This is the first work in progress version of Is this a battle or is this a game? No jueges con migo pero I’ll play with you… presented at EmergeNYC at Abrons Art Center.
I’m continuing to develop an hour long version of “Is this a battle or is this a game? No jueges con migo pero I’ll play with you.” The piece as it stands begins with me playing the Taino game, Batu, against myself. Batu was one of the first pieces of Taino culture that the Spanish colonizers tried to erase because they were afraid that this game preserved their ability to be good warriors and would eventually be used to overthrow the Spaniards. While playing this game I want to speak out about the history of my ancestors, the displacement of my family due to US intervention, and the cultural erasure that comes from being colonized.