.

Check out some gorgeous photos of these five territories: