Rosie Perez’s inspiration for her documentary, Yo Soy Boricua, Pa’que Tu Lo Sepas, may have stemmed from frustration at having to explain her roots, but she sure as hell gave a good explanation. The hour and a half documentary aired last night on the IFC Channel and I was able to watch it, with my immediate Rican family and even gave my 8 year old daughter permission to stay up past her bedtime to watch it. After it was over she turned to me and said, “It’s good to be Puerto Rican”.

The documentary uses the Puerto Rican Day parade as its entry and exit point, in between however, Rosie goes through Rican history from the Tainos, to the invasions by both Spain and the U.S. (drawing parallels with a current war), to the Masscre de Ponce and Albizu Campos, to Lolita Lebron and the Young Lords, to the struggle to get the Navy out of Vieques to the struggle of Nuyoricans. If it sounds overwhelming, it is, but not in a bad way. Even for a Rican who knows her history, it was hard not to cry watching the statistic that a third of Puerto Rican women were sterilized by the U.S. Government. But you will laugh too. Laugh at the experiences Ricans share. The documentary mixes the personal story of Rosie Perez’s family with the political and historical reality that is being a Boricua. And while Rosie may not want to publically state what her position is on the status of Puerto Rico, after watching the film, you can pretty much guess.

The film will be showing on IFC so check out the Yo Soy Boricua, Pa’que Tu Lo Sepas page for the schedule. It should be required watching.