State-Hood (2017) is a Klansman hood made from the campaign flags of Ricky Rosselló and the Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP), Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood party (with the palm tree logo). The former governor Roselló was forced to resign following the people-powered uprisings of 2019. This work was made during the 1st rise of Trump, questioning  the aspirations of statehood at a time when a U.S. President who was openly supported by white supremacists, ran (and won) on a platform of racism and xenophobia. Four years later, hatred and division has grown stronger, with racist militias and white supremacist groups becoming more emboldened by this administration.

Meanwhile, the sole Puerto Rico representative in Congress (Jennifer Gonzalez, the resident commissioner, and pro-statehood'er with no voting power) is a Trump supporter. And unfortunately, there have been several pro-statehood / pro-Trump demonstrations in recent days in Puerto Rico, despite how counterintuitive it may seem to the interests of the Puerto Rican people. These are right-wing folks, and do not represent the interests of the majority. But this is our colonial reality.

State-Hood (2017) challenges Puerto Rican citizens to question the propaganda of statehood as a solution to Puerto Rico's problems, especially at a time when our values are so misaligned...and to imagine instead an alternative future through our greater capacity to be self-loving, self-determined and free.

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