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Orgullo.
Pride.
As a Puerto Rican woman, this word doesn’t even begin to describe what I felt watching Bad Bunny make history as the first Spanish-language Latin solo artist to headline the Super Bowl Halftime show.
I was lucky enough to watch with my parents, who both have Puerto Rican roots, and my 17-month-old son, who danced and clapped (on beat) through the whole performance. A picture of my mom’s parents, who were from Ponce, sat, fittingly, on the shelf behind the TV.
I was surrounded, in small part, by the people who raised me to take pride in my heritage. Mi isla. Mi bandera. Mi cultura.
And now that culture was being displayed on the biggest stage in the world. By the most streamed global artist in the world.
The weight of that rushed through my body, but the only thing I could do was smile and sing and dance and drink in every moment that felt like it was crafted for me. For my people. By my people.
After the show, I was still buzzing as I scrolled through posts on Instagram and saw a headline from People Magazine: “Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show Avoids Politics, Leans into Joy.”
Not quite.
Yes, he leaned into joy. But trust me, this performance—the music, the artist, the performers, the symbolism, the message—was itself an act of political resistance.
Many people chose to highlight the quote featured at the end of the performance: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” And yes, it’s a beautiful message and one that echoes the sentiment in Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous quote: “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
But the truth is, politics is life, and while I love that so many found hope and joy and unity in this 13-minute performance, what stood out most to me were two words Bad Bunny spoke in Spanish toward the end:
“Seguimos aquí.”
We are still here.
At a time when Latinos are being cruelly and violently targeted—by ICE, by a hateful president, and by the willful ignorance of far too many in this country—and separated from their families, no two words could be more important or more impactful.
“Seguimos aquí.”
We are still here.
Yes, joy is a form of resistance—and one Puerto Ricans, and Latinos as a whole, embody every day in the way we move through the world.
But so is presence.
So is representation.
So is visibility.
So is authenticity.
So is dignity.
So is orgullo.
So is taking up space and making noise and shouting from the rooftop (of La Casita):
“Seguimos aqui.”
We are here.
We are here.
We are still here.
~
Still think Bad Bunny’s performance wasn’t an act of political resistance?
Check out the short film for “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” (I Should’ve Taken More Photos) his Grammy Award-winning album:
And the video and documentary for his song “El Apagón” (The Blackout), which I wrote about on Elephant back in 2022:
Read NPR‘s January 2025 article about the personal and political significance of “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” which is the first Spanish-language album to ever win the Album of the Year Grammy.
And learn more about the cultural symbolism in his Halftime show:
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My favorite take on the Halftime show:
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Watch Bad Bunny’s full Super Bowl Halftime performance here.
~
author: Nicole Cameron
Image: Instagram
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