BIENVENIDO

¡Saludos! Happy Friday and welcome to the 58th edition of comprende. Normally, today’s about fireworks, barbecues, and red, white, and blue–but as we know, for many in our community, this holiday brings up complicated feelings, especially this year.

So today, we’re leaning into that complexity. Bad Bunny just dropped his NUEVAYol video, and with it, a reminder of the other side of the Fourth of July, the side that speaks to migration, struggle, pride, and resistance.

I hope you’ll take a minute to sit with this one.

So, grab your cafecito or cervecita (depending on where you are), settle in, and if you enjoy it, please forward the newsletter to friends or share it on social media! ☕️ 🍺

Juntos Somos Más Fuertes: Bad Bunny’s NUEVAYol Video Speaks on the Other Side of the Fourth of July

While most people are out grilling burgers and watching fireworks today, Bad Bunny had something else in mind. He never moves without intention. So when he dropped the NUEVAYol video this morning, right on the Fourth of July, I already knew it wasn’t just for show.

Every frame, every rhythm, every joke, every little reference–all woven together with something bigger beneath it. I had to dive in. Here’s what I saw.

The video starts simple. Benito’s walking down a snowy Bronx street in sandals. That’s right–sandals. He’s got a furry winter pilot hat on, short sleeves, and pants, looking both totally unbothered and obviously freezing. It’s funny at first, but then you get it.

That clash of Caribbean heat and cold city life is exactly what so many of us have lived. The Puerto Rican kid stepping off a plane at JFK in December thinking, diache, what did I just sign up for? The unspoken truth that even in the cold, we carry our island with us.

Bad Bunny walks down that street, enters a car, and asks, “¿Y este frío cuándo se acaba?” Every Boricua who’s migrated, even temporarily, knows that feeling.

Then the music kicks in. Establishing shot of NYC and the track starts: NUEVAYol. Not New York, or Nueva York, but NUEVAYol. Each letter interlacing with the flags of various Latino countries. Spelled and sung out the way it’s always been said in our neighborhoods, in our songs, in the hallways of apartment buildings from the Bronx to Queens to Orlando. It’s not just a different pronunciation. It’s the sound of migration, of salsa, bachata, and reggaetón blasting from the bodegas, of Spanglish, of struggle, of pride.

Throughout the video, we see it all from quinceañera prep, the cousins hanging out, families cooking, dominoes on the table, the little details that tell you, this is our space. It’s not shiny, not filtered, but it’s full of life. It feels like home, even if you’re thousands of miles from the island.

But there’s two moments that stand out above the rest. The camera cuts to the Statue of Liberty, and draped across her forehead is the Puerto Rican flag. That’s not random. That’s history, and maybe the most powerful reminder in the whole video.

In 1977, Puerto Rican activists scaled the Statue and hung that same flag in protest. It wasn’t just about independence for the island, though that fight still burns to this day. It was a bold act of resistance. It was about demanding freedom for the political prisoners locked away for standing up for Puerto Rico’s rights.

Puerto Ricans have always been treated as second-class citizens, and the law makes that possible. To this day, because of our commonwealth status and the legacy of the Insular Cases, the U.S. government can decide which parts of the Constitution apply to us and which don’t.

They can legally treat the citizens on the island as “a foreign entity” when it’s convenient, and a territory when it benefits them. Essentially stripping Puerto Ricans of the same rights as mainland Americans, despite us being citizens. So at its core, the movement they led wasn’t just about sovereignty–it was about dignity. About justice for those criminalized simply for demanding basic rights.

It was about reminding the U.S.: We’re here. We matter. You can’t erase us.

Seeing that image now, in this video, on the Fourth of July, the timing shouldn’t be lost on anyone. Because let’s be real, while many around the country celebrate its independence, there are still people locked in cages. Families are being torn apart. Latinos, Puerto Ricans included, still treated like outsiders in a country we’ve helped build. And some, even calling for eliminating all 65 Million of us, Latinos who have been here for generations.

You can’t look at that flag on the Statue and not feel all of that. You can’t miss the message. Bad Bunny's imagery isn’t subtle. It tells us: the fight is far from over. That same energy is woven all through Bad Bunny’s video.

Our people have always used art, music, and culture to remind the world we’re here. But seeing the biggest artist on the planet, a Puerto Rican, singing in Spanglish, weaving salsa legends into his verses, claiming space unapologetically? That’s showing the next generation that our stories, our neighborhoods, our slang, our families belong in the spotlight too.

And then there’s that moment, the radio playing in the background, a voice that sounds suspiciously like Trump, awkwardly trying to walk back his anti-immigrant rhetoric. It’s satire, sure, but it hits a little too close to home. “I made a mistake… I want to apologize to the immigrants in America… This country is nothing without Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Cubans…”

The words sound clumsy, forced, like the kind of apology that only comes after the damage is done. But the message beneath it? That part’s true. This country is nothing without us. Without immigrants. Without Latinos. Without our contributions, our labor, our culture, our history.

More than anything, it’s reminded me that it’s what we do for each other that counts. Supporting our community. Buying from Latino-owned businesses. Protecting our culture, not just celebrating it when it’s convenient. Because the truth is, the more we lift each other up, the louder our voices get, and the harder we are to ignore.

The video ends with the words we’ve carried for generations: “Juntos Somos Más Fuertes.” Together, we are stronger. Simple, but real. We’ve always been stronger when we stand with each other, in protest, in music, in everyday life.

And today, on the Fourth of July of all days, that reminder couldn’t have come at a better time.

If you enjoyed this breakdown, you’ll probably love the video versions of these stories we’re sharing over on Instagram, you can check them out @comprendelatino or clicking below.

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